Boss of fashion / TUE 2-28-12 / Beau Brummels / Half wolf's cry / Canyon locales

Constructor: Randall J. Hartman

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: EVERY SINGLE CLUE / IN THIS PUZZLE HAS / THIRTEEN LETTERS 

Word of the Day: Beau Brummell (29D: Beau Brummells = FOPS) —

n.

A dandy; a fop.

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[After George Bryan ("Beau") Brummell.] (freedictionary.com)

Beau Brummell, born as George Bryan Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840 (aged 61)), was the arbiter of men's fashion in Regency England and a friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. He established the mode of men wearing understated, but fitted, tailored clothes including dark suits and full-length trousers, adorned with an elaborately knotted cravat. // Beau Brummell is credited with introducing and establishing as fashion the modern man's suit, worn with a tie. He claimed he took five hours to dress, and recommended that boots be polished with  champagne. His style of dress is often referred to as dandyism. (wikipedia)

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There is nothing to say about this puzzle. The theme "answer" says it all. I think this is a stupid gimmick that drains the puzzle of all joy. You are of course free to feel however you feel. Could've been done with FOURTEEN or EIGHTEEN or FORTY-TWO, so who cares? It's not as if the clues are that interesting. In fact, the clues only seemed *slightly* odd at times, which suggests that 13 is a pretty common letter count for puzzle clues. Didn't exactly strain the cluing. Overall, the puzzle was very easy, except for the theme "answer," which I never paid attention to after I realized the only way I was going to get it was from crosses. Lots and lots of crosses. Only issues—slow on the uptake with the meaning of "wolf" in 65A: Half a wolf's cry (HUBBA); couldn't remember what the hell Beau Brummells were (I was thinking shoes ... why??); a [Facebook entry] is a NAME? I'm on Facebook a lot, and I don't get that at all; cluing on RIMS absolutely baffled me. RIMS are [Canyon locales] the same way that states are [Country locales]. Which is to say—no. Lastly, I hate SINGLE. EVERY SINGLE CLUE? You mean EVERY CLUE. SINGLE does nothing. Nothing. It's redundant. Why not DAMNED? EVERY DAMNED CLUE ... yes, I like that much better.



The end.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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