Golf ball propper-upper / MON 8-10-15 / Many countertop / 1980s hand-held puzzle craze

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "SAY CHEESE!" (58A: "Smile!" ... or a hint to the ends of the answers to the five starred clues) — last words of theme answers are denominations of cheese

Theme answers:

• 17A: *Club used in a bunker (SAND WEDGE)
• 32A: *1980s hand-held puzzle craze (RUBIK'S CUBE)
• 41A: *Many a countertop) (MARBLE SLAB)
• 3D: *Inability to recall something (MENTAL BLOCK)
• 26D: *Riverboat propeller (PADDLE WHEEL) 

Word of the Day: ALB (30A: Priest's robe) —

noun

noun: alb; plural noun: albs

1. a white vestment worn by clergy and servers in some Christian Churches. (google)

• • •

I solved this puzzle in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel on Madison Avenue with Doug Peterson, Brad Wilber, Angela Halsted (aka "PuzzleGirl") and my wife, Penelope. I sat here and read the Across clues out in order (not a way I would ever solve the puzzle on my own). There was only one answer we got wrong—FACES (which we had, predictably, as SIDES) (55A: What 32-Across has six of). I don't think I would've opted for the cross-reference there. But nevermind that. I predicted what the revealer of this puzzle would be after just two theme answers were completed. We were none of us sure that a SLAB was a valid unit of cheese, but then Brad remembered the lyrics of this song, which validated SLAB (as well as "hunk," "slice," and "chunk," none of which appear in this puzzle).

[What is Timer? He's like this mincing ... cheese ... thing ... in the wild west???]

[Doug and Brad and I can sing this jingle verbatim]

So one good thing we have to say about this puzzle is the theme density is pretty impressive, and running two valid theme answers Down through two others is no mean feat. Doug just asked me if we're calling C.W. Stewart (the constructor) "C-Dubs." I said sure, why not. C-Dubs it is. Anyway, C-Dubs really themes it up. There's some cool little colloquial phrases here and there, but most of the fill is quite ordinary and (more distressingly) clued in a painfully straightforward way. It's possible to write easy clues that also have a certain degree of freshness. These clues don't. Mostly. Having spent the weekend with exquisite puzzles of all difficulty levels, I'm a little spoiled. But still, it's an important point—there's no reason a Monday-easy puzzle can't have interesting, clever, vibrant, or otherwise unstale clues. Our favorite clue was probably 16A: Like some screws and translations (LOOSE) (Brad especially likes this clue best because he was the first / only person to get it). Also, there's nothing in this puzzle you couldn't have seen in a puzzle 30 years ago. The Alan ALDA clue is the only thing that places this puzzle in the 21st century.


Brad says that the only Oscar nomination received by Alan ALDA was for "The Aviator," so there's some trivia for you. Brad also gave side-eye to the BEEB clue (31D: British network, with "the") that made no mention of "familiarly" or "slang" or anything like that. There's not much else to say here. It took everyone a while to guess what the first part of the "WHEEL" answer was because they all wanted FERRIS (keep in mind they couldn't see the grid when I was asking what they thought it was). Doug is now trying to convince us that he would call cheese cubes "cheese dice." I'm not sure where to go from there. So good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. here's a nice little write-up of this past Saturday's Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament by Oliver Roeder, a writer for FiveThirtyEight.com.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Hawaiian medicine man / MON 2-10-14 / Nine-headed serpent of myth / Preppy party-loving egotistical male in modern lingo / Position between second third informally

Constructor: C. W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: REC CENTER (62A: Gym locale … or feature of 17-, 24-, 38- and 50-Across) — letter string "REC" sits at the center of familiar phrases:

Theme answers:

• SCORE CARD (17A: Item accompanying a pencil in miniature golf)
• SPARE CASH (24A: Money available for nonessentials)
• CREATURE COMFORT (38A: Food, warmth or a cozy bed)
• SCARECROW (50A: Stuffed figure in a cornfield)

Word of the Day: MYRTLE Beach (41D: ___ Beach, S.C.) —

Myrtle Beach /mʊrˈtəlˈbiːtʃ/ is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch ofbeach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina.

Myrtle Beach is one of the major centers of tourism in the United States because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches, attracting an estimated 14 million visitors each spring/summer/fall. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 27,109, with the Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway combined statistical area population of 329,449. […] The area is home to numerous golf courses and mini-golf courses along the Grand Strand and further inland. Myrtle Beach has been called the "Golf Capital of the World" because of the 100 golf courses located there, the record 4.2 million rounds played, and many miniature golf courses. 3.7 million total rounds of golf were played in 2007. The majority of the area's golf courses are public. (wikipedia)

• • •

This one took me 3:09, which is clearly not "long," but is longer than normal, for me (by maybe 20 seconds or so). I say this only because the puzzle felt incredibly straightforward—"difficulty" on a Monday can be very hard to gauge, because the slightest brain glitch can thrown you right off track. Hold-ups on harder puzzles don't mean much; ten seconds here or there aren't going to throw off your time much. But high-speed crashes, you feel. Today, nothing was terribly hard, but my brain failed to process things well on a few occasions. First, KAHUNA. That was the answer I wanted for 30A: Hawaiian medicine man, largely because I had the "K," but … "medicine man" just didn't compute. I'm used to the phrase "Big KAHUNA," meaning, I don't know, some kind of big shot or important person. Which, I guess, a "medicine man" is, in some contexts. But I balked at writing in KAHUNA until I'd checked a bunch of the crosses, which took a little time, as SPARE CASH didn't go straight in and HASTY didn't come straight to mind … little things, but they slowed me. Needed a ton of crosses to see CREATURE COMFORT, but I knew that was going to be the case pretty quickly and so didn't even relook at that clue until I'd crossed it with a bunch of answers. The next snag was a misreading. I had AHS at 60D: Response to a massage (AAH). Clue is clearly singular. Brain registered plural. Who can say why? But the worst hold-up of all was MYRTLE Beach. I have heard the name a million times, always (I think) in the context of golf coverage I'm not really paying attention to. But ___ Beach, S.C. meant zero to me, and the more letters I put in … the more letters I put in, i.e. didn't matter. I had MYR-LE and didn't know what I was looking at. MYROLE? Of course the T-cross wasn't hard to pick up, but somehow the cumulative effect of all these hiccups was a slightly slower-than-normal time. Since I don't think my hiccups will be typical, I just rated it "Medium" (i.e. average for a Monday, i.e. easy).


Quality-wise, I wasn't that thrilled. It's solid, but slightly dull, with the AZALEA / SOUS CHEF portion of the grid being the mostly nicely executed. I also want to high-five the BRO clue (61D: Preppy, party-loving, egotistical male, in modern lingo). Nice work, bringing that one up to date—and so vividly. I can't help feeling that there must be a ton of "REC"-containing answers (where the "REC" is broken across two words), and at least *some* of them have to be more interesting than these. [I take that back—these RECs are *dead* center, which makes options more limited] I was surprised to see that not only had this theme never been done (with this revealer, anyway), but RECCENTER hasn't appeared in a mainstream puzzle in recent memory, if ever (nowhere in the cruciverb.com database). Weird.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Architect Jones / MON 4-29-13 / Much-advertised vacuum cleaner / Frontiersman Carson / Pioneers' convoy / Treelike creature in Lord of Rings / Grounded trans-Atlantic fliers for short

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: actors' favorite foods — possessive phrases that rhyme

Theme answers:

• 17A: Actor Charlie's favorite food? (SHEEN'S BEANS)
• 24A: Actress Hilary's favorite food? (SWANK'S FRANKS)
• 31A: Actress Veronica's favorite food? (LAKE'S CAKES)
• 45A: Actor Brad's favorite food? (PITT'S GRITS)
• 50A: Actor Dudley's favorite food? (MOORE'S S'MORES)
• 63A: Actress Goldie's favorite food? (HAWN'S PRAWNS) 

Word of the Day: EROSE (22A: Jagged, as a leaf's edge) —

adj.
Irregularly notched, toothed, or indented: erose leaves.

[From Latin ērōsus, past participle of ērōdere, to gnaw off. See erode.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/erose#ixzz2RoEofuV2

• • •

Theme is thin and also odd, phrasing-wise. If actor John Hamm's favorite food were yams, under no circumstances would anyone anywhere ever use the phrase HAMM'S YAMS. I like pies, but PARKER'S PIES makes no sense. Possessive does not indicate "favorite." It just makes no sense. Theme also seems like it could be extended forever—actors and foods seem arbitrary. I'd've gone with KITT over PITT, but that's a matter of taste (specifically, my taste for Ks). Oh, I guess you couldn't do KITT'S with this grid as it is since KIT (34D: Frontiersman Carson) intersects it. Still, I probably would've reworked the grid to get KITT. But PITT is fine. Nothing wrong with PITT. Why am I still talking about this? OK, moving on—then there's the fill, which is subpar today. When you have an easy-to-fill grid like this, there shouldn't be so much short / dull / awkward stuff. I could enumerate it, but why? EROSE is bad fill whenever it appears, but on a Monday? No. ANO ANI API OVI. It's a lot to take. The muckiest part is the SE—TNUT and SSTS (61D: Grounded trans-Atlantic fliers, for short) are just tired, but cross them with the unforgivable PSSTS (plural!?), and you have one hell of a mess. The one big bright spot today is I KID YOU NOT. Wonderful. Wish there was more colorful, playful stuff like that.


MOORE and S'MORE do not rhyme in my world. So that's another thing.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Hip-hopper's headgear / MON 9-3-12 / Pyramid-shaped hotel in Vegas / Cookie trayful / Old jalopies / Big containers in tavern

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: QUITE A FEW (59A: Many ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23-, 34-, 40- and 46-Across) — final words in the theme answers can mean "QUITE A FEW":

• BOX SCORES (17A: Printed results of baseball games)
• PARKING LOTS (23A: Tailgate party places)
• WORKLOADS (34A: Sets of tasks, as at an office)
• JUNK HEAPS (40A: Old jalopies) 
• BEER BARRELS (46A: Big containers in a tavern)

Word of the Day: ELUL (14A: Jewish month after Av) —

Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל‎‎, Standard Elul Tiberian ʾĔlûl) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. (wikipedia)

• • •

A theme you look back on and notice only once you're done. Holds up nicely, though I don't like the revealer much at all. It's drab, despite the "Q"; just a definition of "Many." I really like revealers to have some kind of sparkle or punch, not be simply literal. The theme density is impressive, but it necessitates chopping the grid up like crazy, such that most of the answers we're left with are short and rather crosswordesey. There were some nice moments, though, such as the HIBACHI / SUSHI intersection (41D: Japanese grill + 64A: Japanese restaurant staple), which nicely picked up the Japanese theme started by FUJI (31D: Japan's tallest peak). Despite the fact that WORKLOADS stands out as the only phrase that is not a two-word phrase, the theme execution on this is nice—all answers are made up of two words (even if "workload" is a compound), and they are all clued in ways unrelated to "many"-ness. Rest of the grid is boilerplate, but at thematically, at least, I think it's solid.

Earlier today, I watched "They Drive By Night" (1940), starring George RAFT (11D: Castaway's makeshift vessel), Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart. It was not filmed IN HD (66A: How many TV programs are aired nowadays). I recommend it, though it's an odd amalgam of little-guy-makes-good and film noir. Lupino is fantastic as the bony, vicious femme fatale—probably the only character in cinematic history to commit murder by simply walking away from a garage... (there's technology involved—director Raoul Walsh was kinda tech-obsessed, if this movie and 1949's "White Heat" are any indication ... but I digress).

Only slow-down occurred when I dumped DOUGH in the slot where BATCH was supposed to go (61A: Cookie trayful). I had to go back and fix two mistakes I made in my dash through this (easy) puzzle. Had LAXOR (?) instead of LUXOR (3D: Pyramid-shaped hotel in Vegas), probably because I couldn't remember the name of the hotel at first, and then because ELAL didn't make me blink during a rough eye-scan. Also I had RATTLE instead of RATTLY because ... well, come on. RATTLY? (45D: Sounding like a jalopy) I'm sure my brain (rightly) balked at the idea of RATTLY's being a word. But DENE is undeniably not a word, so I really should be more careful.

Gotta go. Happy Labor Day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Arabian Nights bird / MON 7-9-12 / Birthstone name of a Hitchcock film / Chris who won six U.S. Opens / Hits in dodgem cars

Hello again from Rex Parker's BFFs Jenny and Liz! Rex is still enjoying his vacation in New Zealand, which from his pictures and descriptions, sounds amazing. For example, did you know that they have Starbucks in New Zealand? Rex has visited more than one! He is also enjoying working on a jigsaw puzzle because who wouldn't want to sit on a plane for what, 24 hours, and then sit down to do a jigsaw puzzle?!  


Okay, on to the puzzle:


Constructor: C.W. Stewart (who we hear is "super cool," just like we are now that the power has been restored after last week's derecho (that we talked about last time), left many of us without power for up to 8 days, in 100+ degree temperatures. But we digress...)


Relative difficulty: Easy as pie, as in "Pie in July," one of our favorite things about this month (along with guest blogging for our bestie) when our favorite food store features reduced prices on pie for the whole month (we don't want to throw in any free plugs here, so let's just say that the pies at this store are usually so expensive it can feel like you're spending your "Whole Paycheck")

Anyway, on to the puzzle:

THEME: "intermission" —  all of the theme answers contain words that can be preceded by the word "break". (As in what happened to the utility lines after the derecho hit...  sorry it was quite traumatic)

Word of the Day: Schmo -
schmo, shmo [ʃməʊ]

n pl schmoes, shmoes

US slang a dull, stupid, or boring person

Once again, we've chosen a word that appears nowhere in the puzzle.  But, since Rex referred to us as schmoes in one of his comments on last week's blog (where he described that he first met us "back when I accepted any old schmo as my FB friend"), we deduced that despite the definition above, in New Zealand-ese schmo obviously means BFF. Thanks Rex, we <3 you too!
 

Theme answers:

• 17A. [Attorney-to-be] - Law Student
• 24A. [Transaction at Chase or Wells Fargo] - Bank Deposit
• 38A. [Rachel Maddow or Rush Limbaugh] - News Commentator
• 46A. [Def Jam or EMI] - Record Label
• 59A.  [You might carry a bucket to one at a hotel] - Ice Machine

We don't have much to say about the theme of the puzzle, but personally the theme of the week for us has been the fact that Rex is living in the future in New Zealand, yet has not given us any hints into what's to come each day. And he calls himself our BFF??

Bullets:

• 32A.  SAME [Identical] — yes, we are, and yes sometimes we know what the other one is thinking but no, if you hit one of us the other one can't feel it
• 46D.  RAVES [All-night party] — of note only because this was an answer in last week's puzzle too. Neither of us have ever attended one, but perhaps something in the universe is suggesting that we do...?
• 54D.  CHAR [Blacken on the grill] — it was so freaking hot here all last week that you didn't need a grill to blacken your steak, the sidewalk would have easily done it. In fact, it was so hot that the chickens that live in Liz's backyard were laying hard-boiled eggs! (ba dum dum)

Thanks, we'll be here all month!

Signed, Jenny and Liz, Rex Parker's schmoes, er BFFs

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TV oilman-turned-private eye / TUE 10-25-11 / Scout's rider of early TV / Time in title of 1965 Wilson Pickett hit / Grotto isle of Italy / Cylindrical sandwich

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: WHERE ART THOU? (57A: Question that follows "O Brother" in film ... and a hint to this puzzle's theme) — "THOU" is hidden inside four theme answers

Word of the Day: MATT HOUSTON (28A: TV oilman-turned-private eye) —

Matt Houston is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1985. Created by Lawrence Gordon, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling. // Matt Houston stars Lee Horsley as a wealthy mustachioed Texas oilman named Matlock "Matt" Houston who worked as a private investigator in Los Angeles in his abundant free time. The show also stars Pamela Hensley as his lawyer sidekick, C.J., and George Wyner as his continuously frustrated business manager. During the show's third and final season (1984–85), Buddy Ebsen joined the cast as Matt Houston's uncle, Roy Houston. (wikipedia)

• • •

MIDNIGHT HOUR is essentially a partial and the theme revealer is a partial and one of the other theme answers is an extremely short-lived '80s crime drama—all these things add up to a not-so-lovable theme. Also, since you can't divide "THOU" anywhere but between the "T" and the "H," the puzzle theme may as well have been "two-word phrases whose second words start "HOU-"; that's certainly what I thought I was dealing with until the end. Grid is almost completely devoid of non-theme answers longer than five letters. What few there are are forgettable, or annoyingly weird (IN FUTURO? TEE SHIRT? It's a TEE, or a T-SHIRT ... see every other crossword where this word has ever appeared). Puzzle also features one of the least clever and most annoying clues of all time (___ Kong). The only time I ever want to see that clue is if the answer is DONKEY. The whole "Is it KING or is it HONG?" gimmick is bush league. Fill is generally solid, and I think the puzzle's heart is in the right place, i.e. I can see how the idea might have seemed promising and clever initially. But if a promising and clever idea yields only mediocre results ... scrap it.



Theme answers:

• 20A: Time in the title of a 1965 Wilson Pickett hit (MIDNIGHT HOUR)
• 28A: TV oilman-turned-private eye (MATT HOUSTON)
• 39A: Multiple-dwelling buildings (APARTMENT HOUSES) — tried TENEMENT HOUSES here, only to find it wouldn't fit.
• 46A: Droopy-eared dog (BASSET HOUND)

Bullets:

• 61A: Grotto isle of Italy (CAPRI) — easy once I got the "I." Before that, I had an "O" because I tried to solve 40D: Vacation souvenir wear without looking at the clue and wrote in TEE SHOTS. 

• 31D: Scout's rider of early TV (TONTO) — which means "stupid" or "foolish" in Spanish (trivia I learned from crosswords) 
• 57D: Cylindrical sandwich (WRAP) — even with the "W" in place I had a little trouble with this. TACO and GYRO kept insisting that I consider them.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Actress Berger / SUN 6-12-11 / Superman II villainess / Old Church of England foe / Seaport on Adriatic / Diamond substitute / Line of cliffs

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Pullet" — theme answers (signaled by starred clues) are things that can be pulled. A pullet is a young chicken.


Word of the Day: SENTA Berger (103D: Actress Berger) —

Senta Berger (born May 13, 1941) is an Austrian film, stage and television actress, producer and author. // Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as one of the leading German-speaking actresses in polls, Berger has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an Adolf Grimme Award, both a Deutscher and a Bayerischer Fernsehpreis, and a Goldene Kamera. // Berger married director and producer Michael Verhoeven in 1966. They are the parents of actors Simon and Luca Verhoeven. (wikipedia)

• • •

The title just doesn't work. I get that it's a pun (sounds like "pull it"), but the puzzle has nothing to do with chickens and there's no real play on words when you just have one word that has zero to do with the puzzle. Then there's the fact that "things that can be pulled" just doesn't make for a very satisfying theme. Clues are just ... literal. They're things. Nothing to discover. No aha moments. Just ... "Hmm. OK." Then there's ONE'S LEG, which is fine in theme context but Horrible as an answer to its clue, 51D: *Something to stand on. ONE LEG is the answer to the clue. ONE'S LEG is an absurdity. What else are you going to stand on? And which leg? Just makes no sense. (I also had a major issue with 66D: Ain't fixed? (IS NOT) as well—[Ain't fixed] is AREN'T. What's "wrong" with "ain't" is not the apostrophe. Parallel construction matters). I WANNA is too long for a partial (20D: Start of a childish plaint). The less said about HER'N, the better (8D: Not his'n). SENTA? Not on my radar. RELIC of the past??? What kind of redundancy is that? Ugh, I see that it has a lot of users, so it's valid, but I really hate it. ESNE!? I thought we'd buried you forever (76D: Feudal serf). GUN TRIGGER???? "Pull the gun trigger!" he said, redundantly. "Or else we'll just be a relic of the past!" I liked ALL-NIGHTER and LITURGY (89D: Service arrangement) and SHORTIE (13D: Shrimp) and not much else. No, wait—Ironically (or fittingly), I liked SOURPUSS (104A: Killjoy).


Middle of the puzzle was by far the hardest. IS NOT was part of the problem, as was NAIR v. NEET (67D: Classic brand of hair remover). Could not remember LINTEL (52D: Piece over a door or window) to save my life. Adriatic seaport also a mystery for a while (56A: Seaport of the Adriatic=>RIMINI). ONE'S LEG ... you know how I feel about that. Bah. Rest of the puzzle was pretty easy.

Theme answers:

• 23A: Boardwalk offering (SALT WATER TAFFY) — my favorite of the theme answers by far
  
• 38A: *Diamond substitute (RELIEF PITCHER) — I usually think of the RELIEF PITCHER as the guy who comes in for the guy who's been pulled, but you can certainly pull a RELIEF PITCHER, so it works.
  
• 64A: *Handy things for toys? (PUPPET STRINGS)
  
• 93A: *Staple of "Candid Camera" (PRACTICAL JOKE)
  
• 114A: *Radio Flyer, e.g. (LITTLE RED WAGON)
  
• 3D: *Certain study session (ALL-NIGHTER)
  
• 51D: *Something to stand on (ONE'S LEG)
  
• 75D: *It may be found near a barrel (GUN TRIGGER)
  

Bullets:

• 87A: "Up in the Air" actress Kendrick (ANNA) — actress #2 that I don't know today.
  
• 123A: "Superman II" villainess (URSA) — I've been bitten by this one before.
  
• 9D: Ad-packed Sunday newspaper section (TRAVEL) — now the puzzle is trying to get you to read other parts of the paper. Interesting.
  
• 14D: Old Church of England foe (PAPIST) — Weird. I never knew anyone to call himself a PAPIST. I've only ever seen the word in anti-Catholic rhetoric. Rare to see someone self-identify as a PAPIST. Webster's 3rd Int'l says "usu. used disparagingly." Clue should've marked the word's prejudicial nature.
  
• 16D: Chinese dynasty of 1,200 years ago (TANG) — pfft. I dunno. Wait for crosses. (and come on: TANG is an orange drink, or [Zestiness] ... it is also a fish ... as well as uncluable slang; well, uncluable in the NYT, that is)

• 68D: Line of cliffs (SCARP) — I went with ARETE. They're both produced by erosion. Sadly, that didn't make my answer right.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Fred's dancing sister / TUE 3-1-11 / International writers org. appropriate initials / Old TV antenna / LEM maker

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (3:23)

THEME: SPOT OF TEA (35D: 4 p.m. British refreshment ... or what can be found in 18-, 25-, 47- and 58-Across and 3-Down) — two-word phrases in which "TEA" is embedded


Word of the Day: PEN (36D: International writers' org. with appropriate initials) —

International PEN, the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. // PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists and Novelists", but now includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians. // Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views. // It is the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. (wikipedia)

• • •

If this had run yesterday and yesterday's had run today, I don't think anyone would have blinked. As it was, yesterday came in as one of the more challenging Mondays ever and this one ... well, we'll see, but it's certainly no tougher than average, and felt a bit easy. Now, for me, we really are talking about matters of seconds when it comes to making difficulty distinctions. Yesterday's high-3s was way outside my normal Monday solving range, whereas today's was well within my normal Tuesday range, though somewhat on the low side, and a good half minute faster than yesterday's. But none of this has anything to do with how good the puzzle was, and it was good. Very good. C.W. Stewart is quickly becoming my favorite early-week puzzle constructor. Her grids are smooth and her themes are simple, clever, and coherent. She probably had a *bunch* of "TEA"-containing phrases on the table, but the ones she chose were all solid phrases, all with "TEA" touching each word of the theme phrase, and all the right length to allow for 4 Acrosses *and* 2 Downs, including the (great) revealer. This is a model early-week puzzle. Study it, aspiring constructors. You've got a stray bit of crosswordese here (AMAH), a slightly unappealing word there (IDEATE), but otherwise everything just hums. A+.

Theme answers:

• 18A: It measures less than 90° (ACUTE ANGLE)
  
• 25A: Say "nay" to (VOTE AGAINST)
  
• 47A: One who was detained, maybe (LATE ARRIVAL)
  
• 58A: Old TV antenna (RABBIT EARS)
  
• 3D: Shrivel to nothing (WASTE AWAY)
  

I realized that I get held up most (in easy puzzles) by long answers that my clue window can't contain (one of the perils of solving online and forgetting to expand your clue window to max width before starting). This gave me trouble toward the end, when I hit the clue for SPOT OF TEA and especially the clue for PEN (36D: International writers' org. with appropriate initials), which is a Thursday-type clue for PEN, frankly). Only other answers that slowed me down at all were NET SALES (8D: Income statement figure)—just didn't leap out at me for a while—and the PTS / QTS center, mainly because I held off on writing it in, deciding to wait for crosses, not realizing that one of the crosses was the identical clue ... so, not tough, just confusing at high speeds.

Bullets:

• 17A: LEM maker (NASA) — Lunar Excursion Module. I always forget what the "E" is supposed to stand for ("...Escape?")
  
• 28A: Fred's dancing sister (ADELE) — I really want this clue to die since this woman is already way more famous than Fred's dancing sister ever was (to most of America, if not to the bulk of constant crossword solvers):

• 66A: Garbage hauler (SCOW) — still having the "C" / "K" problem
  
• 11D: Most common inert gas in the atmosphere (ARGON) — is XENON inert? It's what I wanted, stupidly.
  
• 56A: Keepers of jewels (SAFES) — watched "Wait Until Dark" (1967) yesterday. Preposterous in many ways, but gripping nonetheless. Anyway, there's a safe that plays a minor role in the movie, even though it ends up being a bit of a red herring.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Topper for Charles de Gaulle — TUESDAY, Jan. 5 2009 — Nobel or Celsius / Hippies' crosses / Foppish dresser / Key Largo Oscar winner Claire ___)

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "SEE / RED" (25A: With 46-Across, be angry ... or what you can do inside the answers to the six starred clues) — "RED" embedded in six different two-word phrases

Word of the Day: Claire TREVOR (6D: "Key Largo" Oscar winner Claire ___) —

Claire Trevor (March 8, 1910 – April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers. She appeared in over 60 films. [...] Another two of Trevor's more memorable roles come starring opposite Dick Powell in Murder, My Sweet and Born to Kill, in the latter playing a divorcee who gets more than she bargained for by falling in love with a bad boy who impulsively murders. Key Largo the following year, gave Trevor the role of Gaye Dawn, the washed up nightclub singer and gangster's moll. She won the Academy Award for Best supporting Actress for the film. [She also appeared on episodes of "The Love Boat" and "Murder, She Wrote" later in her career] (wikipedia)

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"RED" is a terribly easy word to embed in a two-word phrase, so I'm not that impressed with the theme per se, but having six interlocking theme answers definitely adds a "wow" factor to the grid and makes the puzzle at least somewhat noteworthy. Crossing two theme answers is one thing, but I'm not sure sure I've seen a theme answer crossing *two* other theme answers, as happens twice today — two through FIRE DRILLS up top, two through DARE DEVILS down low. The SEE / RED answers add a nice flourish, though I'm never thrilled when the theme revealer starts ["With x-Across, ..." unless the "x-Across" is Right Next Door. Just a personal preference.

My time on this one was slower than usual. On Monday and Tuesday all I have to do is fall into one hole, one trap, one dead end, and my time is shot. Today, I fell in instantly, at 1A: Pooh-pooh, with "at" (scoff). Wanted SNEEZE, and wrote in SNEER. "Confirmed" it off of 1D: Window part (sash), which I entered as SILL. Wrong and wrong, right off the bat. Reasonably quickly corrected, but precious seconds were lost. More seconds lost when I hit 6D: "Key Largo" Oscar winner Claire ___ (Trevor), whose name I just didn't know. It's familiar to me now that I look at it, and I own (and love) "Murder, My Sweet," which she stars in. I just didn't have the name handy today. DANDY didn't come instantly either (18D: Foppish dresser). Once I got out of the NW, I tore through the rest of the grid like wildfire, balking only at the stupid Kansas town IOLA, which I knew (it's crosswordese) but blanked on (54D: Seat of Allen County, Kan.). But the damage had been done. Since I routinely finish the M and T puzzles in under 3 and 4 minutes, respectively, it's hard for me to assess their "relative difficulty." A stupid mistake (having nothing to do with a puzzle's intrinsic difficulty) can throw my time off wildly.

Theme answers:

• 17A: *Antishoplifting force (sto RED etectives) — figured the "force" would be some kind of screening system or alarm.
• 26A: *Marching band percussion (sna RED rums)
• 4D: *School evacuation exercises (fi RED rills)
• 44A: *Rims (oute RED ges)
• 57A: *Textbooks for instructors (teache RED itions)
• 30D: *Evel and Robbie, for two (da RED evils)

Bullets:

• 16A: Topper for Charles de Gaulle (képi) — did he really wear one, or is he just a representative Frenchman here? Oh, I see they are military headwear, so he definitely wore one. Wikipedia says that KÉPIs were "intended as alternatives to the heavier, cloth-covered leather French Army SHAKO" — a word that I (also) know only from puzzles.
• 30A: Lower chamber of Russia's parliament (Duma) — I know this, but always hesitate at filling it in because it feels like I'm confusing it with something else (most notably Alexandre DUMAS).
• 41A: Shell game spheroid (pea) — "Spheroid" = PEA 8 times out of 10. I made up that stat, but it feels right.
• 62A: Subject of much Mideast praise (Allah) — odd / good clue.
• 26D: Nobel or Celsius (Swede) — tore through this section so fast I never saw the clue. Just saw -WEDE and filled in the "S".
• 33D: Hippies' crosses (ankhs) — this clue for ANKH has worn out its welcome with me. More imagination, please.
• 45D: Said "bos'n" for "boatswain," e.g. (elided) — interesting clue. I learned the word "bos'n" from what Shakespeare play when I was 16? [A: "The Tempest"]
  
• 51D: Phil who sang "Draft Dodger Rag" (Ochs) — another recycled clue.

Lastly ... Happy Birthday, Merl Reagle. The legendary crossword constructor turns 60 today, and Andrea Carla Michaels and Michael Blake have made a puzzle for the occasion. Get it here. Merl is a fantastic constructor and a generous guy. He's always been supportive and friendly to me. And as far as his generosity toward others — if you haven't read this story yet, about his recent secret tribute puzzle, then you really should. It's amazing.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Soft drink since 1924 — THURSDAY, Sep. 3 2009 — Twin Tony whose #6 jersey was retired / Counterpart of Thanatos in Freudian psychology

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: BOTTOMS UP (20D: "Cheers!" ... or a hint to answering this puzzle's five starred clues) — theme answers are two word phrases in which first word is a synonym for "bottom"; further, all theme answers are entered into the grid upside-down (i.e. "BOTTOMS UP")

Word of the Day: Coventry PATMORE (1A: English poet Coventry _____, who wrote "The Angel in the House") — Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 - 26 November 1896) was an English poet and critic best known for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about an ideal happy marriage. (wikipedia)
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PATMORE is one of the worst 1-Acrosses I've seen in a loooooooong time. What a dismal way to kick off your puzzle — with some horrible know-it-or-you-don't nobody from more than a century ago whose name is only in the grid because you couldn't make anything decent work. Really, truly ugly. The theme of the puzzle is clever. I got the basic idea early, but misinterpreted it and thought just the "bottom" (i.e. second half) of the theme phrases would be upside-down. Didn't notice until very late that there were synonyms for "bottom" everywhere. Wanted TAILGUNNER for the never-before-heard REARGUNNER (even though "tail" is in the damned clue) and wanted FUNNY GIRL for FANNY BRICE. Last thing to fall was SEAT COVER because I had written in MERGER instead of MERGES (40A: Tricky highway maneuvers), which left me with RE-TCOVER for far, far too long. MERGES aren't "tricky" unless you are a horrible driver. They are ordinary, everyday driving events; it's just that people are often TERRIBLE at executing them. "Oh ... cars are coming ... should I stop, or ... why aren't you letting me over [glance, glance, weave]." Take a bus.

Theme answers:

• 6D: *Auto accessory (REVOC TAES) - seat cover
• 12D: *Crewman on the tail of a bomber (RENNUGRAER) - rear gunner
• 28D: *1968 Barbra Streisand starring role (ECIRB YNNAF) - Fanny Brice
• 35D: *Beef cut (TSAOR PMUR) - rump roast

Cluing seemed amped up, difficulty-wise, today. NINE is 55D: Highest score in baccarat?? News to me. "NINE" is the next Tim Burton film, or Ted Williams number, or my bin number at the comic book store. Baccarat? Coventry PATMORE (god, his name alone makes me want to punch him) probably played baccarat. And whist. And wore a MONOCLE (4D: Item on a chain). Actually, Bond plays baccarat, so maybe it's too cool for PATMORE. Wanted OZONE for 44A: Where a hole may develop (elbow). If you have a hole in your ELBOW, for god's sake see a doctor. Didn't know what to do with 34A: Profitability, for a business (aim). GOAL seems more apt (can't bring myself to write "APTER"). Also, don't some businesses AIM to lose money from time to time, for various reasons. And there are such things as "non-profit businesses." Etc.

Bullets:

• 37A: Popular newspaper columnist who writes for Good Housekeeping (Heloise) — "writes," present tense? Jeez, how old is she? Seems like she's been around an eternity. Or maybe "she" is just a name that various writers assume.
• 46A: Counterpart of Thanatos, in Freudian psychology (Eros) — Death drive v. sex drive. Couldn't see it at first because I had some version of TAIL or REAR giving me a wrong letter in the cross.
• 57A: World capital known locally as Krung Thep Mahanakhon (Bangkok) — always nice when you have the -KOK in place (!) before you ever see the clue.
• 5D: Twin Tony whose #6 jersey was retired (Oliva) — shame on me for forgetting this. I kept thinking OJEDA ... couldn't get OJEDA out of my head. OJEDA was a baseball player. Just not the one I needed.
• 9D: Soft drink brand since 1924 (Nehi) — did you know there used to be a soft drink called "Wink?" If you lived in the 60s, you probably did. I only just discovered it via a blog I enjoy, "A Touch of Tuesday Weld." Check out some ads.

• 10D: Liquide clair (eau) — what I drink, mostly.
• 38D: Kansas town on the Neosho River (Iola) — crosswordese of the highest order.
• 54D: Goddess who restored Osiris to life (Isis) — she's hidden in his name. Easy.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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MONDAY, Jul. 13 2009 — Comfily ready to sleep / What a serf led / Hillbilly's belt / Hotelier Helmsley / Tidbit for aardvark

Constructor: C.W. Stewart

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: ALL TUCKED IN (59A: Comfily ready to sleep ... or a hint to 17-, 24-, 37- and 47-Across) — letter string "ALL" is "TUCKED IN" to the theme answers, spanning four familiar two-word phrases

Word of the Day: ADLER Planetarium (1A: Chicago's _____ Planetarium) — The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today.^[2] The Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox. Located on Northerly Island, it is a part of Chicago's Museum Campus along with the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. (wikipedia)

Weird coincidence — I've been watching Season One of "Family Ties" on DVD (yes, really), and yesterday, only a few hours before doing the puzzle, I watched an episode in which Alex quits his job at ADLER's Grocery to work at a big, 24-hr supermarket where he makes more money and has more opportunities for advancement but hates his overly narrow job (he works in Cat Toys and only Cat Toys) and the fact that no one there talks to each other. So ultimately Alex returns to work at the small, independent ADLER's because Mr. ADLER, the avuncular owner, is so kind, even if he is stuck in a kind of pitiful 50's time warp. Anyway, I'm looking at Alex's apron, which reads ADLER's Grocery, and thinking "ADLER ... that's a good crossword word ... I'm sure I've seen it ... how would I clue it? Is there a Malcolm ADLER? [No, but there's a Mortimer] ... etc." And then I did this puzzle. And got completely stumped by 1A.

People often freak out in disagreement when the world "Challenging" comes anywhere near the difficulty rating for a Monday puzzle ("... but you called Saturday's 'Medium' and that was way harder..."). All I mean in this instance is that for whatever reason, this puzzle took me almost a minute longer than my typical Monday — about the time it takes me to do an easyish Wednesday. Very doable, but I kept tripping everywhere I meant — nothing diastrous, just little missteps, rewrites, etc. Started with a bad NW, where I didn't know the planetarium at all, and then considered PEAK for ACME (1D: Pinnacle), nothing for DRAG (2D: Wet blanket), and VITA for LUNG (3D: Aqua-_____). Not only couldn't I get REAMED right off the bat, I didn't get it until the very, very end, as I kept seeing the "RE-" as a prefix (5D: Cleaned out, as with a pipe cleaner). This sputtering alone was enough to put me off my average Monday time, but other (much smaller) sputterings followed, down to the near-final answer, where ALL TUCKED IN wasn't computing well. My brain still wants ALL TUCKERED OUT. And how am I almost 40 years old and don't know how to spell Joe LOUIS (52D: 1930s-'40s heavyweight champ Joe)?

The theme is interesting, if very familiar. I wish the theme answers sparkled more. Kind of dull.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Ditch digging, e.g. (manu ALL abor)
• 24A: Money borrowed from a friend, e.g. (person ALL oan) — banks make "PERSONAL LOANs" too.
• 37A: The Dalai Lama, e.g. (spiritu ALL eader) — especially dull since (bad luck) this was a theme answer in yesterday's puzzle.
• 47A: Slash symbol, e.g. (diagon ALL ine)

Bullets:

• 21A: City name before Heat or Vice (Miami) — I like how "heat" is used in this clue. It's monosyllabic and has good crime cred (police are the "heat," a gun can be a "heater"), so goes nicely with VICE, even though Heat here refers (non-criminally) to the basketball team.
• 45A: Acid blocker sold over the counter (Zantac) — fell into a brand name vortex here. Don't know my ZANTEC from my Zyrtec from my Xanax.
• 54A: Hotelier Helmsley (Leona) — she was like the Bernie Madoff of her day in terms of loathedness. People Loooved to hate her. A true celbrevillain.
• 65A: Tidbit for an aardvark (ant) — in my mind, there is a New Yorker cartoon half-written. An aardvark is sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant with a napkin tucked into its collar...
• 8D: Harbinger of spring (robin) — another answer that took me several passes. I was looking for a flower.
• 40D: First name of Henry VIII's second (Anne) — only just now noticed that this is paired with 24D: Last name of Henry VIII's last (Parr). Interesting.
• 27D: Hillbilly's belt (rope) — LOL every time I see this clue. Makes me think of Cletus, the Slack-Jawed Yokel.
• 45D: Next-to-last element alphabetically (Zinc) — again, didn't come instantly. Started by looking earlier than "Z" in the alphabet.
• 60D: Thai neighbor (Lao) — LAO is an ethnic group. There are hundreds of thousands of LAO in Thailand. FYI. A native or inhabitant of Laos is a "Laotian."

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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