THURSDAY, Jun. 28, 2007 - Joseph Crowley

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Colorful" - five Looooooong theme answers: four contain colors and the fifth contains the word RAINBOW

I loved this puzzle, though it was the easiest Thursday puzzle I've solved in a long time (7 minutes flat, which is pretty fast for me). I can't remember seeing a puzzle where the great majority (here, 80%) of the theme answers were 15 letters long. Amazing. And stacked in two stacks of two, no less. Stacked, I say! Fabulous. And even with such heavy theme demands, the puzzle does not suffer in its non-theme fill - all fine entries, a little on the easy side, with only one answer I'd never seen before. My favorite crossing in the puzzle, for no explainable reason, is RABBI (28D: Harry Kemelman sleuth David Small, e.g.) v. BJORK (42A: Oscar-nominated Icelandic singer). Favorite misparsing: I SOUR (for IS OUR - 33A: "A Mighty Fortress _____ God" (hymn)).


Theme answers:

• 14A: Colorful opening course (mixed green salad)
• 17A: Colorful spread (orange marmalade)
• 37A: With 39-Across, colorful dessert (rainbow / sherbet)
• 61A: Colorful breakfast food (blueberry muffin)
• 64A: Colorful entree (red beans and rice)

I started the puzzle strong, guessing (correctly) on 1A: Greta Garbo, by birth (Swede) and easily getting the next answer over, 6A: Title name after the lyric "What's it all about when you sort it out" ("Alfie") - I'm a big Burt Bachrach fan (see also my affection for DION(N)E Warwick, below). Remind me to tell you about seeing him in concert a few years ago in Minnesota. . .

I tripped over FER (8D: _____-de-lance) thinking it was FEU (!?). LEASERS (7D: Not owners) and I WON'T (33D: Obstreperous child) both felt very wrong, but ended up working out. I loved seeing DWEEB (45D: Nerd), and, being one, got it with no crosses. For once I was able to handle a moon of Saturn with relatively little difficulty. I like DIONE (45A: Moon of Saturn) because it resembles two of my favorite singers, DIONNE (Warwick) and DION. Never ever heard of REVERSI (43D: Game on an 8 x 8 board), but it sounds and looks nice, and considering there are no other obscurities in this puzzle, I'll accept it. And though ESAU (10D: "_____ Wood would saw wood..." (part of a classic tongue twister)) is tired, ENOS (19A: "The Dukes of Hazzard" deputy) is never unwelcome, as you know. Actually, that ESAU clue is the most entertaining, and possibly the most desperate, attempt I've ever seen to spruce up decrepit fill.

That is all.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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