Gaff to fisherman / TUE 12-7-10 / Event that may include blue films / Sock hop locale / Mournful peal / Sheep's accuser

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels & Kent Clayton

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: FOOTBALL MATCH-UP (39A: Bit of Sunday TV scheduling ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 50- and 59-Across) — theme answers are punning phrases made out of two NFL team player names.


Word of the Day: JARED Leto (50D: Actor Leto of "American Psycho") —

Jared Joseph Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Fight Club; Girl, Interrupted; Panic Room; American Psycho; Alexander; Requiem for a Dream; Lord of War; Mr. Nobody and Chapter 27. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars and has directed music videos under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins (a name borrowed from Dr. Seuss' The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins). (wikipedia)

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I'm almost certain I've seen this theme before ... which is exactly what I said the last time I saw this theme, it turns out. Discovered it with the first theme answer, and felt somewhat deflated thereafter. Grid is clean, long Downs are interesting (which I'd expect from an early-week pro like Andrea), but the theme is tired, so my overall enjoyment level was not very high. One thing I did like—the puzzle felt very contemporary. As I was solving, my software program showed only "... Kent Clayton" as the constructor, and I thought "this is someone very young" (in a good way). Puzzle seemed to draw quite a bit from contemporary popular culture (the ZACH clue in particularly made me think this—47A: Galifianakis of "The Hangover"; Mr. Galifianakis seems to be everywhere these days, including "Bored to Death," an HBO series created by Jonathan Ames, who is himself a crossword fan ... but I digress). At least three actors—ZACH, JARED, KATE—and a TV personality—MCGRAW—plus NANU (14A: Half of Mork's sign-off) ... plus two more actors—MIA and KEACH— give this puzzle an entertainmenty vibe. Light, airy, easy, fine.



Theme answers:

• 17A: Governor in Austin? (CHIEF TEXAN)
  
• 25A: Unwelcome result of a shopping sprees? (GIANT BILL)
  
• 50A: Airport baggage handler? (JET PACKER)
  
• 59A: Sheep's accuser? (RAM CHARGER)
  

Surely there are more of these—[Sam Adams after a week in Aruba?]=BROWN PATRIOT. Actually, most of the rest of the NFL is animals, which makes changing context of names less easy.

Had most of my trouble at 20A: Come together. GELL? MELD? KNIT? No, MEET.

Bullets:

• 21A: Card player's boo-boo (MISDEAL) — I put in MISPLAY, which is manifestly wrong.
  
• 45A: Sock hop locale (GYM) — For some reason I stared at G-M for several seconds. "Oh ... GYM!"

• 32D: Even that may include blue films (STAG PARTY) — my favorite answers of the day. So audaciously manly, running as it does through a baseball answer, a football answer, a GYM, and another football answer.
  
• 13D: Mournful peal (KNELL) — thought this was some strange word when I mistakenly had MISPLAY in place and thought it ended -YL. "IDDYL?" No, just KNELL. Both "peal" and "knell" are ripe for punning, in case you wanna make a Monday/Tuesday puzzle of your own.
• 38D: Gaff, to a fisherman (SPEAR) — I thought a "gaff" was a hook ... looks like it's actually a pole with a hook at the end. OK.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

PS nice feature on Crossword Champ Dan Feyer in the Times, here.

PPS ... this, from my favorite celebrity crossword solver (it's a *little* raunchy, so just ... be warned):

Prenatal Pole Dancing DVD from Christina Applegate

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Cartoonist Browne — MONDAY, Nov. 2 2009 — Jetsam's partner / Rochester's beloved governess / Head of a major toy outfit

Constructors: Andrea Carla Michaels and Kent Clayton

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "BELIEVE IT OR NOT" (51A: Ripley catchphrase that's apropos to 20-, 34- and 42-Across) — theme answers are all holiday-related creatures that adults trick kids into believing are real

Word of the Day: DIK Browne (23A: Cartoonist Browne) — Dik Browne (August 11, 1917 – June 4, 1989) was born Richard Arthur Allan Browne in New York City. He was a popular cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing Hägar the Horrible and for drawing Hi and Lois.

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A simple and lovely puzzle. Was thinking as I moved through it that a. the fill seemed solid all round and b. there seemed to be some kind of kid/toy theme going on. I was going too quickly to catch the theme, and with HASBRO (9D: Owner of Scrabble) and THE EASTER BUNNY already in the grid I hit the odd clue 42A: Head of a major toy outfit and had no clue what to do with it. "F.A.O. Schwarz!?" Had to get the theme and then come back to it. I like that this puzzle has ACTOR in the NE (16A: Thespian), as any of the theme answers a child might actually have seen in his/her life would have been played by one. I also like the way HASBRO is clued, as at least one of today's constructors is a competitive Scrabble player.

Theme answers:

• 20A: Spring egg distributor (The Easter Bunny)
• 34A: One who leaves money under a pillow (Tooth Fairy) — problem here: you've given EASTER BUNNY a "THE," but failed to give one to TOOTH FAIRY. Either they both get one or neither gets one. This is the only real flaw in today's puzzle, but it's kinda big. Really really surprised that kind of inconsistency was allowed to fly.
• 42A: Head of a major toy outfit (Santa Claus) — does not need a "THE," thankfully.

There were perhaps one too many partials today, especially since they were likely unnecessary (i.e. in little corners of the grid where constructors would have had a lot of leeway with fill). EYE ON, TO AN, AN OUT ... I wouldn't want more than one partial in my Monday grid unless there were really, really good cause (brilliant fill that couldn't be pulled off any other way, for instance).

Bullets:

• 30A: Jetsam's partner (flotsam) — one of several wonderful answers today; also in the group are HASBRO, KARACHI (44A: Largest city in Pakistan), ABDOMEN (43D: What situps tighten up), and FROTH (30D: Possible sign of rabies), though the clues on the last two felt a bit off, somehow. I'd say ABS or ABDOMINALS in response to the 43D clue, and while "frothing at the mouth" is certainly a rabies sign, simple FROTH feels like an odd fit. There's FROTH on my cappuccino.
• 8D: _____ Best of the pre-Ringo Beatles (Pete) — Andrea loves her Beatles, so we'll end with this.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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