Central courtyards / WED 11-27-19 / Dreamcast maker of old / Diktat / Sci-fi sighting

Hi, everyone! It's Clare. I'm coming to ya a day later than usual because it was Rex's birthday yesterday. (Happy birthday, Rex!) And, to all of you: Happy almost Turkey Day! I know I'm planning on making lots and lots of pies and bread rolls and mashed potatoes. (Carbs for the win.) Studying for finals can wait a few days, right? Anywho, doing a write-up on a Wednesday is gonna be a bit different for me, but here it goes!

Constructors: Jeff Chen and Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Pretty challenging for a Wednesday

THEME: GROWTH POTENTIAL (55A: Ability of a company to expand ...  or a hint to this puzzle's theme) and POT (65A: Herb garden vessel ... as depicted four times by black squares in this puzzle) — Black squares in the puzzle represent pots that have circled letters sitting in them that spell out "seed," which have the potential to grow into herbs that are shown in the shaded squares.

Theme answers:

• PECCADILLOES (2D: Minor indiscretions)
• MESSAGE BOARD (10D: Where trolls may lurk)
• ARCHIVE SITE (23D: Where records of old web pages can be accessed)
• IM IN THE ZONE (24D: Declaration from someone on a hot streak)

Word of the Day: Lenya LOTTE (17A: Singer/actress Lenya)

Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her first husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language cinema, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a jaded aristocrat in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). She also played the murderous and sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963). (Wiki)

• • •

I wish I had nice things to say for my first time writing for a Wednesday, but... I don't... I generally like when constructors try to be creative with the theme and the structure, but I felt like this theme just didn't work. There was so much going on with the seeds — well, "seed," but that's a different issue — and growth potential and the pots and the structure that I felt it got too chaotic. Trying to figure out how to write the above description for the theme was legitimately the hardest part of this write-up and the hardest time I've ever had describing a theme. Overall, my biggest gripe was that the picture in the grid as the theme created some ugly fill. Sure, there were some nice, long downs in the puzzle, but the black pots or whatever they were created a lot of ugly three-letter fill, especially in the bottom of the puzzle. It's like the constructors tried to throw every single possible three-letter crossword-y word into the mix. (See: GAP; RHO; OAT; AHA; POT; IMP; ABE; LAW; MBA; PEW).

I also feel like there should be some sort of dictionary for how to consistently spell words in crosswords. It seems like there should be, oh, I don't know, an editor or something whose job it is to create a generic style. Like, I definitely think that NAN (25A: Tandoori bread) should be spelled "naan" every time. When I Google "nan brea," it even suggests I spell it like "naan" instead and only gives me results to spell it that way. Also, I think that UPSY daisy (18A) is much more commonly spelled like "oopsy daisy" or "oopsie daisy." Mostly, I'd really just love some consistency.

Misc.:

• In my opinion, VAN GOGH is the best artist ever. Side note: I highly recommend watching the episode of "Doctor Who" about Van Gogh ("Vincent and the Doctor"). You will cry in the final scene (where Van Gogh gets to travel to present day to see the impact he's had).
• I enjoyed the little "legal" bits of the puzzle with PLEA at 15A and LAW at 61D.
• FIAT (53A: Diktat) is something other than a car? Who knew?

With that, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Signed, Clare Carroll, an excited Thanksgiving baker

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Actress Marsay of Game of Thrones / FRI 10-4-19 / Aspirations for group of friends / Warsaw Pact member west of Poland / Legislative landmark of '10 / Director Irwin famous for disaster films / Unoriginal as comedian / Hangout for Fonz

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Medium to Medium-Challenging? (felt crunchy, but I solved untimed on paper, so not sure)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: Irwin ALLEN (25D: Director Irwin famous for disaster films) —

Irwin Allen (June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. His most successful productions were The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He also created and produced the popular 1960s science fiction television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. (wikipedia)

• • •

Lots of good stuff in here, but let's start with beefs. It's OUTDOOR CAT, it really is, it just is, google it (in quot. marks). It's soooo much OUTDOOR CAT that when I was entering all the answers into the software so I could post the above grid (having already completed the puzzle on paper), just doing all the Acrosses in order, I casually and confidently wrote in OUTDOOR CAT. Again, I had solved the puzzle and entered the "correct" OUTSIDE CAT, but when transferring the answers to e- form, my brain would not let me write OUTSIDE CAT, because my brain knows better. I am overstating my objection here, but only slightly. Exact phrase >>>> defensible phrase, every time. Le(s) mot(s) juste(s)! Next beef: "Game of Thrones" actors. Please stop assuming that literally every name attached to this show, characters and cast, is fair game for crosswords. "Game of Thrones" is the new "Ally McBeal" in that when I started blogging in the mid-late '00s, the crossword was still asking me to know a ridiculous amount about this show and its cast even though it had been off the air since '02. Actually, that's a good comparison only in terms of how annoying I found the clues. In terms of volume, "GOT" clues outnumber mid/late-'00s "Ally McBeal" clues by far. I don't like this attempt to bring alleged freshness to a puzzle by just inserting "name of actor on some currentish TV show." I don't even know the names of actors on the TV shows I *do* watch. Oooh, by the way, the star of the new show "Stumptown" on ABC is named COBIE (Smulders), and since we all know that now, I think her name is cool, so you can go ahead and put it in your puzzles, thanks (and she plays a character named DEX! Seriously, have at it!).


1A: Aspirations for a group of friends (SQUAD GOALS) already feels dated to me. Very 2017. I'm sure it still has a currency, but I wonder if any other extremely online people got a slight retro vibe off this answer. Like maybe the puzzle has been sitting for a while? (Here's a "What Does SQUAD GOALS Mean?" article from 2015). Anyway, SQUAD GOALS was a gimme, and usually 1A gimmes portend fast solves, but not so much today. The number of writeovers I had was impressive. The very first thing I wrote in after SQUAD GOALS was, in fact, wrong (SLOE for SODA at 1D: Gin fizz ingredient). Had the GR- at 32D: Mill fill (GRAIN) and wrote in GRIST. Had the P- at 26D: Inflation fig. (PSI) and wrote in PCT. Had the P- at 47D: What an out-of-shape person might do while exercising (PUFF) and wrote in PANT (of course I wrote in PANT, yeesh ... stoners PUFF). Hey, I got news for you: *in*-shape people PUFF when they exercise. That's How You Know You're Exercising! What the hell? Leave the "out-of-shape" out of this. Anyway, as I say, wrong answers Everywhere. HELLCAT instead of HELLION (20A: Wild troublemaker), perhaps because this book is literally sitting within view as I type this:

I RUE THE DAY felt off, as "rue the day" seems very much like something *you'll* do, or *he'll* do, or *she'll* do, or *they'll* do. That is, it seems part of a prediction/threat. Yes, you could say, in some exceedingly quaint way, "I RUE THE DAY I met you" or whatever, but I had IRUE- at the front of that answer and my only thought was "well I've got an error, I guess" (27D: Expression of regret). The ITEM in LOST ITEM was verrrrry anti-climactic, in that I had LOST and thought "LOST what?! what will it be!? what is the lost item!?" And it was just ... item (21D: Something that might be turned in to security). The Spanish don't have their own constellations, (the stars belong to all of us!) so the cluing there on OSA was very weird (reminder: don't get cute with your worst fill, please) (55D: ___ Mayor (Spanish constellation)). There is very little that is irksome about the grid, per se. The long answers are all solid, if not exciting, and the short stuff is in no way offensively HACKY. I didn't love this, but it was a worthy effort, for sure, and I enjoyed the struggle, mostly. Today I learned that Sirius is a binary star! Have a nice day!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. ACA is the Affordable Care Act, in case that wasn't clear (8D: Legislative landmark of '10)
P.P.S. it's GO space AT (50D: Charge). GO AT. Not GOAT.

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Churchill's successor in 1955 / THU 7-18-19 / Churchill's successor in 1945 / Hindu protector of universe / Backstory for TV's Magnum / Bean nharvested by Aztecs / 1986 music memoir / Egyptian protector of tombs / Fall of Troy escapee / Tesfaye real name of singer Weeknd / What ! can mean computer programming

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Easy (4:24 at 5 in the a.m.)

THEME: two-letter words >>> two-letter initialisms — familiar phrases clued as if one of the two-letter words in that phrase is really two initials:

Theme answers:

• THE WIZARD OF I.D. (20A: Bouncer who can always spot a fake?)
• LIFE OF P.I. (30A: Backstory for T.V.'s Magnum?)
• I.M. A BELIEVER (35A: Advice for how the pope can reach out online?)
• THIS IS U.S. (42A: Statement before "... and that's Canada!"?)
• SOME LIKE I.T. HOT (53A: Certain people prefer their computer specialists to be attractive?)

Word of the Day: Julián CASTRO (1D: Democratic politico Julián) —

Julián Castro (/ˌhuːliˈɑːn/ HOO-lee-AHN, Spanish: [xuˈljan]; born September 16, 1974) is an American Democratic politician who was the youngest member of President Obama's Cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017.

Castro served as the mayor of his native San Antonio, Texas from 2009 until he joined Obama's cabinet in 2014. He was mentioned as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Castro is the twin brother of Congressman Joaquin Castro.

On January 12, 2019, Castro launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020 in San Antonio. (wikipedia)

• • •

I think the only thing that truly slowed me down today was the stunned, blinking surprise I had on discovering that ... that was it. It's just a two-letter word imagined as a two-letter initialism. The End. Feels like it should've been a Wednesday theme. Certainly my solving time was more Wednesday than Thursday. Pretty basic, pretty old-fashioned, pretty generic, but OK. The themers actually mildly amused me. Well, THE WIZARD OF I.D. did—that one's smashing. And THIS IS U.S. still has me smiling, primarily because of the clue, which is completely absurd. I always say, if you're gonna go wacky, go big or go home, and "big" can include "flat-out ridiculous." Honestly, just trying to imagine the context in which anyone would say this answer and then go "... and that's Canada!" (exclamation point!) is pretty entertaining. Probably not great to have IT in the grid (31D: IS IT?) when "IT" is one of your central themer words. Also, "I'M" is bugging me as a base word. It's a contraction. Feels ... off. Like cheating. I'm not being fair, there, as I'M is clearly a word and clearly has two letters, but somehow the apostrophe's being in there makes it an outlier in my eyes. Biggest actual solving struggle today was APTNO (8A: Metropolitan address abbr.). "Metropolitan" threw me, and also ... isn't the abbr. usu. just APT.? Do you really write out "APT. NO. 2B?" At one point my brain wanted APTWO (it was thinking "apt. 2," to the extent that it was thinking at all). Also, the cross there (NOT) did NOT mean anything to me (11D: What "!" can mean in computer programming).


Five things:

• 24A: Cinephile's channel (TCM) — I'm so used to the NYTXW's getting this wrong that I actually wrote in the wrong answer, TMC, at first. TCM is in fact the correct answer to this clue. No one even watches The Movie Channel, do they?

• 5A: Projecting arm of a crane (JIB) — just learned this from some other puzzle I just did. Also wasn't at all sure I remembered it correctly and had to use all the crosses to confirm it.
• 49D: Half-laugh (TITTER) — I thought "well at least it's too long to be TE(E) or HEE." 
• 36D: What B and C (but not A) may represent (ELEMENTS) — my god I'm bad at these types of clues. It's a stock clue type, and my only hope is just hacking the crosses until a word appears.
• 35D: Biometric reading (IRIS SCAN) — I wrote in IRIS SIZE ... I figured it was something like ... measuring pupil dilation? ... maybe? ... anyway, I was looking for a specific measurable, not a reading *type*.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Theme song of Milton Berle / SUN 3-11-18 / One-named Swedish singer with grammy-nominated song Dancing on My Own / Hebrew for My God My God / Start of Yale's motto / Alternative to boeuf jambon / 2000s corporate scandal subject / Modest two-piece swimsuit

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Challenging (my time was really high, I don't exactly know why)

THEME: "If Found, Call ..." — a LOST DOG puzzle (1A: Heading on a neighborhood poster). Half the theme answers are imagined LOST DOG poster messages from fictional people, with a hint to where the LOST DOG can be found in brackets at the end. Other half of the theme answers contain the LOST DOG names, i.e. the names of the dogs are embedded inside the answers (in circled squares):

Theme answers:

• DOROTHY GALE (28A: Last seen riding in a basket. If found, call ___ [see 106-Across]) / 106A: Proceed enthusiastically (GO TO TOWN)
• THE DARLINGS (44A: Last seen in the nursery. If found, call ___ [see 84-Across]) / 84A:  Pretend (PUT ON AN ACT)
• LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE (64A: Last seen with a red-haired girl. If found, call ___ [see 119-Across]) / 119A: Algebraic variables (XS AND YS)
• NICK AND NORA (86A: Last seen chasing down clues. If found, call ___ [see 24-Across]) / 24A: "1984" superstate (EAST ASIA)
• JON ARBUCKLE (100A: Last seen being mocked by a cat. If found, call ___ [see 46-Across]) / 46A: One who can't keep weight off for long (YO-YO DIETER)

Word of the Day: BANNS (72D: Marriage announcement) —

noun

1. a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church, announcing an intended marriage and giving the opportunity for objections. (google) ["objections," LOL]

• • •

This is definitely one of the cleverer Sunday themes I've seen in a while, but for whatever reason, I could not find the handle. It took me a dog's age to finally understand the theme. I moved through the grid without getting a single theme answer for the longest time. Eventually stumbled into LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE because I got the back end of it, and the clue had "red-haired girl" in it. At that point, I had No Idea that 1A: LOST DOG was theme material. Even after that, I still flailed. Eventually got PUT ON AN ACT, and then XS AND YS, which gave me the connection to LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE, and thank god it did—this is one of the rare times that I actually had to *use* my knowledge of the theme to solve the damned puzzle. I wrote in ODIE and ASTA because I already had their owners somewhere in the grid, so I knew those dogs were "missing." And man did I need that help, because YO-YO DIETER and EAST ASIA were not about to fall on their own. I had so much trouble all around those answers—around YO-YO-DIETER because of so many wrong answers in the crosses, and around EAST ASIA because ... I just couldn't get anything in there. I had TSA in the NE, and (tentatively) SEND on the west side of that NE section, and a whole lotta nothing in between. PEI? LOL, like I know what or where Charlottetown is. ONT seemed so much more likely. [High land] was way too generic for me to get NEPAL, [Snares] too vague for me to get ENTANGLES, and PHAEDRA!? Ha, I have read the damn Racine play (Phèdre) and still had no memory of her being the [Sister of Ariadne]. EMOTE, no shot (51A: Scream or bawl, e.g.). BIG TOE, no shot (34D: Hallux, more familiarly). ELI ELI (!?!?!), no shot (9D: Hebrew for "My God! My God!"). I still don't think I get ELECT (26A: Power up?). Somehow that phrase relates to giving someone power by electing them? Too clever by 3/4. Still, again, theme = good.


Deadly mistakes. NECK TIE for SILK TIE (43D: Dressy accessory). BUSH I for DUBYA (28D: 43)—that damned "U" from UNO'S (36A: Pizzeria chain, casually) was the only letter I had ... but I realize now that GWB is BUSH II, not BUSH I. Ugh. STOP BY for STOP AT (75D: Visit during a trip). Wanted CINEMA for SCREEN (96D: Moviedom). Totally baffled by 87D: Love all around? (NO SCORE). And "A TALE"?? OK, I'm supposed to know that? (79D: Subtitle of Hawthorne's "Fanshawe"). I barely even know what "Fanshawe" is. I have an English Ph.D. If A TALE were at all good fill, this kind of insanely obscure cluing wouldn't bother me quite so much. Not much to like in the puzzle besides the theme, but the theme is undeniably solid. I wish I'd enjoyed myself more, but I at least respect this puzzle's concept, which (again) is much more than I can say for recent Sunday offerings.

[this is soooo weird, but in a great way—a cover of The Roches]

My "good thing" recommendation* this week is an app for sports fans called The Athletic. My crossword friend, baseball writer Diane Firstman, turned me onto The Athletic as a place where a sports fan could get insightful articles without all of the clickbait / advertising nonsense that often comes with sports sites on line. The layout / organization of the site is clean and clear, and the writing is strong and informative. You can customize it easily so that it will show you the news you want, by sport, team, or region. It's a very convenient, non-shouty, non-stupid way to get my sports info. This is especially important during baseball season, when I need to stay informed but don't want to enter the dumb, hype-driven, male-dominated egofest that is so much sports reporting (did I mention that two of the primary Detroit Tigers writers for The Athletic are women?). Anyway, there's this beautiful little "A" on my phone and I punch it every time I have a few minutes to spare and don't want to get sucked into social media. It's a subscription app (you get what you pay for!), and so far it has been Beyond worth it. I really read them and they're really good. OK, bye.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

*genuine Rex opinion / not a paid ad

P.S. holy moly, I know BANNS very well because I studied medieval / Renaissance English literature, but it's not exactly well known now, and Who The Hell Knows "NEAR YOU"? What I am saying is, my condolences to the very many of you who undoubtedly went with BANDS / "DEAR YOU," which is a completely reasonable guess, what with, you know, wedding BANDS being actual things and all...

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Onetime Dr Pepper rival / MON 1-1-18 / Some canadian petroleum deposits / Trammps torch song / Letter shaped girders

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday ... it's over-sized, so maybe it's just Medium)

THEME: "torch songs" — famous song titles that in some way involve "fire" are clued as "torch songs" ...

Theme answers:

• "BLAZE OF GLORY" (17A: Jon Bon Jovi torch song?)
• "BURNING LOVE" (29A: Elvis Presley torch song?)
• "ETERNAL FLAME" (36A: Bangles torch song?)
• "LIGHT MY FIRE" (45A: The Doors torch song?)
• "DISCO INFERNO" (59A: The Trammps torch song?) 

Word of the Day: "Inside LLEWYN Davis" (39D: "Inside ___ Davis" (Coen brothers film)) —

Inside Llewyn Davis /ˈluː.ɪn deɪvɪs/ is a 2013 American black comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakthrough role, a folk singer struggling to achieve musical success while keeping his life in order. It co-stars Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, and Justin Timberlake. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a solid idea. The "torch song" thing, with its winky little "?" clues, is cute. Nice play on the word "torch." This set of themers feels awfully loose—a bunch of nouns that are rough synonyms for "fire" (incl. "fire" itself) and then the adjectival outlier "burning." Also, the Trammps!? I mean, everyone knows the song "DISCO INFERNO," but the Trammps? Despite knowing the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack like the back of my hand, I had no idea who the Trammps were. All the other musical acts are phenomenally famous, so once again, we have an outlier themer. But it's Monday, and the theme is probably tight *enough*, and certainly the song "DISCO INFERNO" is iconic *enough*, so OK. If you sat on this theme for a bit, you could probably eventually come up with a better set of answers—maybe a set that doesn't force you to go 16 wide with your grid?—but who knows? Not great, but good enough.


There is a problem, though, with grid construction. Those NE / SW corners are ridiculously enormous, which make the puzzle a. slightly tougher than a Monday should be, and b. slightly rougher (fill-wise) than a Monday should be. HAR / ENE / STD—that's the dregs at the bottom of your BELEAGUERED SW corner. In the opposite corner, ICE CAVE is "???" and GAGSTER is almost literally painful. Grid construction is tough business, and this grid has resulted in a certain level of unfortunateness. Things I would try desperately to cut from my own grids: ONLOAN, AAAA, PFC, HAR, ENE, IBEAMS, OYS, DHL, OMS, ICECAVE, GAGSTER, SHH, ANAT. Also OIL SANDS, but mostly just 'cause I barely know what those are. That answer definitely made this harder. But OIL SANDS isn't bad per se. The other stuff, OK, maybe I couldn't ultimately kill off all of it, but seriously, it should Eat At You, when there's that much crud in your grid. Publishing stuff like this just encourages constructorial complacency. Oh, and LLEWYN ... I'm calling foul there, too. I get that that was a fairly major movie, but good lord, Welsh, forget about it. In my head I heard "Loo ell ynn" and so ... yeah, that was all just crosses. In short—fine theme, not a good enough reason to go 16 wide, grid oddly built, which encouraged more junk fill than anyone wants to see. OK. So, first puzzle of 2018 gets a low pass. Coulda been worse!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS crossing INFERNO and INFER? No. 

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Meringue-based dessert name for ballerina / SAT 12-23-17 / Bygone can opener / Drug sought by Roy Cohn in Angels in America / Discuss thickness with doctor

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: PAVLOVA (13D: Meringue-based dessert named for a ballerina) —

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.^[1] It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside, usually topped with fruit and whipped cream. The name is pronounced /pævˈloʊvə/, or like the name of the dancer, which was /ˈpɑːvləvə/. // The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years. In 2008, Helen Leach published The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, in which she argued that the earliest known recipe was published in New Zealand. Later research by Andrew Wood and Annabelle Utrecht suggested the dessert originated in the United States and was based on an earlier German dish. The dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both Australia and New Zealand, and with its simple recipe, is frequently served during celebratory and holiday meals. It is a dessert most identified with the summer time and popularly eaten during that period including at Christmas time, however it is also eaten all year round in many Australian and New Zealand homes. (wikipedia)

• • •

Another one that hangs together fine but is not terribly exciting. This one has some very weak joints and (despite CHANCE THE RAPPER), an oldish frame of reference. Not "oldish" in the sense of "appealing to older solvers" (although that may be true, who know), but "oldish" in the sense of "omg I haven't seen SATRAP(S) or MRE(S) in a puzzle in ages." Basically, the puzzle is totally OK with fill that was mostly totally OK 20 years ago, but now shouts "don't use me!" I have no idea how someone can look at DAR alongside AINU and think "... it's fine. It's fine. My beautiful baby corner is fine." One or the other of those somewhere in the grid (preferably a grid that didn't have much *other* short garbage in it) is fine. But DAR / AINU as a team!? And the only thing they're holding up is ... TENANTS and ON TRUST and (zzz) STUDIO EXECUTIVE. No. Try again. But parts of this grid were delightful. I especially liked the sly wink at Tom Selleck. I'm talking of course about the crossing of SEXIEST MAN ALIVE and MUSTACHE WAX. Those answers form a giant "T" (for Tom!) at the dead center of the grid. What, you thought that was coincidence? Look, you can clue TOM as Tom Riddle all you want, puzzle (24A); I know who you're pining for...


My four trips to New Zealand finally pay off today with PAVLOVA, which I got instantly. PAVLOVA is like a national dish. Practically a requirement of residency. You know they give you a lei when you get off the plane in Hawaii? Well they shove PAVLOVA down your gullet when you deplane in Auckland. It's fun! I was less lucky with the Eric Carmen portion of the grid. That's a pretty smart (and tough) clue on SIMILES (56A: "She's Like the Wind" and others). I had the SI- and wrote in SINGLES (which is accurate enough). I enjoyed the trick more than I might have because I was able to figure it out without.a total solving breakdown. Also escaped SEETHE-for-SEE RED (27D: Come to a boil) and PULL TAB-for-RING TAB (1A: Bygone can opener) without much trouble.


"I HEAR IT" is ridiculous (2D: "Shh, something's coming!"). There's nothing "Shh" about "I HEAR IT". There's nothing "something's coming!" about "I HEAR IT". And there's nothing stand-alone-worthy about "I HEAR IT". Three strikes. Out.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Moorish castle / FRI 5-19-17 / Bratty girl on Little House on Prairie / Savory Indian appetizer / French filmdom / Port whistler / Classic arcade game with a glass backboard that shatters / Large WW II area / Ponytail's hipster cousin per GQ / Commander during John Brown's capture in 1859 / Half spoken half sung

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: ALCÁZAR (1D: Moorish castle) —

An alcázar (pronunciation: /ˈæl kəˌzɑːr/) is a type of Moorish castle or palace in Spain and Portugal built during Muslim rule, although some were founded by Christians and others were built on earlier Roman or Visigothic fortifications. Most of the alcázars were built between the 8th and 15th centuries. Many cities in Spain have an alcázar. The term is sometimes used as a synonym for "castillo" or castle; palaces or forts built by Christian rulers were also often called alcázars. (wikipedia)

• • •

Fridays are my best chance to catch an enjoyable puzzle in any given week, and this one worked just fine. About where an average Friday should be. Varied, semi-tough, and armed with at least a few original- / fresh-seeming answers (today, e.g., KISSCAM and CRUSHING IT). This will do. It's a kind of palate cleanser. Light, refreshing. It's not totally filling, but (along with yesterday's decent offering), but it goes a long way toward getting the taste of the Sun-Wed junk out of my mouth. The most notable feature of this puzzle, from my perspective, was the uneven difficulty—specifically, the whole thing seemed phenomenally easy *except* the NW, which definitely made me work. And since I always start in the NW, I struggled early, and so the whole thing felt somewhat harder than it probably actually was. I couldn't do anything with 1A: Walk all over (ABUSE), or any of its crosses until finally I alighted on ECHO (after wondering, possibly aloud, why ALEXA wouldn't fit) (5D: Voice-activated Amazon device). From there it was ON BASE, MAN BUN, and off to the races. Once ENGAGEMENT PARTY dropped, I went down into the SE and up the east coast, no problem. Had some problems getting into the SW, but SAMOSA / CINE / SLEW ended up sliding in fairly easily, which left me, finally, with just that damn, pesky NW corner. Here is a red-line map of my trouble spots.

 [Had IN A SECOND at first—did you?]

So, yeah, the NW. If I've heard of ALCÁZARs before, I definitely forgot about them. Had the -GE at the end of 2D: Heavy rain and wanted only DELU(U?)GE. And then [Wrongly assumed] is just a brutal clue for USURPED. Not the meaning of "assumed" I was expecting. I ended up having to back into that area after getting the back ends of the long Acrosses. Not having any idea who Abby Sciuto is definitely hurt me at 8D: Org. for forensic specialist Abby Sciuto. I tend to think of NCIS as fictional (for obvious reasons) (see also JAG), and Abby Sciuto sounds like a name with wordplay involved. I keep saying it to myself expecting to find it's some kind of pun. Like "Abby Normal" or something. Anyway, NCIS is common enough in crosswords that I guessed it and then finally worked my way back to those first, vicious Downs. The end.

[Last Dance ... LAST CHANCE for love ...]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Looking at my wife's puzzle now, I realize that I forgot what made getting USURPED especially hard to see—like my wife (right now, mid-solve), I spent a good part of my solve with ABASE at 1A: Walk all over. That is a perfectly reasonable answer. *BUT* ...  then for 3D: Wrongly assumed you get a word starting ASU- ... and your brain starts to catch and whirr and stutter and overheat trying to find an ASU- word ... *any* ASU word. The only ASU- word I could think of was ASU (as in Arizona State University). Maddening. So something must be wrong. But everything looks so right ...

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Seneca Falls orator Lucretia / WED 2-1-17 / Follower of Hosea / Main squeeze in modern lingo / Prayer wheel turner / Hit home run in baseball lingo

Constructor: Matthew Sewell and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Friends, Romans, countrymen... — first words of the theme clues are (in order), "Friends," "Romans," and "Countrymen," which explains what the revealer clue is getting at: 51A: Shakespearean entreaty appropriate for 19-, 25- and 43-Across (LEND ME YOUR EARS) (you know, 'cause the full quote by Mark Antony in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is "Friends, Romans, countrymen, LEND ME YOUR EARS)

Theme answers:

• 19A: Friends who go to White Castle in a 2004 film (HAROLD AND KUMAR)
• 25A: Romans who protected the emperor (PRAETORIAN GUARD)
• 43A: Countrymen who met in Philadelphia in 1787 (FOUNDING FATHERS)

Word of the Day: Mosque of OMAR (4D: Mosque of ___ (Jerusalem shrine)) —

The Ayyubid Mosque of Omar (Arabic: مسجد عمر بن الخطاب‎‎) in Jerusalem is located opposite the southern courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Muristan area of the Christian Quarter. (wikipedia)

• • •

Took me a longish time to understand the theme once I was done. First thought was "... corn?" Which is fitting, as this theme is pretty corny. I kept thinking there was some wordplay in LEND ME YOUR EARS, and kept looking for things related to ears, the word "ears," the letters in ears. But there is no wordplay. You have to look at the clues to see the words you need. Looking at the clues didn't occur to me. In fact, figured out the "friends Romans countrymen" shtick without looking at the clues. It's only after I found the concept really dissatisfying that looked to the clues to see if there might be something there to tie it all together. And there was. This didn't do much to clear the dissatisfaction, but it did tighten up the whole concept somewhat. "Friends" and "countrymen" are recontextualized ridiculously by the theme answers, but "Romans" ... isn't. Not sure how you'd recontextualize "Romans," though. You just get ... Romans. All Romans lead back to Rome. No wacky places to go. Whaddya gonna do? So, there's a theme, it's basically consistent, the implementation is adequate. The punchline didn't really land for me (awkward phrasing in the revealer clue made the aha moment more "oh" then "ooh"), but it'll do.


Grid is very clean and lively, with an unusual couple of 8-blocs in the N and S. WENT YARD is probably the most noteworthy and original answer here (35D: Hit a home run, in baseball lingo). I love baseball terminology, and I don't think I've seen this expression in present *or* past tense in a puzzle before (there was a brief moment where I considered GONE YARD...). I didn't have many snags at all. Was lucky enough to know both of the first two themers (presumably everyone knows the third). Had no idea SPADER voiced Ultron (I know him primarily as the asshole in many '80s movies). Never heard of the Mosque of OMAR. But neither of these ignorances cost me more than a few seconds. I probably lost more time wondering why LIQUIDS wouldn't fit in 46D: What doctors recommend that sick people get a lot of (FLUIDS). Had -UIDS and was Baffled. Why wouldn't LIQUIDS fit!? Of course FLUIDS is the better answer in every way, but somehow that "U" really cried out for a "Q" to rub against. Thus concludes my erotique musings on libidinal letters.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Bard of Gaelic legend / WED 1-18-17 / Boyfriend after breakup perhaps / Inept boxers in slang

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: FAST BREAK (57A: Dynamic basketball sequence represented by the starts of 17-, 23-, 30-, 40- and 49-Across) —just what it says:

Theme answers:

• BLOCK HEEL (17A: Platform sandal feature)
• REBOUND GUY (23A: Boyfriend after a breakup, perhaps)
• PASS JUDGMENT (30A: Render a verdict)
• DRIBBLE GLASS (40A: Novelty shop buy)
• SHOOT 'EM UPS (49A: Space Invaders and Asteroids, for two)

Word of the Day: SHOOT 'EM UPS (49A) —

Shoot 'em up (also known as shmup or STG) is a subgenre of the shooter genre of video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player character engages in a lone assault, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up. Some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement; others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives. Shoot 'em ups call for fast reactions and for the player to memorize levels and enemy attack patterns. "Bullet hell" games feature overwhelming numbers of enemy projectiles. (wikipedia)

• • •

I had to look up whether recovered BLOCKs were actually scored as REBOUNDs, and they are, so play on, I guess. As first-words-sequence themes go, I like this one fine. The theme answers themselves are also lively / unusual. I'd never heard of a BLOCK HEEL, though the HEEL part was easy enough to infer. The concept of the "rebound" in dating is familiar enough to me, but the phrase REBOUND GUY felt slightly off, like there was another "rebound" phrase more commonly used ... and yet I can't come up with it. I think of SHOOT 'EM UPS as westerns, and I played Space Invaders and Asteroids as a kid and literally never heard anyone call 'em SHOOT 'EM UPS. Love the phrase, but to this Gen X'er's ears, the '70s/'80s video game clue seemed INAPT. But again, basic theme concept here is sound and the answers generally pleasing. The fill on this one is a mixed bag. Excellent pair of Downs in the NW corner (I'm partial to olde-timey sports slang, and PALOOKAS definitely fits the bill) (2D: Inept boxers, in slang). Most of the rest is just OK, but there are several pretty awful parts. I consider SECADA (21A: Jon with the 1992 hit "Just Another Day") and OSSIAN (35A: Bard of Gaelic legend) desperation fill, and there shouldn't have been any need for desperation today. And I consider SURETÉ beyond desperation (21D: ___ du Québec (police force)). You've fallen into the foreign word vat and can't get out. Not at all a commonly known word, even for someone like me who had many years of French in school. It *is* crossed fairly, but that SURETÉ / TEACUP cross held me up more than anything by far (36A: ___ Chihuahua (tiny dog)) . SECADA could easily have tripped me (his brief period of fame quite behind us now) but as I said: Gen X'er. Still listened to radio / watched MTV a lot in 1992. I know SECADA. Guiltily.


So, yeah, OK puzzle. If there hadn't been all this dumb Scrabble-f***ing around the margins of the puzzle, maybe the fill could've been stronger, but maybe not. Except SURETÉ, none of it was particularly egregious. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Players last produced in July 2016 / 1-1-17 / Pope with longest reign between St Peter Pius VI / West coast city known as Track Field Capital of world

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Rolling in the Aisles" — theme answers are places that have aisles, and those aisles are represented visually by a space (circled square, in the grid)*** in which you put the laugh syllable "HA" (supplied from the Down cross), because "rolling in the aisles" means laughing so ... yeah, I think that covers it:

Theme answers:

• GROCERY (HA) STORE (102A: Farmer's market alternative)
• ORCHESTRA (HA) HALL (3D: Place for bows and strings)
• MOVIE (HA) THEATER (24A: Marquee locale)
• AIR (HA) LINER (72A: Passenger jet)
• WEDDING (HA) CHAPEL (50D: Hitching post?)
• U.S. (HA) SENATE  (54A: Capitol group)

Word of the Day: ADRIAN I (20A: Pope with the longest reign between St. Peter and Pius VI (A.D. 67-1799) —

Pope Adrian I (Latin: Hadrianus I c. 700 – 25 December 795) was Pope from 1 February 772 to his death in 795.^[1] He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. [...] An epitaph written by Charlemagne in verse, in which he styles Adrian "father", is still to be seen at the door of the Vatican basilica.^[2] Adrian restored some of the ancient aqueducts of Rome and rebuilt the churches of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, decorated by Greek monks fleeing from the iconoclastal persecutions, and of San Marco in Rome. At the time of his death at the age of 95, his was the longest pontificate in Church history until it was surpassed by the 24-year papacy of Pius VI in the late 18th century. Only three other popes – Pius IX, Leo XIII, and John Paul II – have reigned for longer periods since. (wikipedia)

• • •

I solved this and then immediately had dinner and then watched "Singin' in the Rain," which, now that I'm back at my desk trying to write about the puzzle, is all I can think about. Make 'em laugh! Gotta dance! Good mornin', good MORnin'! Etc. When your daughter asks to watch "Singin' in the Rain," you drop whatever you're doing and watch "Singin' in the Rain," esp. on New Year's Eve. This is surely some kind of rule. But the puzzle ... right, the puzzle. I remember thinking it had something—a certain spark of an idea. It seemed very simple, but the whole idea that the space in the answer *is* the aisle, and that there is a laugh sound coming from there, well that's all at least a little bit interesting. Some of these aisles you might actually have people rolling in (MOVIE THEATER, possibly ORCHESTRA HALL), others not so much (though I'm sure I've laughed many times in the aisles of GROCERY STOREs). I thought AIRLINER was one word—weird to break that one into to parts, but it had to be done, I guess. I guess you can make a case for breaking the word, which you couldn't with AIRPLANE, and so that's why we get the LINER version? At least I think that's the logic. All of these themers are places with aisles, and there is laugh part in all of their gaps, so ... there it is. Love it or leave it.


Fill-wise, nothing much stuck out to me. We get another random pope. I don't know what any pre-20c. pope ever gets any clue besides [One of them there popes, who knows what they did, just get some crosses already]. Who'd we have yesterday, URSINI? And now ADRIAN I (not ADRIANI)? Fine. Maybe less fine if you didn't know the crosswordesey ODETTE (2D: "Swan Lake" role), but I did (and you should too by now, come on). I got my new "Star Wars" names are muddled, writing in REN at 29A: Companion of Han in "The Force Awakens" but then having ACHE at 14D: Sore for some reason, and then having to take some time to figure out ACHY is the much more appropriate answer for [Sore] and REY was Han's companion (whereas Kylo-REN was his son, long story, you should see the movie).


ORG CHARTS (82D: It lays out the lines of authority) are not things I think about ever—in fact, I know about them only from crossword— so that was one of the tougher answers for me to come up with. I still don't believe ROSE TEA exists anywhere besides crosswords, but it didn't cause me any trouble. Nothing else in the puzzle registered pleasure, displeasure, or eventfulness of any sort. Oh, I liked that my daughter's name was in the puzzle  (her mom didn't want to call her "EERO," but I insisted) and I always like being reminded of Peter SELLERS (77A: Actor with the line "Gentlemen, you can't fight here! This is the War Room!"). I think I'm done here. Happy New Year!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

***the newsprint version has little aisle borders separating the HA from the word it sits inside. A nicer visual.

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Albanian coin / WED 9-21-16 / Flying furry friend from Frostbite Falls formally / Uhura portrayer zoe / Unit for lorry / French quencher / Pony Express's Missouri terminus informally / Jewelry worn by Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: SCRAMBLE THE JETS (57A: Spring into action ... or an apt directive for 17-, 23-, 36- and 49-Across) — letters "JETS" are "SCRAMBLEd" across two words in different two-word phrases:

Theme answers:

• ROCKET J. SQUIRREL (17A: Flying furry friend from Frostbite Falls, formally)
• METS JERSEY (23A: New York sports fan's purchase)
• COURT JESTER (36A: Rigoletto, for one)
• "JULES ET JIM" (49A: 1962 François Truffaut film classique)

Word of the Day: PERORATE (10D: Give a long, grandiloquent speech) —

verb

formal

verb: perorate; 3rd person present: perorates; past tense: perorated; past participle: perorated; gerund or present participle: perorating

1. speak at length.

   
   

   "he reportedly would perorate against his colleague"

   • archaic

     sum up and conclude a speech.

     
     

     "the following innocent conclusion with which she perorates"

(google)

• • •

This theme type is old. I've never ever heard of the revealer. The fill is frequently godawful. Not sure if this is just another (in a series?) of puzzles that just live on a different planet from me, or if it's empirically bad. Scratch that. It's *definitely* not from my planet. And it's *definitely*, at the fill level, bad. "Subpar" is the most generous way you could describe any puzzle that would have either ASIM (!?!) *or* LEK (my most hated crosswordese currency). Having both is *&%^ing ridiculous. Careless. There is absolutely no reason for LEK. You can de-LEK the grid in 10 seconds if you're a halfway decent constructor. Garbage. Honestly, though, even if I had heard of the revealer, the theme is stale, and the theme answers at best OK. METS JERSEY is total b.s. Green paint, for sure. It opens the floodgate of [Any Team's] JERSEY. I actually really like "JULES ET JIM" and its adorable Frenchness. And sure, ROCKET J. SQUIRREL is a nice answer. They are nice answers on their own. But the other answers are less impressive and again, conceptually, this thing is kind of tired.


PERORATE I barely know and LARKSPUR (11D: Buttercup family member with irregularly shaped blossoms) I don't know At All. This had something to do with my slowish time today. Having TDS instead of YDS also hurt, considering that gave me the wrong final letter in the already-stupid-and-messed-up METS JERSEY. METS JACKET!? Seems about as "good." ROOMIE is slang and clue should reflect it, but doesn't (2D: One sharing a Wi-Fi password, maybe). There's an IRENE Curie now? (32D: Nobel Prize-winning daughter of the Curies). Wow. A TONNE (TUNS?) of things in this puzzle that were just A DRAG. But the LEK decision is the one that's beyond belief. I mean ... you have to really believe in "OK, SO," which ... is bad judgment. "OK, SO" is not worth LEK. Nothing is worth LEK. LEK, be a lady ... somewhere else. I guess we can be grateful it wasn't LEU, which is Also Somehow A Currency Unit— "the basic monetary unit of Romania, equal to 100 bani." If I ever see BANI in a puzzle, I quit.

I will give a standing ovation to the ANKLET clue, though. "That's a honey of an ANKLET you're wearing, Mrs. Dietrichson..."


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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