Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Cathedral facing New York's Rock Center

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: TIME FRAME (34A: Window, of sorts ... or a hint to completing 10 answers in this puzzle) — all answers on periphery of the grid (the "FRAME") must be followed by TIME in order to make sense.

HARD (1A: You might give this to someone)
SNACK (5A: When to have a nosh)
HALF (10A: Football break)
FEEDING (13D: When the zookeeper makes the rounds with a bucket)
QUALITY (44D: Focused face-to-face contact)
PLAY (64A: School recess)
NIGHT (63A: Dark hours)
LEAD (62A: Period for preparation)
ARRIVAL (37D: Flight board listing)
HARVEST (1D: Autumn, typically)

Word of the Day: Ashley TISDALE (38D: Actress Ashley of "High School Musical") —

Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series. The High School Musical series became a successful franchise which included two television films, a feature movie, a spin-off and numerous soundtrack albums. The popularity earned by Tisdale in High School Musical led her to sign a solo record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 2006 that allowed her to release two studio albums, Headstrong (2007) and Guilty Pleasure (2009).

Tisdale has a prominent voice role as Candace Flynn in Disney Channel's Phineas & Ferb, a cartoon which became television's most-watched animated series among kids and tweens and had been met with acclaim by critics.^[1]^[2]^[3] She also owns a production company named Blondie Girl Production and has worked as an executive producer in a number of movies and television shows that includes the ABC Family television film Picture This and the Bravo's 2012 unscripted seriesMiss Advised. During 2009 and 2010, Tisdale had her first major broadcast role in The CW's television series Hellcats as Savannah Monroe, an intense and very religious cheerleader. In 2012, she was cast in a leading role in Scary Movie 5, the fourth sequel to the 2000 movie, set to premiere in 2013. (wikipedia)

• • •

I've seen variations on this gimmick before, but that didn't keep me from enjoying this version well enough. I copped to the theme Right away, and yet still found the puzzle a reasonable Thursday challenge, both because the cluing was tough in places and because not all of the TIMEs came to me right away. LEAD and PLAY and QUALITY were particularly elusive. Went in the direction of APACHES / IPSE instead of ARAPAHO / IRAE in the NE (11D: Wyoming tribe + 16A: Requiem Mass word). Had PLAN instead of PLOT (19D: Map (out)). Never heard the phrase "A LIE gets halfway around the world ..." and never heard of Ashley TISDALE in the SW. Don't know why BARBQ is a [Good grilling?]. I get the "grilling" part, but not the "Good." So that answer was tough, as was the SE—toughest section for me by far. I had to rely on knowing stupid RIEL (55A: Cambodian cash) in order to open things up. Felt almost like cheating, using crosswordese like that. Perhaps worst of all, mistake-wise, I was sure the revealer would be TIMES SQUARE. When that didn't fit, I just stared dumbly at the middle of the grid for a bit. TIME FRAME is nice too.

Bullets:

14A: Baseball brother (ALOU) — first answer in the grid. Today is a good day to brush up on some important crosswordese, including this answer, EFT (23A: Pond youngster) (a young newt), and ARI (26A: "Exodus" figure) (the Uris novel, not the Bible book). I thought 10D: University of Hawaii campus locale was going to be MAUI or OAHU, but those are Hawaiian crosswordese *islands*. Clue was asking for the Hawaiian crosswordese *city* instead: HILO.
56A: Singer with the 1990 #1 album "To the Extreme" (VANILLA ICE) — highlight of the puzzle for me: "To the extreme I rock the mic like a vandal / Light up the stage and wax a chump like a candle!"

5D: Cathedral facing New York's Rock Center (ST. PAT'S) — Just a good guess on my part. The parallel possessives of ST. PAT'S and NOAH'S make for one of the less appealing parts of this grid.
28D: Mrs. ___, "Beauty and the Beast" character (POTTS) — probably should've inferred this more easily considering all those damned inanimate objects (candlesticks and clocks and what not) talked in that movie.
35D: Instrument in a Picasso painting (MANDOLIN) — specifically, in "MANDOLIN and Guitar." I sometimes get his stuff confused with ... that other guy ... dang, what's his name? ... G-something? Yes, Juan Gris, who painted "Guitar and Clarinet," for instance:

42D: Eye cream additive (RETINOL) — could think only of Preparation-H. Where did I see someone talk about putting that under their eyes ... ?
43D: 1970s cop show ("BARETTA") — whoa, vague clue. Keep your eye on the sparrow ...

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS you should do the LA Times puzzle today because my friends PuzzleGirl and Doug Peterson made it. (Here's the URL for the .pdf)