Store on TV that sells KrustyO's cereal / MON 2-1-10 / Sensational 1990s-2000s talk show host / It must be him singer 1967

Constructor: Scott Atkinson

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: ICKY (4D: Very unpleasant) — six theme answers are words or phrases the first part of which rhymes with ICKY

Word of the Day: ERA of Good Feelings, 1817-25 (61A) —

The Era of Good Feelings (1817–25)[1] describes a period in United States political history in which partisan bitterness abated. The phrase was coined by Benjamin Russell, in the Boston newspaper, Columbian Centinel, on July 12, 1817, following the good-will visit to Boston of President James Monroe. // The political bitterness declined because the Federalists had largely dissolved and were no longer attacking the president, then causing an era of good feeling because there was only one political party. [Nothing kills partisan bitterness like the lack of more than one party] (wikipedia)

• • •

Whimsical idea for a puzzle. Fine by me, especially since he's managed to cram in six theme answers — that's a lot of "ICKY." Puzzle was very easy for me, but I have it at "Medium" because it's got a handful of proper nouns in the theme answers, ignorance of any one of which might have held someone up for a bit. Lots of Scrabbly letters, lots to love. One weakness is the spate of abbrevs. and partial answers: GRO, HUR, SKEE, NCAR, MRE, SST, MSN, UCLA, INRE, IAMA, ENL, KAT (with the missed opportunity for a KIT KAT cross-reference at 63D). Also: REMET and ACRED — not great. But I'd say the strength of the theme answers mostly overpowers the ugly stuff.

Theme answers:

• 17A: They're choosy about what they chew (PICKY eaters)
• 37A: Sensational 1990s-2000s talk show host (RICKI Lake) — always want to spell her name "RIKKI," as in "RIKKI Don't Lose That Number" or "RIKKI Tikki Tavi"

• 42A: Popular online reference (WIKIpedia)
• 62A: Walt Disney creation (MICKEY Mouse)
• 11D: Store on TV that sells KrustyO's cereal (KWIK-E-Mart)
• 36D: "It Must Be Him" singer, 1967 (VIKKI Carr)

Bemused by SMOCKED (21A: Dressed in lab attire), helped considerably by the (now) gimme status of OMSK (31A: Siberian city), and impossibly baffled by KIT (63D: Collection of items for a modelist). Honestly, I had -IT and didn't know what to do with it. Considered MYNAH for MACAW (3D: Bird important in Mayan symbology). Needed most of the crosses for EARMARK (9D: Politician's add-on) — great answer. Misspelled LECTERN (with a "U") the first time through at 55A: Speaker's stand. And I was slow to pick up SALIENT (27D: Noteworthy).

The End.


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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