Traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra / SUN 2-11-24 / Soldier's helmet, in old slang / Director Walsh of old Hollywood / Having knobby bumps / When the original Big Five ruled Hollywood / Ohio home to Cedar Point, the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" / You can trip on it in the desert / Metal receptacle by a fireplace / Letter-shaped groove used in framing / With [circled letters reading clockwise], American icon born 2/11/1847

Constructor: Peter Koetters

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:35)    

THEME: "Bright Ideas" — a THOMAS ALVA (EDISON) birthday puzzle (72D: With [circled letters reading clockwise], American icon born 2/11/1847), with black squares forming the shape of a lightbulb at the center of the grid, and seven other Edison INVENTIONS to be found throughout:

Theme answers:

• MOVIE CAMERA (27A: It helps you get the picture)
• MIMEOGRAPH (3D: Duplicating machine)
• PHONOGRAPH (69D: Object in the classic painting "His Master's Voice")
• STOCK TICKER (64D: Bygone tape dispenser)
• POWER PLANT (38D: Something that's big with the current generation?)
• SPIRIT PHONE (66D: Failed device meant to communicate with the dead)
• MICROPHONE (15D: The "thing" in "Is this thing on?")

Word of the Day: GAMELAN (23A: Traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra) —

Gamelan (/ˈɡæməlæn/) (Javanese: ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, Sundanese: ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, Balinese: ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones(played with mallets) and a set of hand-drums called kendang, which keep the beat. The kemanak, a banana-shaped idiophone, and the gangsa, another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes (similar to the Indian bansuri), a bowed string instrument called a rebab (somewhat similar to the gadulka of Bulgaria), and a zither-like instrument called a siter, used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists will be featured, being referred to as sindhen for females or gerong for males. (wikipedia)

• • •

[d. Raoul WALSH, 1949 (22D: Director
Walsh of old Hollywood)]

Picture puzzles ... shrug. Don't really care. This is just a list of INVENTIONS. On a completely random birthday (Happy ... 177th?). The visual is ... what it is. There it is. It's awkward to have THOMAS ALVA sitting all on its own there, and then have to go back to the "filament" in the "light bulb" to pick up EDISON. The THOMAS ALVA part just seems sad, and unnecessary. Well, unnecessary for anything except thematic symmetry (i.e. you need it to balance out PHONOGRAPH on the other side of the grid). Anyway, what you have here is a picture ... and a list. For me, this kind of thing is meh. Major rules violation, having a central grid area that has *no* connection to the rest of the grid. I guess the idea is that a. the picture is important, and b. THOMAS ALVA gives you *some* kind of connection between center grid and rest of grid. I don't really care. I was a little anxious about having no way of building my way *into* the middle—about having to jump in with nothing to help me out. And after INC., I wasn't getting much. But then I tried out ASSTS and TALISMANS and then I got SAS and whoosh, the middle went down pretty easily, ultimately. I think the EDISON = light bulb filament gag is probably the most original and interesting thematic element of this puzzle. But it wasn't enough to lift the puzzle above the ho-hum. A list of INVENTIONS just isn't ... well, it never got me to exclaim "WHAT A HOOT!" is what I'm saying.

This took me exactly as long as the Sunday puzzle took me two weeks ago, so maybe 9:35 is average for me, but I have a hard time seeing any Sunday I can solve in under 10 minutes as anything but "Easy." I think I have to break 9 for it to be truly "Easy," though, so ... "Easy-Medium" feels right. Biggest struggle came from writing in REPENT at 57A: Feel discontented (REPINE). REPENT is a common word, whereas REPINE is most certainly not. I did think that REPENT didn't quite fit the clue, but ... I've seen answers not fit their clues plenty, so I didn't pull it. This meant that I ended up writing in and then pulling ASHCAN, which I probably had as ASHPAN at first (60A: Metal receptacle by a fireplace). As for NICOLE Miller, pfft, no idea (52D: Designer Miller). Also, IVAN the ... what? Who knows? Who cares? Some random IVAN (IVAN IV, it turns out) (51A: "The Terrible" czar). Sigh. Because of all this kerfuffle, I didn't see INVENTIONS for a long time. This hardly mattered, though, in terms of my ability to solve the theme answers. The only other mildly problematic part of the grid was the far SE, where OVERLIE does not feel like a word I know or would use or have seen anyone actually use (115A: Blanket), and where NO COVER ... well, that one's fine, but I was coming at it from the back end and assuming it was one word, so having --COVER was less helpful than it should have been. 

No idea what a SPIRIT PHONE is, but it's the only "invention" that is at all interesting to me today. I love that so many rational / scientific types were obsessed with spiritualism in the 19th century, but I didn't realize that someone had actually attempted to contact the spirit world by phone! "Uh, what's the area code?" "How the hell should I know???" Or ... "It's busy." "Who the hell could they be talking to?! I'm the only one with a damned SPIRIT PHONE!" At least SPIRIT PHONE has the charm of wackiness and failure. The others, yawn, whatever. Yes yes, MIMEOGRAPH, great. Next!

Notes:

• 7A: Letter-shaped groove used in framing (T SLOT) — no idea. Makes me think of mail slots, but those aren't shaped like "T"s, are they?
• 23A: Traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra (GAMELAN) — no idea, but the word is familiar. I've heard it, or something like it, before. No idea when / where / how. Anyway, thank god the crosses were fair here.
• 6D: Acclaims (RENOWNS) — oof, this is a grim, grim plural.
• 87A: Ohio home to Cedar Point, the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" (SANDUSKY) — forgot about this. Used to be quite familiar with it, as I lived in southern Michigan and you'd see ads for Cedar Point on TV. But it seems a very, very regional answer, despite the alleged "Capital of the World" moniker. 
• 77D: You can trip on it in the desert (PEYOTE) — good answer, good clue.
• 38D: Something that's big with the current generation? (POWER PLANT) — along with REPENT (for REPINE), this is where I had my only other wrong entry. In my defense, when I wrote it in, I had no idea this was a Thomas EDISON-themed puzzle. But with POWER P---T and "current generation" staring at me, I figured ... POWER POINT! And if you'd told me Edison invented POWER POINT, I'd've believed you. I mean, if SPIRIT PHONE, why not POWER POINT? Guy was clearly full of big ideas.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Fruit used to make slivovitz / TUE 12-20-22 / Banned substances in sports for short / Creed Christian avowal / Stringed instrument that rhymes with another stringed instrument / Behind-the-arc shots informally

Constructor: Peter Koetters

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging?? (maybe a bit on the harder side because of the initially tricky theme...)

THEME: "___between the ___" — theme answers follow this pattern, but are represented in the grid "Literally," i.e. by the spatial arrangement of the words, with the first word positioned "between" two singular versions of the last word:

Theme answers:

• 17A: Gets overlooked, literally (CRACK FALLS CRACK) (i.e. "falls between the cracks")
• 24A: Gets into bed, literally (SHEET SLIPS SHEET) (i.e. "slips between the sheets")
• 45A: Makes suddenly aware of something, literally (EYE HITS RIGHT EYE) (i.e. "hits right between the eyes")
• 58A: Finding hidden meaning, literally (LINE READING LINE) (i.e. "reading between the lines")

Word of the Day: slivovitz (51D: Fruit used to make slivovitz => PLUM) —

Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). Slivovitz is produced in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, both commercially and privately. Primary producers include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. In the Balkans, slivovitz is considered a kind of rakia. In Central Europe it is considered a kind of pálinka (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine—pálenka, or Greece, Romania and Italy-pălincă), and similar to Romanian țuică, corresponding to the distilled spirits category. UNESCO put it in a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2022 on request of the county of geographic origin Serbia. (wikipedia)

• • •

There's a simple elegance to the *concept* here, but the execution of the concept ended up breaking down as the puzzle went along (i.e. as you descended the grid). The first two answers work perfectly, and work perfectly together—same 3rd person singular verb tense, same opening clue word ("Gets..."). Great. The third themer keeps the verb tense but now there are two words getting sandwiched "between" the end words instead of one, and gone is the opening "Gets..." (replaced by "Makes...") but OK, wobbly, but not fatal. And then comes the last one, and I guess the most charitable reading of the last one is that it is some kind of meta-answer, referring to what you, the solver, have to do (very metaphorically) in order to make sense of the theme as a whole ... so maybe it's almost a kind of revealer (????), but what it looks like is just a clunky outlier, with a present participle ("READING") where the 3rd person singular verb should be. So the opening clue words go: Gets, Gets, Makes ... Finding?! I know people's brains all work differently, but my brain is wondering how the puzzlemakers don't hear (or care about) the "clunk clunk" there. This puzzle is very reliant on the theme, as there's not much else of interest in the grid, so for me it was a bit of a miss. A good idea not very well realized. 

NICENE doesn't strike me as a very Tuesday word (4D: ___ Creed (Christian avowal)). I say this as someone who knew it, but also misspelled it (NICEAN) (!?). I sort of winced as I wrote that one in, as I did when I had to guess the letter in GO_ARTS (5D: Amusement park racers). And again when I had to guess the letter in OLA_ (11D: Father of Norway's King Harald). Brendan FRASER always seems like his name should be spelled FRASIER (like the Crane). I'm slightly surprised they just left the clue [Actor Brendan] and didn't even give you a movie to work off of / think about. He is probably going to win an Oscar in the coming months for his performance in "The Whale." He's definitely going to get nominated. I haven't seen it yet, but buzz is buzz and there is a lot of buzz. Whale buzz. FRASER buzz. Yesterday I pondered the seeming non-difference between CHAR and SEAR, and today I have a similar question about OVATE v. OVOID (62A: Like the shape of an eggplant). They both seem to mean (more or less) "egg-shaped." I think we should ditch one of them on account of redundancy. You all can decide which one goes. 

I call b.s. on SAY AAH because once you open up (!) the "ah" beyond two letters, you're in free-for-all territory. Why stop at two "A"s? Further, why two "A"s and not two "H"s!? It's madness. Maadness I say. Outside the theme, the puzzle wasn't very HAIRY, except for HAIRY, which took me several goes to get (25D: Difficult to sort out, informally). SCHEMERS was also kinda hard, as I didn't know which kind of "plot" I was dealing with (35D: Plot developers). I enjoyed remembering EDDIE Rabbitt (26D: Country singer/songwriter Rabbitt), as I love a rainy night, but frankly the nights here in Dunedin have been a bit too rainy for my tastes. I mean, it's paradise otherwise, so I can't actually complain, but yeah, lotta rain since I landed down here about a week ago. I was promised summer! Or at least late spring! But the high has barely made it above 60 since I've been here, at the hottest. But again, as I say, my weather consternation pales beside my overall awe at how lush, verdant, liveable, and bird-dense this place is. Dunedin is one of my favorite places on earth, and not just because my wife and several cool NZ bands are from here. You should go. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. NRA is unwelcome no matter the clue; also P.E.D.S stands for "performance-enhancing drugs."

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Chain of Polynesian islands? / TUES 9-27-22 / Rolling contest roller / Like at least two angles of every triangle / Candy from a "head"

Hello, everyone! It’s Clare for the last Tuesday in September. Hope everyone has had a great month and has been staying healthy. I spent this past weekend crying because Roger Federer played his final professional tennis match on Friday (a doubles match with Rafa Nadal — Team Fedal forever). Federer will forever and always be the GOAT in the men’s game. I’ve been keeping busy doing a lot of rock climbing and bouldering these days, and I’ve got the bruises and sore arms to prove it. “Climbing gym” was actually in the puzzle yesterday, and Rex said he didn’t know what it was?! I’ll have to take him to mine if he’s ever in D.C. 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Peter Koetters

Relative difficulty: Pretty easy

THEME: MONTH (69A: Any of 12 represented in this puzzle's shaded squares) — The first three letters of each of the twelve months of the Gregorian calendar are presented in sequential order

Theme answers:

• JANet (1D: Treasury secretary Yellen) 
• FEBreze (5D: Air freshener brand) 
• MARianas (9D: ___ Trench, deepest place in the 10-Down) 
• APRes (24D: French for "after") 
• MAYan (25D: Chichén Itzá builder) 
• JUNta (26D: Postcoup group) 
• JULes (32D: Verne of sci-fi) 
• AUGie (36D: Hanna-Barbera's ___ Doggie) 
• SEPia (38D: Photo filter for a retro look) 
• OCTet (53D: Duo times four) 
• NOVel (54D: New and unusual) 
• DECor (55D: Interior designer's concern)

Word of the Day: ULEE’S GOLD (39A: With 70-Across, 1997 film in which Peter Fonda plays a beekeeper)  —

Ulee's Gold is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Victor Nuñez and starring Peter Fonda in the title role. It was released by Orion Pictures.The film was the "Centerpiece Premiere" at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Fonda won a Golden Globe Award for his performance and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and a Screen Actors Guild Award. The film's title refers most concretely to the honey Ulee produces as a beekeeper, particularly that made from the nectar of the tupelo tree. Van Morrison sings "Tupelo Honey" (the title song of his 1971 album) over the end credits. (Wiki)

• • •

Was this the crossword puzzle of the year? Technically, yes. Otherwise, not really. The puzzle was well-constructed and kind of fun, but once you realize while solving that the shaded squares are months, there’s not much left that’s interesting about the solve and you can just put the start of some answers in without there needing to be any thought. The revealer of just MONTH (69A) also left a bit to be desired. 

I figured out what was happening with the theme after three months (JAN, FEB, and MAR), which made the puzzle generally flow nicely for me. I did actually find the top half of the puzzle much easier (when I didn’t know the theme) than I found the bottom half of the puzzle (when I’d filled in all of the shaded boxes). I really was just blasting through the puzzle until I hit a snag somewhere around ULEES (39A) and CSPOT (30D). 

That this puzzle was released today is a bit interesting. Today at sundown is the end of the Jewish New Year, which is maybe why a puzzle relating to a calendar was released on September 27. Wikipedia tells me that Rosh Hashanah is the “first of the Jewish High Holy Days, as specified by Leviticus 23:23-25,” and LEVITICUS (64A: Exodus follower) was in the puzzle, which suggests that the timing is probably not a coincidence. I wish, then, that the payoff was something about the Jewish New Year, even though the names of the months in the puzzle are obviously English and from the Gregorian calendar. Yes, I know the tie-in would have been complicated, but, without it, I think this puzzle would have been more apt toward the end of December or in early January. 

The construction was impressive, as the constructor worked in 12 theme answers plus a revealer, but some of the fill definitely suffered as a result. I compiled just a miscellaneous list of answers that felt usual/boring to me, and I could’ve written down a lot more if I’d wanted to — ALDA; EDEN; VIA; UNA; CFO; EMU; RUN; ATE; VERY; EMIT; AGO; INN; IPA; UPA; ENS; and LOTSA. There was so much crosswordese, and I don’t think the clues were all that spectacular, either. I really dislike I MUST (56D: Possible answer to "Do you have to?"), because no one talks like that (tell me you can’t imagine a scene in a Shakespearean play where someone says “I must go posthaste”). Anagram clues feel boring to me (27D: Surname that's an anagram of NO LIE with ONEIL), though I do understand this one might’ve been there to help people who didn’t know MEAN JOE (25A: Nickname for N.F.L. Hall-of-Famer Greene) or ASNER (37A: Ed of "Up"). Oh, look, there’s JANET Yellen (1D) in another puzzle. And, if we really want to get nitpick-y, don’t jelly doughnuts technically have a hole in them where the jelly is inserted? I know that’s not the type of hole the clue is referring to, but my point stands. (I am a lawyer, after all.) 

I didn’t know or understand the clue/answer with CSPOT (30D: Bill worth 100 bones) at all. Apparently, it’s slang where the “c” is for hundred and spot means bill? I’m still a little confused. I didn’t know STOOLIE (52A: Informal informant), which is more old slang. I’ve never seen (or heard of) the movie ULEE’S GOLD (39A/70A). Apparently, Peter Fonda was nominated for an Oscar for it, and constructors like the double “e” in there (e.g., OGEE (67A: Curved molding, in architecture)), but not knowing the film caused me some serious problems with 40D: Marine swimmer with a tall dorsal fin. I didn’t know if it was a jailfish, bailfish, SAILFISH, etc. 

I did think there were some fun and fresh clues/answers. I loved NEIGHBORS (17A: Fencing partners?). ACUTE (16A: Like at least two angles of every triangle) was another fun one. I like thinking of a LEGO as a plastic brick (59D). TAMALES (23A: Dishes steamed in cornhusks), NOMADIC (54A: Like a wanderer), SAILFISH (40D), and MEAN JOE (25A) made the puzzle a tad bit more interesting. MEAN JOE Greene, especially, as I’m a huuuge Steelers fan and just generally a fan of Pittsburgh sports teams. So, seeing him and longtime Penguin JAGR (32A: Hockey great Jaromir _) in the puzzle was nice!

Misc.:

• As long as I’m on the topic of the greatest sports city in the country… MEAN JOE Greene (25A) is one of the greatest football players ever. I grew up hearing stories about him and how he changed the trajectory of the franchise — my Dad grew up a Yinzer (and a diehard sports fan, at that). Before Greene was drafted by the Steelers in 1969, the team had the worst cumulative record in professional football. Since he was drafted, the Steelers have the best cumulative record. Also, Jaromir JAGR (32A) spent the most productive part of his career with the Penguins, winning two Stanley Cups. He’s maybe a top-10 player of all time, and he’ll go down in history as the third-best Penguin ever (behind Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby). He went on to play for a lot of teams after the Pens and is actually still playing at 50 years old in the Czech Republic! 
• Fun fact of the day: The official term in kpop for big celebrities is IDOLS (6D: Paparazzi targets). So, for example, all seven members of BTS are IDOLS. Now, we don’t love them (or anyone) being targeted by paparazzi, but some companies will allow official photographers at events, so I’ll just put these photos here. (Have a safe flight, Yoongi!). 
• I have a friend from law school named ALEXA (2D: Whom you might ask to turn off the lights, nowadays), who told me that the number of jokes she’s gotten in the last few years, like, “ALEXA, play me a song,” or whatnot is incalculable. There were times I’d say her name while on the phone with someone, and the ALEXA in my apartment would light up and start talking to me. 
• “Up” (37A) is the single greatest movie ever created. That is all. 
• ALOFT (33D: High in the sky) makes me think of how, yesterday, NASA collided a spaceship with an asteroid to see if it could knock it off its course, which is crazy and cool. Also, this tweet sums up how I felt watching the Cowboys-Giants Monday Night Football game:

And that's it from me! Have a ~spooky~ October.

Signed, Clare Carroll, forever a Federer fan

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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In a mischievous manner / TUES 3-27-18 / Wine server / Ancient civilization around Susa / Hoarfrost

Hi, everyone! I'm Clare, and I'm back since it is indeed the last Tuesday of March. I'm just getting back from spring break, where I spent time with my family and, umm, curating my Netflix account. My brain has definitely been on vacation, meaning this was the most thinking I've had to do in a couple of weeks.

Constructor: Peter Koetters

Relative difficulty: Medium-Difficult for a Tuesday

THEME: Puns involving U.S. state capitals

Theme answers:

• MORETHANJUNEAU (20A: "Explore Alaska! It's ___!")
• FREELANSING (33A: "Writers and photographers will find Michigan a great place for ___!")
• AUGUSTAWIND (39A: "Blow into Maine on ___!")
• CONCORDMYFEARS (50A: "I was afraid to ski, but in New Hampshire I ___!")

Word of the Day: NEGRI (60A: Pola ___ of the silents)

Pola Negri (born Barbara Apolonia Chałupec; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles. Negri signed with Paramount in 1922, making her the first European actor in history to be contracted in Hollywood. (Wikipedia)

• • •

The theme was clever. It's a good thing I was paying attention in fifth grade when we learned all the state capitals. I might have only memorized them because I wanted to get a higher score than a fellow classmate (looking at you, Jeff Howard), but I haven't forgotten them to this day! I can't decide which answer I like more: FREELANSING or AUGUSTAWIND. Both are fun.

I found the rest of the puzzle pretty hard, though; a lot of the fill was a bit off my wavelength. LAV could have been "loo"; ENTO could easily have been "endo"; IRANIAN could have been a more generic term for an oppressed subject; and LOT should probably have been "lots." Has anyone ever drawn one lot? There were also some just ugly answers, like: HOERS (seriously ugly), ALTI, and EDAMS as a plural. And, (I promise I'm done harping on the puzzle soon) there were a lot of clues/answers that felt hard for a Tuesday. ELAM was a word I'd never seen before, and I had never heard of "hoarfrost" (54D) or the answer for that clue, RIME. ELAM crossing LOT crossing ALTI is an ugly middle. It actually took me a while to come up with CLEANS (47D: What a janitor does) because I convinced myself that would be way too obvious for this puzzle.

Moving on, I did actually like some of the fill:

• There were a lot of clever puns outside the theme answers. 57A: Belted out of this world? as ORION and 11A: Fixer at a horse race as VET were particularly nice; I laughed when I figured out the answers.
• It took me a long time to get SNOCONE because I was convinced that "treat" in the clue was being used as a verb instead of a noun. Then I wanted to hit myself on the head when I realized how obvious it was.
• A crossword puzzle finally got common slang right with ACES (though that may be by accident; apparently the term is so old that it's current again)!
• CRAM is something I'm definitely familiar with as a college student sitting in my DORM.
• The ABC sitcom Black-ISH is a show that everyone should watch.
• I got VIJAYSINGH really quickly and am mystified. I have this vivid recollection of when he was playing in a tournament that a female golfer, Annika Sörenstam, entered and said he'd withdraw rather than play with her. But that was in 2003, so I was six. He apparently really made an impression, and not a good one.
• AGONY means that I'll have the song from "Into the Woods stuck in my head. Here it is so I'm not the only one (best part from 1:05-1:07. If you watch, you'll understand why):

Signed, Clare Carroll, an Eli with senioritis (Here's hoping my brain starts working before classes start for me mañana — cheers to having no classes on Mondays!)

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Italian P.M. nicknamed Divo Giulio / WED 10-17-12 / Larklike songbird / August meteor shower / Trademark of 1899 that's no longer protected / Floor model caveat / Asgard ruler / Chantey subject

Constructor: Peter Koetters

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: SQUARE / ROOTS (1D: With 55-Across, what the circled letters, reading clockwise, form) — circled letters form squares and contain the names of root vegetables.

Word of the Day: Giulio ANDREOTTI (60A: Italian P.M. nicknamed Divo Giulio) —

Giulio Andreotti (Italian pronunciation: [ˈʤuːljo andreˈɔtti]; born January 14, 1919)^[1] is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the41st Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior (1954 and 1978), Defense Minister (1959–1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister (1983–1989) and he has been a senator for life since 1991. He is also a journalist and author.

He is sometimes called Divo Giulio (from Latin Divus Iulius, "Divine Julius", an epithet ofJulius Caesar). The movie Il Divo tells about Andreotti's links with the Mafia and won thePrix du Jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. (wikipedia)

• • •

I had a ROOT canal today, so #$&% this puzzle for real.

Actually, it's a cute idea, though I reallllly feels like something I've seen before. Also, those squares really, really limit the fill possibilities, so you end up with stuff like ANDREOTTI (who? ... not many "EOT" words, I guess) and the much-hated PSEUD (52D: Pretentious sort) and a lot of just OK stuff. Considering the way the theme limits the fill, the fill is actually just fine. About as good as could be expected. I still didn't much enjoy solving it. I didn't even notice / need the squares, except in the SE, where I needed them but they were useless. Actually, the SE was light years harder than the rest of the grid. I was dead-stopped for a while, with only ISPS (a guess), OSU (a guess), DUELS (a near-certainty) and ARA (a certainty) in place. Never heard of ANDREOTTI, so royally screwed there. Couldn't see STATUE or PORTAL at all given their clues. Clue on USUAL meant nothing to me. Not sure why I didn't get SNAILS more quickly—all I could think of was SLUGS. Anyway, that was horribly rough, and everything else was medium to easy.


Liked DEEP SPACE. Had GROUP SETS (?!) for GROUPINGS. Couldn't spell PERSEIDS to save my life. Misremembered EPPIE (ugh) as ESSIE. Tried DEBUG for DEFOG. Went THOR before ODIN. No funlet seeing RUNLET, whatever the hell that is. Forgot that PIPIT was a thing. The whole puzzle is filled with very adequate, very crosswordy answers. Not crosswordesey, exactly, because that stuff rankles, but still very familiar in a see-it-in-crosswords-alot kind of way.

The Roots:

• SHALLOTS
• PARSNIPS
• POTATOES
• RADISHES

Bullets:

• 16A: Word on a lawn sign (ELECT) — Clever. Timely. Stumped me.
• 37A: Trademark of 1899 that's no longer protected (ASPIRIN) — dang, that's a Fri-Sat. clue. A good one, but tough. Needed many crosses. 
• 4D: Greek capital, to airlines (ATH) — I hate ATH, as fill, but as ATH clues go, I'll take this one.
• 59D: Chantey subject (SEA) — never saw this clue. "Chantey" always looks to me like it's spelled wrong. I always expect "Shanty," which is a ramshackle hut, I think. Yes, I'm correct, but it turns out "shanty" is also an acceptable spelling of "chantey."
• 29D: Normandy vessels of '44 (LSTS) — now that *is* crosswordese (a little of which never hurt anyone).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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