Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Short-billed rail

Constructor: Will Nediger

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "TURNING BACK" — second word in familiar two-word phrases is "turned back," i.e. reversed, creating a wacky phrase, clued "?"-style

Word of the Day: EXOCET (10D: Antiship missile used in the Falklands War) —

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s. (wikipedia) [I inferred this answer from AVOCET, which I thought was also a missile but which, it turns out, is a bird, as is CRAKE (29A: Short-billed rail), which intersects EXOCET, and which I know only from the Margaret Atwood title "Oryx and CRAKE"]

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Would have liked some unifying principle, some phrase, some idea, something to account for reversing the second word. Lots of words can be reversed to make other words, so presumably this theme could go on forever. So the whole concept doesn't feel tight enough to me. That said, I like most of the chosen "wacky" phrases, and the grid overall feels predominantly smooth, and contains lots of high-interest longer (6+) answers, so I enjoyed solving it. [Full disclosure: I have a puzzle coming out somewhere, some time, that has a vaguely similar gimmick, though it's far more thematically focused than this—I doubt it's better, however; it was the first puzzle I ever had accepted] Had one lethal crossing today: PISANO (61A: Italian sculptor Nicola) / TORR (55D: Unit of pressure). Total guess for me. Thankfully, a correct guess. So I guess it wasn't "lethal" after all. Just potentially lethal. Found the NE corner pretty dang thorny (misspelled both TIRANE (TIRANA) (48A: Capital of Albania) and POMELO (POMOLO) (16D: Fruit with a thick rind), for example), but otherwise, found the puzzle to tilt considerably toward the Easy side of the fence.

Theme answers:

23A: Taking the dimensions of busybodies? (MEASURING SNOOPS)
42A: Done swimming? (OUT OF THE POOL)
45A: Giving an award to the wrong person? (PRIZE SLIP-UP)
70A: Slandering a Thanksgiving side dish? (TURKEY TORT) — this is my favorite wacky phrase, by far
74A: Othello, before Act V, Scene II? (LIVING MOOR)
99A: Comment in a woman's mag? (COSMO REMARK) — one of two "Seinfeld" references today. Huzzah... (see also 4D: Surname of TV's George, Frank and Estelle=>COSTANZA)
101A: Summary of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? (INDIANA RECAP) — uh, ARKS is in the grid (89D: Torah holders). No biggie.
123A: Pious spouse's ultimatum? ("LOVE ME, LOVE MY GOD") — honestly, this doesn't sound wacky at all. I'm not sure if I could have told you before this puzzle which one ("god" version or "dog" version) was the common phrase. I can totally imagine some religious ... let's say "stalwart" ... saying this very thing.

[I have no reason for playing this except I love the song —by John Prine— and this is the best version I could find]
Here's some stuff I didn't know. ST. OLGA — she's new to me. Had the ST. part and exclaimed "Aw Come On! That's no help!" Figured ANNE was most likely, given her common letters, but no (36A: Her feast day is Jul. 11). Have certainly heard of EL CID, but had no idea that he was the

67A: Wielder of the sword of Tizona). I don't know anything about "La Vie en Rose," so ... oh, wait, I do. It's about EDITH Piaf, right!? Sure, *now* I get it. Ugh (121A: Marion's "La Vie en Rose" character). Wait, who's Marion? Ah, Marion Cotillard, who somehow won the Best Actress Academy Award while I wasn't paying attention. Ymir is only vaguely familiar, so I had to wait out some crosses before I got NORSE and OGRE (131A: Like Ymir + 132A: Ymir, for one). I wrote in PUPATE on faith—faith in my ability to make up plausible words from parts of other words (35D: Metamorphose, as a larva). I didn't know the picture of Jordan jumping was called a "Jumpman," so 40D: Sneaker with a Jumpman logo (AIR JORDAN) confused me for a bit. Else, smooth sailing.

Bullets:

9A: Its slogan begins "15 minutes could save you..." (GEICO) — if you don't know this, then you watch precisely Zero television. Ubiquitous.
20A: Ship written about by Apollonius of Rhodes (ARGO) — right over the plate for me. Mentioned voyage of the ARGO in class just this past Thursday. Other fat gimmes include "STAN" (38A: Eminem song that samples Dido's "Thank You"), which is a pretty great song, and CRISTAL (6D: Champagne often mentioned in hip-hop songs), which made me feel like years of enduring rap cliches had finally paid off. Here's a song with a CRISTAL reference:

["Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement"]

31A: Starting material in coal formation (PEAT) — didn't know. Due to misspelling of POMELO ("O" for "E"), nearly left misspelled as "POAT."
56A: Indian guy in National Lampoon's "Van Wilder" movies (TAJ) — yes, there are "Van Wilder" movies, plural, for some reason
63A: Follower of White or Red (SOX) — this eluded me til I got the "X."
81A: Many Maurice Sendak characters (BEASTS) — true enough, esp. in "Where the Wild Things Are"
129A: Drink in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (OUZO) — Greek drink, four letters, not tough (never saw the movie)
12D: Cloak, in Córdoba (CAPA) — tried CAPO at first. Many other, better clues for that.
15D: Wearer of a famous ring (THE POPE) — "The Precious!"
44D: Hit 1989 biographical play ("TRU") — crosswordese. See also "TABU" (70D: Brand advertised as "the forbidden fragrance")
53D: Dish with greens and ground beef (TACO SALAD) — are the greens something other than lettuce? Because "greens" threw me. Was trying to think of something much fancier.
78D: Cuckold's purchase, perhaps (SPYCAM) — ooh, drama.
96D: Sweetheart's telephone comment ("I MISS YOU") — aw, sweet.

And now your Tweets of the Week, puzzle chatter from the Twitterverse:

@psyence53 I really should stop doing crosswords and go to sleep. I shall get changed, and do crosswords in bed, then. Addicted much? Oh dear.
@kristine_lang Pleased to announce that this morning, in under 30 minutes, I, Kristine Lang, completed the NY Times crossword.
@Nerdandahalf1 So absorbed in my crossword, I got on the wrong train... And I actually was going to make it on time
@DangerChicken Stop calling me old. I'm only doing crossword puzzles, not dancing the Charleston. Although.....
@ladonnaDOLCE Look at queena being collegiate with her crossword puzzle http://tweetphoto.com/42867509
@TommyHB Enjoying a latte and crossword outside Edinburgh castle. Would it be rude to tell the bagpiper to shut the eff up?!
@Edwin6Biscuits There's this old white lady who works in Rollins and all she does is READ her crossword puzzle and stare at us... Can I have ur job?!? Lol
@iLoveTaraBriona Ima have my mom do this crossword puzzle this is bullshit! Ugh I give up!
@ryangrammatico This guy next to me in this waiting room has his eyes open, doing a crossword puzzle but he sounds like he is sleeping #heavymouthbreather
@TheRules Rule No. 771: Finishing the New York Times crossword is at least 900% more impressive than finishing the USA Today crossword.