Plant protrusion / THU 12-4-14 / Woman's name with ring to it / Singer on Canada's Walk of Fame since 2005 / 1977 horror film set at sea / Car that famously debuted on E Day /

Constructor: Kacey Walker and David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Medium or Challenging, I don't know

THEME: ANAGRAMS (63A: What the three possible answers to each of 26-, 36- and 44-Across are, leading to 27 possible solutions to this puzzle) — three theme answers are clued as SCRABBLE racks (7A: Game with its own dictionary); each theme answer has three possible solutions, all ANAGRAMS of one another

Theme answers:

• WORRIED / ROWDIER / WORDIER (26A: Play in 7-Across with the rack DEIORRW)
• RESIDED / DESIRED / DERIDES (36A: Play in 7-Across with the rack DDEEIRS)
• GARDENS / DANGERS / GANDERS (44A: Play in 7-Across with the rack ADEGNRS)

Word of the Day: SKID (25D: What one might attach to a vehicle after a snowstorm) —

n.

1. The act of sliding or slipping over a surface, often sideways.

2.

a. A plank, log, or timber, usually one of a pair, used as a support or as a track for sliding or rollingheavy objects.

b. A pallet for loading or handling goods, especially one having solid sideboards and no bottom.

c. One of several logs or timbers forming a skid road.

3. skids Nautical A wooden framework attached to the side of a ship to prevent damage, as whenunloading.

4. A shoe or drag applying pressure to a wheel to brake a vehicle.

5. A runner in the landing gear of certain aircraft.

6. skids Slang A path to ruin or failure: His career hit the skids. Her life is now on the skids.

(thefreedictionary.com)
• • •

I admire the construction, but I didn't enjoy the solve. This is likely just bad luck on my part—putting in one of the three possible answers and having the necessarily forced/awkward cross clues make no sense to me. I say "necessarily forced/awkward" because they are clues that have to work for two different words. That's twelve different Down clues, each of which has to work for two different answers. So I wrote in RESIDED for the central Across, and then couldn't do anything with the short stuff on top of it. Nothing. This is all because I had never, ever heard of a SKID, meaning "a runner attached to the underside of an aircraft for use when landing on snow or grass." Just, never. So I kept going "well, it's SLED …" And that's pretty much where I stayed for a long time, until I realized, "oh, just put one of the ANAGRAMS in and see if that changes anything." Then in went DESIRES, and I saw SKIS, and then, hey, it's SIRI (31A: One with all the answers?), not SAGE or SIRE or whatever the hell else I'd been trying. Seriously, that SLED trap, combined with the actual answer's being a word unknown to me, really put a damper on my enjoyment of this. This is very much a constructor's puzzle—one meant to elicit "oohs" and "aahs," but not necessarily designed with solving fun in mind. But I will say that, to its credit, that ANAGRAMS thing actually worked. I mean, it saved my ass. So at least knowing the theme actually helped with the solve.


My other major issue with this puzzle was that, aside from that one epic faceplant in the middle of the grid, it was a cinch. Tuesday/Wednesday-easy. Having SCRABBLE as a flat-out gimme was just, well, too much gimme. And there were no great / interesting longer answers. So all the interest / challenge was in those crosses. Which meant all the interest / challenge was in the clues that were, by necessity, most tortured. I'm not mad at the puzzle. I think it's smart. It's just not a flavor of puzzle I personally enjoy. Also, I am an inveterate hater of SCRABBLE, in general, so this thing had its work cut out for it from the jump.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. I do not recall "Citizen Kane"'s having Roman-numeraled scenes (5D: When Kane dies in "Citizen Kane") (SCENE I). I mean, it's great, but it's not Shakespeare.

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British running great Steve / SAT 7-27-13 / Fictional amnesiac portrayer / Election-related nonprofit since 1990 / Tynan player in Seduction of Joe Tynan / Severn Meadows poet Gurney / Presentation by Bill Clinton in 2007 or Bill Gates in 2010

Constructor: John Lieb and David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none

Word of the Day: IVOR Gurney (35D: "Severn Meadows" poet Gurney) —

Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English composer and poet. [...] Gurney wrote hundreds of poems and more than 300 songs as well as instrumental music. He set only a handful of his own poems, the best known being Severn Meadows. His best-known compositions include his Five Elizabethan Songs (or 'The Elizas' as he called them) and the song-cycles Ludlow and Teme and The Western Playland, both settings of poetry by A. E. Housman. [...] Gurney is known both as a poet and composer and his reputation in both arts has continued to rise. Edmund Blunden, at the urging of composer Gerald Finzi, assembled the first collection of Gurney's poetry which was published in 1954. This was followed by P. J. Kavanagh's Collected Poems, first published in 1982 and reissued in 2004. It remains the best edition of Gurney's poetry. Gurney is regarded as one of the great World War I poets, and like the others of them, such as Edward Thomas whom he admired, he often contrasted the horrors of the front line with the beauty and tranquillity of his native English landscape - these themes were explored in the 2012 musical play A Soldier and a Maker. (wikipedia)

• • •

Well this was a pleasure. Started out a bit tepid in the NW (some good stuff held together with junk), but once I threw down ROCK THE VOTE (22D: Election-related non-profit since 1990) and then got HUG IT OUT (40A: Resolve a bromance spat, say), the puzzle seemed to open up and become much more interesting. I hate the expression 'NUFF SAID (as it's usually said by morons who have not, in fact, said enough), but I love it in the grid (32A: "No need to go on"). Feels fresh and colloquial. SEXTED is, uh, timely (23A: Turned on a friend, maybe?). PIECE OF WORK is fantastic (10D: Difficult sort).

I have two complaints: one, plural suffixes should never be allowed ever ever ever—they are the most not-a-thing thing in crosswords and should crawl off somewhere to die (see, today, -EERS); two, I finished the puzzle much too quickly. Could've used some thornier cluing. If I got even a little bit stymied, there seemed to be a gimme just waiting for me. APER / TELE / DDT were gimmes right off the bat, which made the NW easy even though I couldn't think of MATT DAMON for a while (I was looking for character, not, as clue instructed me, "portrayer") (1A: Fictional amnesiac portrayer). ROCK THE VOTE I got off just the "R" and I don't think I would've needed even that. Annabeth GISH (24D: "Mystic Pizza" actress Annabeth) and EL CID (14D: Title role for Charlton Heston) were simple—the latter's in the grid all the time, and the former ... well, I was the right age for "Mystic Pizza" and that actress's name stuck, for some reason. The IMPS and TERSE clues were transparent. Got TED TALK off the "T" (and, again, don't think I would've needed even that) (41D: Presentation by Bill Clinton in 2007 or Bill Gates in 2010). B-TWELVE easy once you've got the "B" (39A: Vitamin in meat, milk and eggs). I need a little hurt in my Saturdays. It's the day I turn mildly masochistic. Make Mine Thorny!

My one big "Wha?" moment came in the NW, where I was sure the [Big Indonesian export] was TEAS and so had PRES. for 19A: Head Start program service, briefly, which I could not comprehend. For good reason, it turns out. The answers were TEAK and PRE-K. What's weird is that I didn't want TEAS because I had TEA- and couldn't think of anything else; I actually wanted TEAS before I had any letters, which is why I was so certain it was right once the T, E and A fell into place. Danger Zone! Loved the clue on MALE NURSE (59A: Member of a medical minority), and "PLEASE, SIR" made me smile (it's a much parodied line—I've aped it myself from time to time) (62A: Start of a Dickensian request). Took a few beats for me to figure out what NSC stood for (and also to remember what the "Abbottabad raid" was) (60D: Grp. involved in the Abbottabad raid). Made me wonder if I had an error there at first, but the crosses checked out (and I eventually remembered that NSC meant National Security Council). Not much else to say, as the puzzle seemed like it was over before I'd begun. A fun brief time was had by all (of me).

Later,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Peace Nobelist Cassin / SAT 6-8-13 / 1955 doo-wop hit / Title for Schwarzenegger / Leader of Silver Bullet Band / Child support payer in modern lingo / 6 is rare one

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: UNGAVA Peninsula (12D: Northern Quebec's ___ Peninsula) —

The Ungava Peninsula of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west,Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east.

The Ungava Peninsula is part of the Labrador Peninsula and covers about 252,000 km² (97,000 sq mi). Its northern-most point is Cape Wolstenholme, which is also the northern-most point of Quebec.

The Ungava Peninsula is a part of the Canadian Shield and consists entirely of treeless tundradissected by large numbers of rivers and glacial lakes, flowing generally east-west in a parallel fashion. The peninsula was not deglaciated until 6,500 years ago (11,500 years after the Last Glacial Maximum) and is believed to have been the prehistoric centre from which the vastLaurentide Ice Sheet spread over most of North America during the last glacial epoch. (wikipedia)

• • •

Always love seeing David Quarfoot's name. Usually means a ton of fresh entries and generally clean fill, and today was no exception—well, there was one crappy entry that irked me all out of proportion to its size. So I blazed through this, for the most part, so that in about six minutes I had everything done but the NW. I got HEIR, EMCEE, APHID, OLE and (around the corner) ERNE. But I had YEAH at 5D: When doubled, a taunt. I think I was thinking "Yeah, sure." as in "I bet," as in "b.s." I didn't like it, but it was four letters, it ended in "H," and it was a word I knew. I never should've written it in, though, because it kept me from being able to parse *any* of the Acrosses (*all* of which were a. phrases and b. phrases with abbrevs. in them—thus, not so easy to parse). Finally figured out DEER (34A: Game with points), which got me HOT STONE (3D: Item used in an exotic massage) (exotic?), and only then did I decide to pull YEAH. Then thought "is NYAH a word?" Apparently. So, sadly, the worst entry in the grid was the one that held me up. You never, ever, ever want that to be the case. Enjoyment levels plummet. But luckily, my enjoyment level coming into that corner was high, so things were still cool in the end.

Embarrassing how long it took me to get ED SULLIVAN (24A: "Toast of the Town" host), but I'm gonna blame that entirely on UNGAVA (!?), which was totally new to me. Oh, also, I thought LST was HST (27D: W.W. II inits.). That "V" could've been anything. "I.O.U.S.A." (48D: 2008 documentary about the national debt) is a little insidery hat tip to director Patrick Creadon, who directed the crossword documentary "Wordplay" (2006). I think it's junk fill, but I can't stay mad at it, since it's an actual title and not, say, a prefix or a var. or whatever. I was (typically) on DQ's wavelength today, throwing down the longer stuff w/ just a letter or two in place. BABY DADDY (63A: Child support payer, in modern lingo) went in off just the first "Y" and the rest of the corner was done before I could blink twice. Whole puzzle took me half as long as yesterday's death march. Good times.


I know "2008" was supposed to cue "iPHONE" for me, but it didn't (1A: One was first purchased in 2008 = iPHONE APP). I had MR. OLYMPIA (15A: Title for Schwarzenegger) as MR. OLYMPIC at first, til I noticed the resulting PCR at 9D: 6 is a rare one, which I assumed (rightly) was nonsense (it's PAR). I don't know doo-wop that well, but I had the YOU and figured, at four letters, that's gotta be ONLY (I could hear the song, which I mostly know from some long-forgotten jingle) (43A: 1955 doo-wop hit). I will admit that I actually considered VIC at 33D: Roman numeral that's also a name (LIV). I might also have considered CID ... it was a weird five seconds.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Guitar device producing vibrato effect / SAT 1-19-13 / Religious emblem informally / Onetime spokesmodel for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter / Place without water in Mongolian / Comics character named for flower / Carleton College rival / Mediterraneo tourist locale / Statistician's anathema

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: BILLABONG (17A: Backwater, in Australia) —

n. Australian

1. A dead-end channel extending from the main stream of a river.
2. A streambed filled with water only in the rainy season.
3. A stagnant pool or backwater.

[Wiradhuri (Aboriginal language of southeast Australia) bilabanj, watercourse filled only after rain.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/billabong#ixzz2IO8iqWyE

• • •

[Deep-voiced introduction: "The NYT Crossword Puzzle ... is brought to you by ... Hyundai. Hyundai: New Thinking, New Possibilities."]

Klassic Kwarfoot. Toughish and entertaining with hardly a weakness to be found. There's a certain awkwardness / redundancy in the answers OPERA ARIA and TATTOO ART (more in the former than latter), and there's an awful lot of Es and Rs and Ts and Ss in that there SW corner, but otherwise the grid is just dominated by good-to-great entries, many of which have odd or clever or provocative clues. Normally I start with 1A, or I at least start in the NW corner and get 1A fairly early. Today I started there, but didn't actually get the surprising JESUS FISH at 1A: Religious emblem, informally until the very end. It was a nice way to round things out. I actually started with one of JESUS FISH's crosses—EPISTLE (2D: Missive)—which gave me AT. NO. which gave me OCHO, and I tightened up that area in then moved south via the lovely KING ME (28D: Cry when reaching the other side) to the WHAMMY BAR section of the program (48A: Guitar device producing a vibrato effect). Not sure how I knew WHAMMY BAR, but I did. If you didn't, that corner was likely Very hard. It was hard enough even *with* WHAMMY in there, but I ultimately trusted in AZERA (66A: Hyundai model) and EERIE (52A: Chilling), and that let me piece things together (really don't like the clue on PICTS, mainly because of the way "clan" is being used ... or maybe I *like* the clue for that reason. The PICTS were not SCOTS, so we're not talking about "clan" in the traditional Scottish sense, the way Stuart is a clan. "Clan" is being used loosely, generically in the clue, which I didn't expect given the Scottish specificity of the geography (Orkney). It's possible I know too much about medieval Scotland to enjoy this clue in an uncomplicated / unconflicted way.


Anyway, SE turned out to be a cinch, after SOUP helped me change EASY AS PIE / ABC to EASY PEASY (67A: So simple). After that, it was just a quick jog up the east side of the grid, and then back to the NW, where a serious stoppage seemed quite possible. Got IRONIC and SINGLET but not much else to help with the long Acrosses (of which I had none). Guessed MCCOO (!?) at 6D: Onetime spokesmodel for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (FABIO). But after I guessed HAG, I was able to see BILLABONG, which (finally!) gave me JOBS ACT (1D: Governmental stimulus of 2012). That "J" was all I needed to finish everything else off. OPERA ARIA was the last thing I wrote in.


This clue has the most interesting and elaborate LANA clue of all time (37A: Girl's name that becomes a boy's name when the last letter moves to the start). No offense to the fine folks at ST. OLAF, but ... [Carleton College rival]? Is that in sports? Because in academics ... I'm not so sure. (I have one friend who is a ST. OLAF alum, whereas I have at least half a dozen who went to Carleton, so I feel comfortable smugly bashing ST. OLAF—but don't feel bad, ST. OLAF. It could be worse. You could be Macalester. Amiright!? Ah, I love a good Minnesota liberal arts college slam.

See you tomorrow,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Creation director Jon / SAT 11-10-12 / Friday Night Beauty airer / Protein powder purveyor / Council city 1545-63 / TV title role for Toni Collette / 1997 Spielberg epic /

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: Jon AMIEL (62A: "Creation" director Jon) —

Jon Amiel (born 20 May 1948) is an English film director who has since the early 1980s worked in film and television in both the UK and the US. [...] After having worked as a story editor for the BBC, he directed the documentary The Silent Twins, and was chosen to direct the Dennis Potter serial The Singing Detective. He made his feature film debut in 1989 with Queen of Hearts. (wikipedia)

• • •

The grid is great, but the puzzle was really annoying to me for one big reason—nearly all of it was way too easy, except the SW corner, which was nearly impossible. Just a *huge* discrepancy in difficulty level between the vast majority of the puzzle and that little corner (both little corners, actually, but TRENT [Council city of 1545-63] was a gimme in the NE, so I didn't get nearly so bogged down there). I have no memory of this puzzle now. The only thing I remember is the roughly 4x5 section in the SW, which took me much longer than the entire rest of the puzzle. Only way in was through two answers that start and end with "E," respectively. Not a lot to go on. Further, both answers had "?" clues. Ugh. Es and "?" clues on both!? And then it was a combination of vagueness, obscurity, and (I think) inaccuracy. Do real dealers say "YOU IN?" (50D: Dealer's query) Sounds like something you'd ask your roommate i.e. getting a pizza. Jon AMIEL is who now? KREME!? The clue on KREME is ridiculous (49D: Part of some sundae shoppe names). I've literally never seen that word on a "sundae shoppe." Ugh. Krispy KREME is a thing, but "sundae shoppe?" Is that a thing? "I'm going to the sundae shoppe, pa." No. Ice cream shoppe, maybe. Go ahead and Google ["sundae shoppe"]. The results are Dismal. TROI or SULU? Maybe KIRK? Who can say? (54A: Name on the Enterprise)  Why is EPIPEN clued with a "?" (45D: Shot of adrenaline?). Seems pretty literal. I had REUPS (58A: Avoids a service interruption) and SLY (59D: Feline) written in, and kept entertaining the idea of PENNY (64A: Copper), but couldn't pull the trigger because it made all the Downs look wrong. *Finally* got SKYPE after just mulling the clue over and over and over (48A: Make a call to see someone nowadays?). That seems to be the key to that corner: SKYPE.


The rest of the puzzle—5 minutes, tops. A gimme at 1A: Facebook purchase of 2012 (INSTAGRAM) and hardly a hiccup thereafter. Felt like a Wednesday.

Bullets:

• 10A: Site of the world's largest single reservoir of natural gas (QATAR) — I live on top of the Marcellus Shale here in the NE. Lots of natural gas just waiting to be fracked. Very controversial issue. Pro-fracking County Executive just won re-election in a landslide.
• 15A: Subject of a civil-rights investigation (HATE CRIME) — Good clue. Having INSTAGRAM, I threw down TEN, ACOW, and GRAIN in quick succession, and those crosses made HATE CRIME obvious.
• 34A: Protein powder purveyor (GNC) — never saw the clue—not a common occurrence in a Saturday puzzle. Tells you how fast I was blowing through it. 
• 53A: TV title role for Toni Collette (TARA) — We are currently watching (and loving) this show on Netflix. She's an exceptional actor.

• 9D: ___ mal (tort reform topic, briefly) (MED) — what an ugly way to clue MED. Thankfully, never saw the clue. 
• 8D: 1997 Spielberg epic ("AMISTAD") — future constructors of Spielberg tribute puzzles, take note: "AMISTAD" has the same number of letters as "LINCOLN."
• 36D: Singer with the double-platinum album "Measure of a Man" (CLAY AIKEN) — would've been tough had I not had the -KEN part before reading the clue. Given that, CLAY AIKEN was the first and only answer to cross my mind.
• 10D: "Friday Night Beauty" airer (QVC) — impossible without the "Q," piece of cake with it.
• 11D: Literary sextet (AEIOUY) — erp. Didn't like. Not without ANDSOMETIMES.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Collegiate honor society of Bloomberg Iacocca / SAT 6-9-12 / Annie who voice Bo Peep in Toy Story / Food from Tupi language of South America / Dish containing masa / Pain is Love rapper / Hockey shot involving two players / Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae

[Hey, syndicated solvers! It's me, PuzzleGirl, talking to you from the future. I wanted to make sure you knew about the 5th annual Lollapuzzoola crossword puzzle tournament, which is right around the corner on August 4 (that's a Saturday in August). This is a really fun one-day tournament brought to you by Brian Cimmet and Patrick Blindauer. If you can't make it to New York for the tournament, please consider the "compete at home" division. Either way, you will be treated to puzzles by some of the best constructors in the business and I'm totally not exaggerating. All the details are at the Lollapuzzoola 5 website, so check it out!]

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: none

Word of the Day: JA RULE (46D: "Pain Is Love" rapper) —

Jeffrey Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule or Mockaveli, is an American rapper, singer, and actor from Queens, New York City.

Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 withVenni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla". From 2000 to 2004, Ja Rule had several hits that made the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You" with Christina Milian, "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" with Jennifer Lopez, "Always on Time" with Ashanti, "Mesmerize" also with Ashanti, and "Wonderful" with R. Kelly and Ashanti. During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to The Inc. Records, which was formerly known as Murder Inc. and was led by Irv Gotti. Ja Rule has sold over 30 million records worldwide and was the fastest selling rapper in 2001. He is also known for some well-publicized feuds with other rappers (in-particular 50 Cent and Eminem). (wikipedia)

• • •

First of all, ICE SKATES is correct because the Avalanche are an NHL team (62A: Avalanche gear). [added 8:57 am because the complaints / queries are already piling up]

Onward:

A decent puzzle that ended on a sour note for me. TAU BETA PI is just random Greek letters to me, and so it was with no pleasure at all that I uncovered it (slowly) (50A: Collegiate honor society of Bloomberg and Iacocca). Since it was the only way into that SW corner, that little corner took as long as the entire top half of the puzzle, and with no payoff (except JA RULE, which wasn't so much payoff as "o man, I forgot he existed" flashback). There are so many Greek-named societies ... none of them is particularly resonant. Just letters. Disappointing to be so badly slowed down by the least interesting long answer in the puzzle. But these things happen.

I liked most of the rest of the puzzle. SE gave me some trouble too—at one point I had the first four letters of all the longish Downs in that area and still couldn't break through. Eventually just guessed ONE-TIMER (seemed like something I'd heard, though I don't care about hockey; I think it's where you score off an assist with a single touch of your stick, i.e. instead of controlling the puck and then shooting), and then that corner went down fast. The top half, where I started, went down so fast I barely knew it was there, so this felt *very* uneven, difficulty-wise. I wrote in DOHA, QATAR immediately, first thing, no crosses (1A: Al Jazeera locale). APNEA and ENOLA got me the traction I needed to finish the NW corner off (do *not* like OBOE PART—the duck is the OBOE! PART shmart. Redundancy! 2D: The duck in "Peter and the Wolf"). I think ORE CAR is unfair (12D: Rock carrier), since ORE CAB seems just as plausible, and BEY is just as much as a [Foreign leader] as REY is. Booooooo! Clue really should've specified nationality of the "leader" in question. KLINGER was a gimme (43D: "M*A*S*H" character from Toledo, Ohio), AGENT K was not (40A: Jones's "Men in Black" role), so they kind of canceled each other out. I expect a lot from Quarfoot (one of the great themeless constructors), and this wasn't quite up to his usual standards. But still pretty good, overall.

Bullets:

• 24A: Snarky reply after a lecture ("IS THAT ALL?") — I assume this is a "lecture" in the sense of a "stern talking-to." I've lectured quite a bit in college classrooms and have never heard "IS THAT ALL?" at the end (though some may have been thinking that, I don't know).

• 26A: W.W. II battle town (CAEN) — nobody likes the 4-letter WWI-Eurostuff, but at least this was something I'd seen before. Not great, but not EURE, so I'm cool with it.
• 34A: Leader given the posthumous title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (ST. OLAV) — hate OLAV in general because, well, there's always the possibility of OLAF. Also, shouldn't some part of the clue signal the abbreviated "ST."? I'd probably have gone STOLEN or STOLID here, Not sure why a variation on crosswordese was deemed superior.
• 53A: Annie who voiced Bo Peep in "Toy Story" (POTTS) — I have a friend who's weirdly obsessed with her, so her name came right to mind.
• 64A: #1 on VH1's "40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s" (MARKY MARK) — I wouldn't call him that now. It's Mark Wahlberg, thank you very much. Oh, what the hell, let's roll the tape: "Yo! It's about that time / To bring forth / The rhythm and the rhyme!"

• 3D: It rates over 100,000 on the Scoville scale (HABANERO) — forgot what the Scoville scale was about, so I needed several crosses to pick this up. 
• 13D: Dish containing masa (TAMALE) — "masa"= "n. Dough made of dried corn that has been soaked in limewater then rinsed and ground, used especially in tortillas and tamales." I did not know this.
• 42D: Food whose name comes from the Tupi language of South America (TAPIOCA) — didn't realize til just now what a culinary extravaganza this puzzle is. 
• 60D: Setting in "Call of Duty: Black Ops," informally ('NAM) — no idea, but still, easy. Setting, for a war game, abbreviated ... not too tough to figure out. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Hands-in-the-air phrase / SAT 3-17-12 / Secrecy, with "the" / High clouds? / Etiolates / McCarthy cohort / War cry of the '60

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Hard

THEME: Earmuffs!

Word of the Day: SEX TOYS (11D: Stock in an adult store) —

A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals and may be vibrating or non-vibrating. The term can also include BDSM apparatus and sex furniture such as slings, however it is not applied to items such as birth control, pornography, or condoms.
(Wikipedia)

• • •

Hey, SethG here again, filling in while Rex and the gang are in Brooklyn for the ACPT.

So, how do I write about this puzzle? Cannot...must...resist...the urge to...4th grade boys...PORNSTAR (40D: Actor who might grin and bare it?).

You know how sometimes some of the commenters use words from the puzzle to weave together a story that's really just an attempt to incorporate as many words from the puzzle as possible in a story? You know, something about taking your chicken to the store to buy some licorice and a soccer ball and you stop at the mosh pit to tat some lace with Fabio and Carol Channing or something? Well, I defy those commenters to find anything coherent to say here.

Story elements:

• Yoko ONO (61D: Conceptual art pioneer) reading the Marquis DE SADE (49D: "In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice" speaker).
  
• A LATE DATE (62A: Time near the end of a time range) on the
  
• DOWN LOW (43D: Secrecy, with "the")
• with a PORN STAR.
• SEX TOYS.
• POT SMOKE (1A: High clouds?)
  
• and POPping A PILL (1D: Medicate oneself, say).
• Somethings must be SOWED (52A: Spread).
• Someone must PRAISE GOD (46A: Hands-in-the-air phrase).
• Ang LEE (35A: "Brokeback Mountain" director) will direct.
  
• We'll call it ODE TO MAN (65A: Sophocles tribute that begins "Numberless are the world's wonders ...")
• AND...SCENE (41D: Director's cutoff).
  

But your story won't make any sense. No, no sense at all.
Here's a 1985 video:

David Quarfoot is so good.

Aside from the mental story, this was actually very difficult. Much trickier cluing than yesterday, lots of one-word clues, with some flashy entries and some yuckier stuff (STEROL. ILEA. A few others.) to hold it together.

Bullets:

• PPPS is a (23A: Thought after an after-afterthought: Abbr.), while PPPs is more than one PPP. In other words, PPPPPP (46D: Rare dynamic marking seen in Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony). Heh. He said, "P".
  
• I don't know anyone who wears ERMINES (8D: Fur sources). I don't know anyone who wears OTTER (6D: Fur source). Gross.
• I guess if Fantasia is stuff from fantasy, and Oceania is stuff from the ocean, REALIA might be (47D: Objects from everyday life). And this sentence is blogia.
  
• REBEL YELL was a (30A: War cry of the '60s). The 1860s. I was gonna make a comment about how it's also a reference to Ole Miss and how their basketball team was upset yesterday in the tournament, but that was Missouri. (Also, Duke. And Michigan.)
  
  Here's another 1985 video:
  
  
  
  
  
• UPA (39A: ___ tree) used to be the Ultimate Players Association, but now it's USA Ultimate. And the original Frisbee was a PIE TIN (64A: It might have a crust). DISCUS (9A: Ancient pentathlon event)!
  

Good luck in Brooklyn, all.

Signed, SethG, Royal Vizier of CrossWorld

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Tasseographer's bit / SAT 12-3-11 / Other Side of Oz autobiographer / East End abode / County NE of El Paso

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Mission Santa INÉS (55D: California's Mission Santa ___) —

Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez) was founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estévan Tapís, who had succeeded Father Fermín Lasuén as President of the California mission chain. The Mission site was chosen as a midway point between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción, and was designed to relieve overcrowding at those two missions and to serve the Indians living east of the Coast Range. Despite its name, the Mission is located at 1760 Mission Drive, Solvang, California. (wikipedia)

• • •

Well, this was solid, but ... there were no great seed answers and only two high-value Scrabble tiles in the whole thing; which is to say, it wasn't very Quarfooty. When your own name is more visually interesting than every word in your grid, that's not the greatest sign. I breezed through this, helped along by having owned at least one pair of Timberlands in my life—[something] BOOTS was my first guess, and SNOW seemed the most likely lead-in. I also know very well that the UC Irvine athletes are ANTEATERS (63A: UC Irvine athletes). I grew up attending Fresno State basketball games, and UC Irvine was at that point in our conference (the bygone PCAA conference), and so we played the ANTEATERS a lot. UC Santa Cruz is the BANANA SLUGS, by the way. My stepbrother went there. I don't think they have a Div. I basketball team. SNOWBOOTS and ANTEATERS gave me enough purchase to dismantle their respective corners, and everything else was ust very easy to piece together.



I figure that being a constant solver helped me with at least a half dozen words, most notably OTERO (6D: County NE of El Paso) and MUONS (words I would never have encountered were it not for crosswords). Other stuff that came easy through force of habit was ALEROS, DEANE, NCO, SNEE, REUP, ELAL and 'OME (26A: East End abode). Strangely, the one significant hang-up I had in the puzzle was a result of a tiny answer (also the puzzle's weakest answer): -OTE (61D: Taxonomic suffix). I had -ITE. This kept SORE LOSER hidden for an embarrassingly long time. I think I had SO-ELISER and thought "???" But I figured it out. Only other real WTF answer was JUD (50A: "Pore ___ Is Daid" ("Oklahoma!" song)). Had the "J" but that helped just about not at all. JOE? JIM? I figured it would be something close to gibberish, otherwise why go this backwoods idiomatic route in the cluing. The "D" (from RED ROSE—40D: Aid when going to court), was probably the last letter I wrote into the grid. Did this one on paper, for a change—a skill I'm going to have to improve on if I want to have any hope of doing better than 31st at next year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which you can now register for. Details here.

Bullets:

• 17A: Grammy-winning pianist born in the U.S.S.R. (EMANUEL AX) — needed a bunch of crosses, but eventually figured it out. I have a few CDs on which he plays. That's one hell of a last name. 

• 38A: Saqqara attractions (PYRAMIDS) — now there's a crossword answer for you: SAQQARA (featuring the rarely, i.e. never, seen double-Q)
• 3D: Song that ends "Protégera nos foyers et nos droits" ("O CANADA") — which, roughly translated, means "protect our foyers and our rights"; it's all about preventing home invasions, that song.
• 7D: Group that sang the 1962 hit "The Wah Watusi," with "the" (ORLONS) — how did I know this??? I got it off the "O"; I think it must be the Rolling Stone rock & roll trivia magazine that's sitting in our bathroom right now. I remember staring at some question that asked me to guess which of a set of groups *wasn't* a real '60s singing group, and I feel like the ORLONS was on the list.
• 8D: Tasseographer's bit (TEA LEAF) — thought maybe this had something to do with tessellation, but no.
• 12D: 2000 terrorist target (USS COLE) — I'm a bit surprised this clue is in here. NYT tends to steer clear of downers like terrorism (and disease, many body parts, etc.). I think it's a perfectly good clue. 
• 39D: Company sold in 2006 for $1.65 billion—21 months after it was founded (YOUTUBE) — I love their work. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Fictional character whose first name is Kentaro / SAT 10-1-11 / One vertex of Summer Triangle / Movie genre food staple / Transportation Sugar Hill 1941 song

Constructor: David Quarfoot

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: ZYNGA (26D: Company behind the popular social network games FarmVille and CityVille) —

Zynga (/ˈzɪŋɡə/) is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace. (wikipedia)

• • •

Another gorgeous grid from Mr. Quarfoot, though it's so stacked with proper nouns (brands and names and pop culture and what not) that it might prove infuriating for some. STYRO is the only real clunker I see here (29D: Commercial prefix since the 1950s). Well, A CALL's not great, but those are very small prices to pay for such a lively, contemporary, edgy grid. SEX SCENEs! BOOB JOBs! (11D: Growing concern for a surgeon, informally?) Very LATE NITE. I found the puzzle hard to get into, but once I was in, I was able to make steady if slowish progress straight through — strangely, I didn't once have to reboot (i.e. start over in a new section where I had nothing). I just built on crosses, in both directions from my point of origin, until I surrounded that damn NW corner and finished things off in a well-within-normal-range Saturday time. Still, I think this might play slightly harder than average, given the preponderance of names. Initial times at the NYT site seem a little sluggish.




Started with very little (most of it wrong). Had SAT instead of ETS and SSN instead of SGT (that last one was a colossal misread) (38A: E-5: Abbr.). Finally broke through by giving JET LI a shot at 31D: "Romeo Must Die" actor, 2000. I can't remember a thing about "Romeo Must Die"—my memory has it starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin—but for some reason JET LI was pushing his way to the front of my mind, and I liked where it put that "J"—in position to give me a last name starting with "J" at 30A: Flying Dutchman captain of film (DAVY JONES). Guessed JONES and got A-TRAIN (12D: Transportation to Sugar Hill, in a 1941 song) and ASSETS from there. Rest of the NE was easy. From there I went down and clockwise. Later returned to DAVY JONES and worked counterclockwise until I was done. NW was maddening because I've never heard of GOD'S ARMY (3D: Side in an epic battle), so even when I got ARMY, I was confused. Also, I had ---RANK and could think of only SITE and NAME as possible fill. "PERMIT ME" seemed too polite for the more pushy-sounding clue 1D: "Step aside, I'll help" and I'd never heard of MXS (hmmm ... I guess I've heard the phrase "MX missle" before ...), so there was lots of trouble up there. The "S" in GOD'S ARMY / MXS was the last thing into the grid.



Considered ODETS before ALBEE at 20A: "The Play About the Baby" playwright. Took a while to see LA PAZ (25A: City of the Altiplano). Only got MR. MOTO because I allowed myself to imagine that 1D ("PERMIT ME") ended with ME, thereby supplying the first "M" (32A: Fictional character whose first name is Kentaro). Lots of movies and sports and song and television. Was unaware Danny GLOVER had played Mandela (64A: He played Mandela on TV's "Mandela"). Was unaware (or forgot) that ANKA was Canadian. Took much longer than I should have to come up with the crosswordy movie genre named for a food staple. As with OATERS, I know DENEB only from crosswords (34A: One vertex of the Summer Triangle). I know Senator Dick LUGAR, but had no idea he co-sponsored legislation with President Obama (57A: ___-Obama Proliferation and Threat Reduction Initiative (2007 law)). NAGANO is one of those Olympics sites that I easily forget, but it was referred to on some show I watch recently, so it was fresh in my mind (49D: Olympics site that introduced snowboarding). Weird how puzzles can come together by happenstance. The SW corner felt like that—I mean, didn't believe DEER could possibly be the answer to 56D: Bucks and bucks, but imagining the "D" in place allowed me to guess (tentatively) SCROD, which then (off just the "C") (55A: North Atlantic catch) got me UNCOLA (47D: Beverage nickname, with "the"). That corner was done inside of a minute. Just ... lucky guesses. All that luck was offset in the NW, where I struggled mightily, but the overall experience was just as it should be on a Saturday—a tough and entertaining 10-15 minutes (closer to 15 today).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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