SUNDAY, Jun 7, 2009 — It opened in Manhattan in 1924 / Bygone Toyotas / Long-snouted swimmer / Frodo foe / Color Me * 1990s R&B group
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Constructor: Jeremy Newton
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: "SHIFTY BUSINESS" — a rebus puzzle where circled squares represent gear positions on a 5-speed transmission
Word of the Day: GAR (63A: Long-snouted swimmer) — n.
- Any of several ganoid fishes of the family Lepisosteidae of fresh and brackish waters of North and Central America, having long narrow jaws, an elongated body, and a long snout.
- A similar or related fish, such as the needlefish. Also called garfish, garpike.
[Short for GARFISH.]
Also...
tr.v. Scots., garred, gar·ring, gars.
To cause or compel.
[Middle English geren, from Old Norse gera, to make.]


Theme answers:
- 33A: Teacher's question at the start of show-and-tell ("Who's 1st?")
- 5D: Witnessed (saw 1st hand)
- 35A: Anticipate heading home (go to 3rd base)
- 10D: Finish last on "Jeopardy!" (come 3rd) — now here, a sex clue really would have been objectionable (i.e. where's my "in"?)
- 67A: Doesn't care either way (takes a NEUTRAL stance)
- 48D: It freshens the air (odor NEUTRAL izer)
- 98A: At once (this 2nd)
- 67D: TV advertising staple (thirty 2nd spot)
- 101A: Some summer feasts in the U.S. (July 4th BBQs)
- 102D: Hardly commendable (4th rate) - wouldn't any ordinal 2nd or higher have worked here?
- 103A: Where to sign a credit card (REVERSE side)
- 84D: Trick the defensive line, maybe (run a REVERSE play)
Let's highlight some of the ballsier fill of the day, much of which I'm actually on the fence about liking/disliking (which means the answer is that the fill is probably good, but I'm going to highlight it anyway, for your consideration). First, there's a single UV RAY (66A: Thing absorbed by the ozone layer, for short). I don't believe I've ever seen one out all by its lonesome. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard or seen the singular at all. Can you measure a single ray (scientists!)? Actually, the first answer I hit that made me go "Wha?" as ON NOW (1D: Available for viewing).

Bullets:
- 21A: Biological rings (areolae) - that would be 2nd base
- 8D: Frodo foe (orc) - ENT good, ORC bad.
- 22A: 1950 University of Havana grad (Castro) - really, who else was it going to be?
- 47A: Prefix with ribonucleic (deoxy-) — as in "deoxyribonucleic acid," or DNA.
- 54A: Color Me _____, 1990s R&B group (Badd) - I wrote my senior thesis on the fact that 1987-1991 was the nadir of American pop music. OK, I wrote that in my head, not in actuality, but I stand by the theory. I consider Color Me Badd to be a very, very good example of what is meant by the phrase "Rock Bottom."
- 56A: Inning stretcher, maybe (rain delay) - more baseball, accurately clued
- 123A: Texas/Louisiana border river (Sabine) - learned from crosswords
- 126A: It's bound to be used in a service (hymnal) - good clue. I had HEARSE.
- 3D: Boogie, Bee Gees-style (disco) - Is "boogie" a noun here? Or is "disco" a verb? Both words have strong late 70s cred.
- 7D: Bygone Toyotas (Paseos) - this model got by me, somehow
- 18D: Rock singer Reznor (Trent) - front man for NIN (Nine Inch Nails). Here's Johnny Cash covering the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt":
- 41D: Old El Paso competitor (Ortega) - salsa!
- 50D: Baker v. _____, landmark 1962 Supreme Court case (Carr) - something about reapportionment. More here.
- 64D: Roman who declared "Carthage must be destroyed" (Cato) - and it was.
- 71D: Home of Rainbow Bridge National monument (Utah) - the world's largest known natural bridge, according to wikipedia. Rainbow Bridge is also what your pet crosses over when it dies. Or so the poem on my vet's wall tells me.
- 105D: Title girl in a Ritchie Valens hit (Donna) - I know someone named Donna. In fact, I'm pet-sitting for her right now: "She has a dog / Baxter is his name"...
- 120D: Creator of the chess champion Deep Blue (IBM) - wouldn't [Creator of Deep Blue] have worked here? Deep Blue is super famous as a chess-playing computer.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld Read more...