Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Eugene W. Sard

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: pessimism / optimism / apathy

What an odd theme. I guess it works OK. The most interesting aspect of this puzzle, however, is not its theme, but its handful of very cool compound answers. What in the world is a SEA SCOUT (20A: Waterborne youth group member)?! Where do these scout troops exist? East coast? West coast? I love the term, even though it feels entirely fictional to me. I also like CAT TOY (25A: Stuffed mouse, maybe), primarily because the clue sounds like an option on a very exotic dinner menu, while remaining completely non-UNAPT (52D: Not suitable). Lastly, there's SPYHOP (45A: Springing bounce in tall grasses, as by an animal, to view the surroundings), which is one of my favorite new words of the year. I had everything but the "P," briefly considered SKYHOP, and then eventually figured it all out. Something about the image that SPYHOP conjures up is just ... adorable, I think. These three answers alone make the puzzle eminently worthwhile.

Theme answers:

17A: Is pessimistic (expects the worst)
38A: Is optimistic (hopes for the best)
60A: Is apathetic (couldn't care less)

Miscellanea:

14A: Exotic jelly flavor (guava) - I thought this said "jelly bean flavor" at first; the answer would be appropriate in either case.
16A: Boston suburb (Lynn) - not too familiar to me, but I think I've seen it before. Wife says that the name LYNN came up a lot in the labor histories she had to read in grad school.
29A: Diving bird (auk) - first of all, I just love this bird's name. Up there with SKUA and ERNE in my "favorite crossword birds" list. But I like AUK even more today because it intersects WOUK (19D: Captain Queeg's creator). AUK WOUK, AUK WOUK ... looks like some Inuit language, or a sound R2D2 might make.
43A: Hobby knife brand (Xacto) - fabulous-looking word, one which I'm surprised I haven't seen more often.
41A: Eliot of the Untouchables (Ness) - eerie timing on this one, given what happened to Eliot "Ness" Spitzer yesterday. I just Freudianly typoed NESS as NEXX.
62A: March plaything (kite) - little known fact: it's illegal to play with KITEs in any other month. Only March (...?).
1D: Dark _____ (Ages) - evidence that this house is overly saturated with Harry Potter: I had Dark ARTS.
2D: Elegance (luxe) - really don't like this word (as an English word - it's perfectly good as a French word).
4D: Forum greetings (aves) - something about this makes me laugh, and honestly, I don't know why. I think maybe friends and I may have used this "greeting" facetiously when we were learning Latin in grad school. I know I am a nerd; there's no need to point out the obvious.
5D: Masked scavengers (raccoons) - you do know they aren't really wearing masks, right?
25D: "Love and Marriage" lyricist Sammy (Cahn) - I never can remember if it's CAHN or COHN. For better or worse, this song is irrevocably associated with the opening credits of "Married, With Children" in my mind.