Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle

Wow - Monday again?  Time flies because it seems like we were just here.  That's right, it's Jenny and Liz, your favorite Replacement Rex, aka BFFs, filling in for Rex while he lives it up in beautiful Carmel, California. We are so happy to spend our Monday with you because we <3 Mondays!  New week, new possibilities, all that crap!  (ps - Rex, did you find us that alligator bread yet??)


Constructor: Dave Sarpola. Great puzzle Dave!

Relative difficulty: Super easy and fun!

THEME:  FLIES - All of the theme answers contain words that can be associated with flies.  You would think that we'd find "flies" to be kind of gross, but we <3 this puzzle and all the super cute theme answers!  Yay for flies!

Word of the Day:  "Happy go lucky" 

hap·py-go-luck·y (hp-g-lk) adj. Taking things easily; carefree.

You know how it goes, this word (or in this case, these words) are not in the puzzle, but we chose it/them, because let's face it, we're happy go lucky!  We would never use this space to complain or criticize anyone or anything.  Nope, not us!

Theme answers:

• 18a - Casual Pants (DUNGAREES):  A snarky blogger might comment that no one has used the word dungarees since the 1970s, but not us!  We think Dungarees is a funny word! (Coincidentally, we both wanted the answer to be "Cotton Dockers" but, it was not to be...)

• 26a - Vehicle with a compactor (GARBAGE TRUCK):  Aka, what has four wheels and flies?  Lol!

• 42a - Where one might witness a hit and run (BASEBALL GAME):  We're both watching a baseball game as we write this. Let's go O's!

• 53a - Fishing gear holder (TACKLE BOX):  We don't fish, so we've got nothing...

• 63a - Skedaddles... Or, what 18, 26, 42, 53 across all have (FLIES):  Clever!  We loved this theme because it was fresh and original.  We had no idea how the theme answers would be tied together but once we got this clue, it all made sense and was super cute!  And aside from the fun theme, this puzzle lacked the typical crosswordese that might cause some people to complain. Way to go Dave!

Bullets:

• 48a WINNIE-THE-BLANK (POOH) — This is our favorite clue in the whole puzzle!  All you Seinfeld fans will know why... 

• 38d LEAVE LICKETY-SPLIT (HIGHTAIL) - Cute!

• 41d NUMEROUS (A LOAD OF) — Another thing we love about this puzzle, is that there are "a load of" related answers. Ewe and Oinks. Alice in Wonderland and Winnie-the Pooh. Wove and Loom.  Gobi and Arid. Penny and Lane. Good stuff!

We don't know when we'll be back filling in for Rex again, but since time FLIES when you're having fun, I'm sure it won't seem too long to us!  And now it's time to get back to the O's playoff game. It's a great time to be a sports fan in Baltimore!

See you next time!

Signed, Rex's BFFs, Jenny and Liz

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