Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Cyclades setting

Constructor: Ethan Cooper

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Keyboard words — wacky phrases made out of words on keyboard keys; clued "?"-style

Word of the Day: CCC (1D: New Deal work program, for short) —

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 17–23. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide employment for young men in relief families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression while at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation program in every state and territory. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000; in nine years 2.5 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a small wage of $30 a month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families). (wikipedia)

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It took me an inexplicably long time to get the theme. Perhaps I wasn't trying hard enough. I just plowed through answers at various places in the grid, assuming crosses would make sense of things, but for the longest time, they just didn't. I had completely traversed the grid without any of the theme answers coming into view. Of course once I finally picked up the theme, the puzzle seemed easy. So I'm guessing that's how it will go for most people—somewhat variable as to when the theme gets picked up, but afterwards, easy. Beyond the theme itself, the hardest thing for me to pick up was BAG CLIP (41D: Twist-tie alternative). Not a phrase I've ever said, though I know exactly what is meant by the phrase. We have several in the house. I think we call them CHIP CLIPS. Maybe we call them "clips." Or maybe we even call them BAG CLIPs and I somehow haven't noticed. Anyway, I had BAG and nothing at all made sense to me as a follower. Also, the things I clip with a (so-called) BAG CLIP are not at All things I would twist tie. I twist tie the plastic bag the bread comes in, or the plastic bags I put my vegetables in at the store. I clip bags that are not amenable to being twist-tied. So BAG CLIP is not so much an alternative as it is a completely different (if parallel) closing mechanism.

You didn't expect so much attention to be devoted to BAG CLIP, did you? You probably thought "He'll probably say he's seen this before and isn't impressed" or "he's gonna hate ORLE" (60A: Heraldic band) or "I'll bet he says something about how this is the second time we've seen a reference to WERNER Klemperer in recent days." But no—BAG CLIP! Excitement!

I actually have seen a number of keyboard-related themes. But this one is an interesting and (to my knowledge) original variation.

Theme answers:

20A: Prison guard system? (ESCAPE CONTROL)
30A: Hipster Capitol Hill worker after collapsing? (ALT-PAGE DOWN) — goofy, but enjoyable
39A: Bill at the "Star Wars" cantina (SPACE BAR TAB) — I like this
52A: Restyle a bit of a D.C. hockey player's hair? (SHIFT CAP'S LOCK) — supergoofy, to the point of preposterousness. And why not?

Not a fan of the Alphabet Soup answers, largely bec. I'll Never be able to remember any of them except TVA (1D: New Deal work program, for short => CCC). Couldn't come up with CHARD even though there's a boatload of it growing in our backyard (red chard, to be precise, but still...) (1A: Swiss ___). Wanted ABBA (no) and INXS (maybe, but no) before AC/DC (10A: Multimillion-selling band from Australia). Thought CIGNA was CITGO (which is gas, not insurance) (17A: Aetna competitor). Love the creepy clue on DRACULA, though I needed many crosses to get it (5D: Speaker of the line "Listen to them—the children of the night"). He's referring to wolves—not exactly an iconic line, but a great one nonetheless. I should be rereading that instead of reading "Camilla" (by Fanny Burney), which is breaking my back. It's eternal and it's all about dancing and the social mores of the elite and omg I want to call in Austen to do some script-doctoring. Did they not have editors in the late 18th century? And pacing. Come on. There's leisurely, there's slow, and then there's drifting aimlessly with no hope for rescue in sight, which is where this book lives.

Bullets:

48A: Company that introduced coin-slide washer in laundromats (MAYTAG) — sure, why not? That makes sense. Tougher than a clue referring to their iconic repairman.
63A: Singer with the 1986 #1 album "Promise" (SADE) — Default position for my brain is roughly 1986, so stuff like this tends to be my bread and butter.
3D: Cyclades setting (AEGEAN SEA) — was having real trouble closing out the NW until I picked up this baby.
51D: Two-finger salute (V-SIGN) — ha ha. I like how there is no indication of what the V-SIGN is supposed to mean in this case. It has ... multiple meanings. Clue allows you to think "peace" or "victory," but also allows you to be like me, and imagine someone gesturing "up yours!"

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld