Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Cager Baylor

Constructor: Victor Fleming and John Dunn

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: 100 Years Ago — TITANIC (63A: Theme of this puzzle)

Word of the Day: I.C.C. (108D: 1887-1996 govt. watchdog) —

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory body in the United States created by theInterstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, includinginterstate bus lines and telephone companies. The agency was abolished in 1995, and its remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board. [took a bit of googling to figure which "ICC" was meant—leaning toward International Cricket Council there for a while...] (wikipedia)

• • •

Back on my feet again today with a time well under 10. Hurray. This theme was supremely easy to pick up—didn't get it off the title alone (which I should've), but got it as soon as I hit the clue for JOHN JACOB ASTOR. With the exception of GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS, all theme answers were gimmes or near-gimmes. There was only the slightest amount of dreck, and the only part that made me pause at all was (*again*) the NE corner, where SNIT for PANT (15D: Big huff?) and a bit of I AM SO / ARE SO (14D: Kindergarten comeback) confusion kept me tied up for a few seconds. "Downton Abbey" famously begins with the house getting word that the TITANIC has sunk, with the heir (engaged to Lord Grantham's daughter Mary) aboard. This is what I think of now when I think of TITANIC. One more reason I love "Downton"—spares me from thinking of the dreadful, painfully overrated 1997 James Cameron movie and its even more dreadful soundtrack. There's a lot of theme material in play here, much of it intersecting, so as tribute puzzles go, this one seems pretty solid.

Theme answers:

27A: American millionaire lost with the 63-Across (JOHN JACOB ASTOR)
33A: With 88-Across, 1960 musical partly about the 63-Across, with "The" ("UNSINKABLE / MOLLY BROWN")
88D: With 13-Down, disastrous event for the 63-Across (MAIDEN VOYAGE)
96A: What the 63-Across crossed to begin her 88-/13-Down (ENGLISH CHANNEL)
3D: 2003 James Cameron documentary about the 63-Across ("GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS")
5D: 63-Across's destination on her 88-/13-Down (NEW YORK CITY)
65D: Where the 63-Across's 88-/13-Down began (SOUTHAMPTON)
38D: 1955 Walter Lord book about the 63-Across ("A NIGHT TO REMEMBER")

Started right up top with HAG and ended very nearby with lovely RUTA, mutamaid (10D: Actress Lee of "Funny Face"). I've seen "Ferris Bueller" many times but it always takes me several crosses to remember SLOANE (4D: Ferris's girlfriend in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off").

SLOANE is kind of a nothing character—Jennifer Grey, as Ferris's sister, has the only good female role in that movie. One name I did not know was OSLER, though I'm 98% sure I've said that before (32A: Medical pioneer Sir William). Most other names I got easily. BELA, check (28D: Banjoist Fleck). MOAB, check (74D: Biblical kingdom where Moses died). PABLO, check (72A: Nobelist poet Neruda). ELGIN, check (55A: Cager Baylor). TINO, check (29A: Two-time All-Star Martinez). CRT is one of those answers that was bygone before I ever knew it existed, so I always have trouble with it (52A: Old PC screen). My favorite answer in this puzzle is probably "BRING IT!" (9D: "Give me your best shot!"), though I have a strange affection for PRINT AD (which took forever to come into view, but gave me a good "aha" feeling instead of the more typical "ugh") (84D: Newspaper or magazine offering).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld