Early Indus Valley inhabitant / MON 8-27-18 / Leveling wedge

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (2:58)

THEME: two first names of people in same profession make complete name of someone else in the same profession... —

Theme answers:

• KIRK DOUGLAS (21A: Actor Cameron + actor Fairbanks = actor ___)
• STEVE MARTIN (31A: Comedian Carell + comedian Short = comedian ___)
• JAMES TAYLOR (40A: Singer Brown + singer Swift = singer ___)
• BILL RUSSELL (50A: Basketball player Walton + basketball player Westbrook = basket ball player ___)

Word of the Day: MONOSKI (9D: Relative of a snowboard) —

A monoski is a single wide ski used for skiing on snow. The same boots, bindings, and poles are used as in alpine skiing. Unlike in snowboarding, both feet face forward, rather than sideways to the direction of travel. Similar equipment includes the skwal and the teleboard, with feet in tandem formation (one ahead of the other). (wikipedia)

• • •

Quick write-up tonight. It's a mildly weird concept we've got here. Not a lot holding it together, but which I mean ... the professions represented are totally arbitrary. Also, taking the first name from another person's first name does not strike me as that interesting. You're really just looking for someone whose last name can be a first name. Is this hard? I'm not gonna try, but it seems like you shouldn't have too much trouble coming up with names that fit the bill for, say, authors, or, I don't know actresses (speaking of, this puzzle is Kind of a sausagefest—I guess Taylor Swift is in there as one of the clue names, but all the themers are dudes, and all the other clue names are dudes). Author Miller + author Baldwin = author HENRY JAMES. That took zero time. The theme just feels a little lackluster, is all. Also, the idea that Kirk Cameron (of "Growing Pains" and literally no other fame) is in this puzzle with all these legitimately famous, even legendary people ... doesn't feel right. Fill-wise, it's fine. Mostly clean. I don't get why anyone puts ARYAN in their puzzle when they don't have to (it's a Monday, the grid is not demanding, no need to put in a word that evokes Nazism—don't believe me, just google). Not keen on the idea of "ogling" a HUNK either. I get that you're trying to do a little table-turning here, but [Object of an ogler] is always a gross clue. Why introduce "ogling" into the equation at all? We get LEER and OGLE plenty enough as it is.


I floundered a lot on this one but still ended up under 3, which tells me it must've been pretty easy. As usual, I screwed up right away, in the NW, but putting in LOUT for LUNK (2D: Blockhead) and then REP (!?) for RTE (4D: Traveling salesperson's assignment: Abbr.). So much typing and untyping and retyping. Ugh. Once out of there, things got much easier. Botched the HUNK clue, and first wrote in POKES (?) for PRIES (29D: Gets nosy), but no problems otherwise until the very end, when I tried to get cute and guess the first name based only on RUSSELL. I guessed KURT. Wah WAH. This meant that I considered BITTEN (???) for 44D: Swindled (BILKED) and just generally lost precious seconds on the clock. Oh well. In the end, a pretty average experience on all fronts.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Doll-making tribe of Southwest / MON 6-19-17 / Heroine of Jean Auel's Clan of Cave Bear / Desserts with layered fruits whipped cream

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (theme type, incl. its complete reliance on proper noun knowledge, made this slightly tougher than the average Monday)

THEME: DUETS (37A: Performances by two singers ... like 21- and 49- Across and 3- and 29-Down) — familiar phrases are clued as if they were two singers:

Theme answers:

• PAGE TURNER (3D: Singers Patti and Tina?)
• ROTTEN APPLE (21A: Singers Johnny and Fiona?)
• URBAN LEGEND (49A: Singers Keith and John?)
• KELLY GREEN (29D: Singers Tori and Al?) 

Word of the Day: Tori Kelly (of KELLYGREEN (29D: Singers Tori and Al?)) —

Victoria Loren "Tori" Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and voice actress who slowly gained recognition after starting to post videos on YouTube at the age of 14. When she was 16, Kelly auditioned for the singing competition television series American Idol. After being eliminated from the show, Kelly began to work on her own music. In 2012, she independently released her first EP that she produced, wrote, and mixed herself, titled Handmade Songs By Tori Kelly. The following year, Scooter Braun became her manager after seeing her videos on YouTube and introduced her to Capitol Records, with whom she signed in September. Kelly's second EP Foreword came out in October 2013 as her first major label release. On June 23, 2015, Kelly's debut album, Unbreakable Smile, was released. The lead single, "Nobody Love", was released in the spring and became her first US Billboard Hot 100 appearance. Kelly was nominated for Best New Artist at the 58th Grammy Awards. She voiced a shy teenage elephant named Meena in the 2016 animated film Sing. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a nice theme concept, though I think it's more a Tuesday or (with tougher cluing throughout) Wednesday concept. The "?" clues are tricky, and I had to fill in at least some of every theme answer from crosses before I had any chance at getting it. [Singers Keith and John?]??? Give me that out of context, and I'm gonna be like "uh ... SWEAT ELTON?" And I've never ever Ever heard of Tori Green. I mean, never. I see where she got a Best New Artist Grammy nomination recently, but ... she ain't close to Monday-famous. No major awards, no major hits (her highest charting song hit only #51??) ... just no. I mean, all best wishes, but right now, nah. I recognize only one "Singer Tori," and her last name isn't Green.


Fill is not bad. I'd've tried to get rid of phrase parts like VOOM and THEM'S and LEONE, foreign crosswordese like ÉTÉ and plural TÊTES, and lastly AYLA, which, ugh, no, nails on chalkboard. That is pure, uncut crosswordese: a weird four-letter fictional name that isn't well known. This isn't like EYRE or AHAB or IAGO. AYLA should retire to the Island of Crossword Has-Beens and stay there except in case of real crossword emergencies. She can take care of ASTA.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Awards in the ad biz / MON 3-6-17 / Panache / __ Harbour, Fla. / Inlets / Lee who directed "Life of Pi"

Did you know that March is National Celery Month? And today is the first Monday in it? And that celery is kind of gross but it has a good texture? Anyway, it's me, Annabel!

Constructor: SUSAN GELFAND

Relative difficulty: EASY-MEDIUM

THEME: OUTERWEAR — Theme clues were puns on professions and outerwear.

Word of the Day: ASP (55A: Nile viper) —

Vipera aspis is a venomous viper species found in southwestern Europe. Its common names include asp, asp viper,^[5]European asp,^[6] and aspic viper,^[7] among others. Bites from this species can be more severe than from the European adder, V. berus; not only can they be very painful, but also about 4% of all untreated bites are fatal.^[7] The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper."^[8] Five subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.^[9]

(Wikipedia)
• • •

Theme answers:

• CITY SLICKER (17A: Article of outerwear for an urbanite?)
• BUBBLE WRAP (23A: Article of outerwear for a champagne drinker?)
• SUGAR COAT (33A: Article of outerwear for a candy lover?)
• DUST JACKET (48A: Article of outerwear for a housekeeper?)
• CHEVY BLAZER (53A: Article of outerwear for a General Motors employee?)

This puzzle didn't give me too much difficulty...except for the lower left corner, which I'm pretty sure I spent at least five minutes on. ("Panache" is such a vague clue, and I've never seen "Top Gun", and what the heck is a CHEVY BLAZER? Is that a sports car or something?) The fill was OK; I wish LAB had been clued with something about dogs, though, and I swear I have seen SRA with that exact same clue every single time I have done a puzzle!! Also, I had SLOP instead of GLOP and PARES for PEELS, but "pares" is a better word anyways so it's whatevs. And I didn't realize that the "middle of Arizona" clue was supposed to be taken so literally! But again, whatevs.

Not a whole lot to say about the theme. It was cute and fun and that's about all you need for a Monday. And, again, what's a CHEVY BLAZER?

OK, I just looked it up and apparently they stopped making them in 2005. How was I supposed to know what they were?!?!

Bullets:

• RIBS (40A: Entree that may be slathered in BBQ sauce) — The one thing I've missed the most since going vegetarian. I had broccoli casserole for dinner last night. Siiiiigh...
• COOKS (19A: Too many of them spoil the broth) — Ohhhhh boy. Anyone remember this sketch? I wasn't going to post it, but come on, the clue... (Don't watch if you're squeamish!)
• DABS (48D: Painters' touches) — Heh, this word has a very different meaning for my generation. A dab is, like, a dance move where you bend down and make your arms go diagonally in front of your face. I'd look up a good definition on Urban Dictionary but I'm a little scared of Urban Dictionary.
• HOP (21A: Bunny's movement) — Reminds me of "dance's new creation"...

Well, that's all. I've got nothing left to say.


 Except Happy Birthday to Rex's BFFs, Jennifer and my mom!!!

can you tell they're identical

Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired college student.

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Turkish moolah / THU 6-2-16 / Hercules spinoff informally / First name in gospel / Brother's place informally / Neighbor of Majorca / Mental flub

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: JACK IN / THE BOX (8D: With 48-Down, children's toy ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme) — four JACKs in boxes

Theme answers:

• JACK ASS / JACK FROST
• JACK POTS / JACK CHEESE
• FLAP JACK / LUMBER JACK
• CAR JACK / PHONE JACK 

Word of the Day: BRAINO (58A: Mental flub) —

THINKO (n.) jargon
/thing'koh/ (Or "braino", by analogy with " typo ") A momentary, correctable glitch in mental processing, especially one involving recall of information learned by rote; a bubble in the stream of consciousness.
See also brain fart. Compare mouso.
[Jargon File ]
(1996-04-20)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010

• • •

Started with RICE, then changed it to STEW and got FRAT and OBI-WAN quickly thereafter. Then I looked at 1D: Nose nipper. I had -F-O-- ... and I knew what I was dealing with. [JACK] FROST went in, [JACK] ASS went across, and off I went. As I continued solving, I thought "This can't really be a JACK IN / THE BOX puzzle, can it? That's a really obvious rebus concept, and I'm virtually certain I've seen it before. Maybe this will have some different twist..." But then it didn't. It just had four JACK boxes, and a patently unnecessary revealer (which is to say, if you got one box, the revealer was obvious). Then I did some sleuthing and discovered that the NYT ran This Exact Theme roughly 4.5 years ago. Conceptually identical. So, since the NYT is just nakedly recycling themes, allow me to nakedly recycle write-ups. Actually, it wasn't my write-up. I was off somewhere, and 5-time ACPT champion Tyler Hinman was filling in for me. Anyway, you can read it here. I'm done here today. There is nothing wrong with this puzzle. It's just a rerun.


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS there is one thing wrong and that is BRAINO, holy crap. But I'll let you fight over that one. Good night.

PPS here's that Dec. 1, 2011 grid ...

 [cruciverb.com]

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Early Sony recorder / TUE 6-30-15 / 1990s Indian PM / Singer Josh whose self-titled 2001 debut album went 4x platinum

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Tuesdayish, maybe a tad harder than normal

THEME: famous person does something — noun phrases are reimagined as verb phrases involving famous people of various sorts:

Theme answers:

• ROCK GARDENS (17A: Comedian cultivates flowers?)
• POUND SIGNS (23A: Poet inks a contract?)
• PRICE TAGS (33A: Opera singer scrawls graffiti?)
• FIELD TRIPS (48A: Actress stumbles?)
• BACON STRIPS (53A: Philosopher removes his clothes?)

Word of the Day: BETACAM (38D: Early Sony recorder) —

Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. (wikipedia)

• • •

This felt a bit hack-y, the noun-to-celebrity-name gimmick. ROCK GARDENS in particular seemed really, really familiar. So I did a little archive digging. Actually ROCK GARDEN(S), though it has been used many times, has never been used in a Chris Rock switcheroo theme answer, the way I had imagined. But I knew this basic concept had been done before, possibly to death, so I went after a few more of the theme answers. Then I just searched *POUND* in the cruciverb database and, well, bingo, of sorts. A Monday NYT puzzle from seven years back with the following themers:

• 18A: Poet Ezra's favorite desserts? (Pound cakes)
• 4D: Writer Anne's favorite dessert? (Rice pudding)
• 27D: Writer Jack's favorite entree? (London broil)
• 62A: Essayist Charles's favorite entree? (Lamb shanks)

Now, it's been seven years, and the theme this time around has a different slant (verb phrases intstead of food types), so, probably no harm done. It's just ... two things. One, I'm quite sure this one example of the theme type is not the only one out there. With more digging, I'd certainly find more. And two ... this earlier puzzle, this food one ... is by the same constructor. She seems to have semi-plagiarized herself, or at least recycled a basic (very basic) wordplay concept that she had used before. I think as a constructor, if you have only one guiding principle, let it be that you don't make lame Ezra Pound jokes twice in your career. Pound me once, shame on me, etc.


In terms of difficulty, it's interesting that this puzzle didn't provide the famous person's first name, the way that 2008 puzzle did. Definitely adds a modicum of difficulty, withholding that name. But providing it, esp. in the case of someone with a name like Leontyne (!), would perhaps have rendered the puzzle too easy. Who knows? My time came out Tuesday-normal, so this cluing seemed fine to me. Fill is OK today—more junk than you want to see, but lots of interesting longer answers in the Downs. I had trouble coming up with both LOSER and POSER, which is probably telling, hopefully to my credit but maybe not from where you're sitting. My only real struggle, though, was in the SW, where I went with BRAVERY and BETAMAX, side by side. Luckily, the wrongness thereof was readily apparent. Finished with the "G" in Josh GROBAN, whom I once saw on the streets of Carmel, CA. This was peak GROBAN (so, like, a decade ago), and man the middle-aged ladies were happy to see him. He wasn't mobbed (Carmel's too sleepy for mobs), but he was, let's say, surrounded. Politely and lovingly surrounded.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Evian competitor / TUE 1-20-15 / Violinist Leopold / Guernsey chew / English princess who competed in 1976 Olympics / Like some rich soil / Fabric once described as comfort in action

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: COMIC RELIEF (60A: What the starts of 18-, 24-, 37- and 52-Across can provide?) — four familiar two-word phrases where the first word is the last name of a famous COMIC:

Theme answers:

• CAESAR SALAD (18A: Dish with croutons and Paremsan cheese) (Sid Caesar)
• MURPHY BED (24A: Pull-down sleeper) (Eddie Murphy)
• CRYSTAL GEYSER (37A: Evian competitor) (Billy Crystal)
• ROCK OPERA (52A: "Tommy," for one) (Chris Rock)

Word of the Day: ROWENA (15A: Ivanhoe's love) —

Rowena /roʊˈiːnə/ was the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon chief Hengist and a wife of Vortigern, King of the Britons, in British legend. Presented as a beautiful femme fatale, she won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her treacherous seduction of Vortigern. Contemporary sources do not mention Rowena, which leads modern historians to regard her as fictitious. […] She was a titular character in William Henry Ireland's play Vortigern and Rowena (1796). Her name was later borrowed by Sir Walter Scott for the beautiful Saxon heroine in his historical novel Ivanhoe (1819), after which it came into use as an English given name. (Presumably due to the original legendary Rowena's character flaws, her name was not commonly used until after the appearance of Ivanhoe.) (wikipedia)

• • •

Yesterday, the theme carried the day, in spite of the fill. Today, the theme comes in quite wounded and there's nothing the fill (better, but just average) can do to save it. There are several little issues with the theme, but one big issue—the revealer. COMIC RELIEF makes zero sense as the revealer. The COMIC part, I get. But why RELIEF? It's a totally extraneous, completely non-descriptive element … a bed can provide relief, I guess, but a salad … I dunno, maybe … an opera … pushing it … and geyser, no way. Nobody ever got relieved by a geyser. So RELIEF is a meaningless, throwaway word—not cool in a revealer. May as well have been COMIC TIMING for all the thematic sense that phrase makes. Billy Crystal was part of the '80s comedy benefit program "COMIC RELIEF" … but the other guys weren't. Were they? I thought that was Crystal, Williams, and Goldberg. Also, one of these four is not like the others (again). Murphy, Crystal, and Rock were all stand-ups (Rock is the only one who still is, I think). Caesar, however (per wikipedia) "was considered a "sketch comic" and actor, as opposed to a stand-up comedian." Now, since all the other comics were at some point on SNL (again, not Caesar, another way he's not like the others; see also "dead"), they were all "sketch comics," in a way, so maybe there is consistency there. Like I said, the main issue is RELIEF, which just … hangs there. OPENING ACT … well, that wouldn't have worked either, since it wouldn't have captured the comedy part very well, but at least it would've had some relationship to where we find the words-that-are-also-comics. The aptness of revealers is Really important to the overall quality of a puzzle (not all puzzles have revealers, but if they do, they must be spot-on).


Puzzle also suffers from a touch of the datedness. When Rock (older than middle-aged me) is the young guy in your set of comics, you know your comic sensibility crystalized (!) at least two decades (probably more) ago. Opening words of the themers = an arbitrary, not-terribly-coherent list of (broadly-defined) "comics." And the fill, while nice in a few places (the NW corner, due N and due S, the CAMEROON/RASHOMON pair), is overall only OK, and perhaps has a bit too much screechiness in the short stuff (BAAS ENE ETES AUER MES ELD). If the theme had landed, I'd've noticed this stuff less. But it didn't. So I did.

[REDACTED due to REDACTED]
If you wanted to do a modern stand-up theme, here are some more options (besides ROCK):

• WATTS RIOTS
• COOK ISLANDS
• BURR GRINDER
• BLACK FRIDAY
• NORTON ANTIVIRUS

I'm sure there's more.

Did you hear the one about the IRONER and the ANALYZER? No, of course you didn't.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Best friend of Thomas Tank Engine / TUE 6-3-14 / Deli counter cheese brand / 3 or 5 series car in slang / Brand with tagline Established in Milwaukee 1844

Constructor: Susan Gefland

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (*for a Tuesday*)

THEME: ALL THE TRIMMINGS (60A: What Thanksgiving turkey may come with … as suggested by parts of 17-, 22-, 38- and 51-Across?) — final words of theme answers are kinds of trimming:

Theme answers:

• PABST BLUE RIBBON (17A: Brand with the tagline "established in Milwaukee 1844")
• SPINAL CORD (22A: Part of the back)
• LUNATIC FRINGE (38A: Extremist group)
• ALPINE LACE (51A: Deli counter cheese brand)

Word of the Day: ALPINE LACE —

Alpine Lace^® Deli Swiss Cheese is made with patience, passion and meticulous attention to detail in an area that's known as the 'Little Switzerland of the Rocky Mountains'.

The fertile Magic Valley of Southern Idaho, with its jagged mountains and lush, green pastures, has a climate and elevation closely resembling Switzerland.

It is here, in Magic Valley, where Alpine Lace^® Deli Swiss Cheese is made following award-winning, cheese-making traditions. Deliciously healthy Alpine Lace^® Deli Cheese is made with pure and natural wholesome ingredients. It is a premium cheese made simply and honestly. (some ad site I found somewhere on the internet)

• • •

I was loving this bouncy Tuesday offering until I got all twisted around in the bottom half of the grid, in and around proper nouns I simply didn't know (two of them, on a Tuesday—quite odd). Not having ever heard of ALPINE LACE before really, really slowed me down—to the point where I had ALPINE -ACE and made an educated guess at the RRN™ (Random Roman Numeral) there in the crossing (LVI). Never having heard of this answer all of a sudden made every answer around it harder to get. Thought the "Series" in [3 or 5 Series car, in slang] was some specific race, so needed many crosses to see BEEMER. Knew AINGE but went looking for a team name in the adjacent answer (55D: 54-Down was one), and without the themers, -A-ER really looked like LAKER (though AINGE played for the Celtics, so it didn't feel right—but olde-timey clue-crosswordese CAGER was not on my radar at that point). Had RCA for MCA for a bit (64D: Longtime record label). Things just got boggy. Still finished under 4, but  just barely—noticeably slower than normal for a Tuesday. I remain a fan of this puzzle—the ALPINE LACE part of it all just kept it from elating me the way it looked like it might early on. This has so much more zip than yesterday's. A very nice easy (-ish) puzzle.


Check out the nice, reasonably contemporary long Downs on this one. I mean, CYBERPUNK's been around for at least 30 years and ENCRYPTED a hell of a lot longer, but they both still *feel* very current. It's a very Scrabbly Tuesday, but with none of that pathetic straining after pangrammitude. Hence, the fill is tight and clean *and* entertaining. Even short stuff like TVTRAY and BULKY have a certain liveliness about them. I tried to watch "Pineapple EXPRESS" this morning, but about fifteen minutes in, a couple things happened: first, I got kind of bored, and second, I realized that I had this movie confused with "The Darjeeling Limited." I kept wondering when Seth Rogen and James Franco were going to stop getting high and get on the train already. I think the clue for PERCY was pretty brutal. Unless you've currently got young kids in your house, how in the world are you supposed to remember all of Thomas's damned friends. I can't even remember ALEXA, and she's in the puzzle every month or so.


Only "faults" I'd point out are S-STAR (69A: Relatively cool red giant) (dislike all letter-STARs; crutch fill) and REIN sharing the grid with REINE, which isn't even a violation. Just more shared DNA than you want in any two answers, ideally.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Turkish inn / MON 9-23-13 / Short-legged hound / African land whose name consists of three state postal abbreviations / John who succeeded William Henry Harrison

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: "IT'S TIME TO ROLL" (34A: "Let's go!" ... or a hint for the ends of 20-, 28-, 41- and 52-Across) — last word in theme answer is something you might roll

Theme answers:

• 20A: Food preparation cutting technique (SLICE AND DICE)
• 28A: School basics (THE THREE R'S)
• 41A: Look of infatuation (GOOGOO EYES)
• 52A: Fancy dress affairs (COSTUME BALLS)

[I didn't think the central theme answer was a real phrase that a human being might actually use, but then I found this video. If any human being is real, it's Dale Peterson.]

Word of the Day: IMARET (44D: Turkish inn) —

An imaret is one of a few names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries.These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex known as a Waqf, which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais and colleges. The imarets gave out food that was free of charge to specific types of people and fortunate individuals. Imarets were not invented by the Ottomans but developed under them as highly structured groups of buildings. Nonetheless, imarets indicate an appreciation of Muslim religious teachings aboutcharity found in the Qur'an. (wikipedia)

• • •

A little on the tough side for a Monday, probably because 74 is a pretty low word count for a Monday. You get a couple biggish corners (NW, SE) and some odd words (MEWL, IMARET), and then something like GOOGOO EYES (I wanted GOOGLE and then GOOGIE ???), and there are enough road bumps to keep your time somewhat north of normal. I made a bunch of dumb mistakes along the way. Somehow *really* botched THE THREE RS by typing too fast and thinking there were *three* letters after THREE instead of just the two, so I thought "how do you spell out 'Rs'? ... 'ARS'?!?!" So that is what I wrote in, only it looked like this: THE THRE ARS. I actually Did check the cross and my brain totally accepted MAWL as an answer for 24D: Whine (MEWL). My problems with GOOGOO EYES made STOOD OVER hard to see for a bit, so that slowed me down. Wrote in ADO for DIN and then ODER (?!) for 42D: French river (OISE). Then I misread the clue on COSTUME BALLS as a singular and so wrote in COSTUME PARTY. So I just got tripped up on my own laces a lot.


The theme is OK, but not great. You want to change the meaning of those end words in the theme answer, and three of them are changed (i.e. the DICE and Rs and BALLS in the theme answers are not the kind you "roll"), but EYES is not. You make GOOGOO EYES with your actual EYES, which are also the ones you "roll." It's a minor flaw, but it's an easy Monday theme, and it should be tight. Also, the grid is weirdly made (big white corners, totally choppy middle), so there's a Lot of short junk. On the plus side, though, the puzzle did inadvertently create a really terrible but (to me) hilarious pejorative phrase—next time you're really angry with someone, try calling her (or him, I guess) the bottom two Acrosses in the SE corner. Then let me know how it goes. My money's on "not well."

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Rock with glittery inside / MON 1-21-13 / Territory that became two states / Roulette centerpiece / Soccer star Mia's meats / Potato protuberances

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Easy (2:49)

THEME: Possessive rhymes — two-part phrases where the first part rhymes with the second, following the pattern [somebody's somethings]

• LOCKE'S LOCKS (17A: Philosopher John's tresses?)
• PENN'S PENS (25A: Actor Sean's writing implements?)
• WRIGHT'S RIGHTS (Aviator Wilbur's entitlements?)
• HAMM'S HAMS (50A: Soccer star Mia's meats?)
• LISZT'S LISTS (59A: Composer Franz's rosters?)

Word of the Day: DSL (32D: It's faster than dial-up, in brief) —

Digital subscriber line (DSL, originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that provide Internet access by transmitting digital data over the wires of a local telephone network. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology. DSL service is delivered simultaneously withwired telephone service on the same telephone line. This is possible because DSL uses higher frequency bands for data. On the customer premises, a DSL filter on each non-DSL outlet blocks any high frequency interference, to enable simultaneous use of the voice and DSL services. (wikipedia)

• • •

A simple, old-fashioned kind of theme that surely must've been done many times before. Not much to say there. The rest of the grid is quite solid—above average, I'd say. Very clean throughout, with some genuinely polished and lively places. I especially like the NE corner. High-value Scrabble letters make for some vivid and interesting words—i.e. they're not just thrown in there for show. JINXED (11D: Brought bad luck) and WOODSY (13D: Filled with trees) would look good in any puzzle. All over the grid, you'll notice that there's very little that is off-putting or irksome. It's very clean. It would be nice if the theme had some pop to it, but you can't have it all, and I'll take an expertly filled grid over a poorly filled grid any time. It's pretty hard to get all your 5s and 6s to work in concert, but in the corners, and in the due N and due S, that's exactly what's going on. Competent, careful fill, esp. in the non-showy medium-length range (i.e. the 5s and 6s of which I speak), is deeply under-rated, and often goes unnoticed. So ... I hereby notice it.


Only two sticking points today. The answer with which I had the most trouble was actually the first one I encountered: 1A: Gross growth (MOLD). I had not idea what could be meant. I wasn't even sure what definition of "gross" was in play. After getting first two letters, I considered MOSS, but that didn't seem ... gross enough. Later on, I had an odd lot of trouble WHEEL (44A: Roulette centerpiece). I came at it from the back end (-EL) and thought a. it was a two-syllable word and b. it was some technical term. Wrong on both counts. After that, the only issue I had was the eternal "A-Neal or I-Neil?" question at 48D: Singer Young or Sedaka (NEIL). I guessed right.

Back to my Satyajit Ray movie ("Mahanagar," 1963), then football.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Van Cleef French jeweler / WED 6-13-12 / Horse of Year 1960-64 / Revolutionary killed in his bathtub / Flu sufferer's quaff / 1955 Thunderbird seating capacity

Constructor: Susan Gelfand

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: PLAYING WITH FIRE (38A: Inviting danger ... the end of which can precede each half of the answer to each asterisked clue) — what the clue said

• 17A: *Staffing level (MANPOWER)
• 25A: *Refuse to cooperate (STONEWALL)
• 52A: *Woodcraft hobbyist's creation (BIRDHOUSE)
• 64A: *Toothless mammal (ANTEATER)

Word of the Day: Counting of the OMER (14A: Counting of the ___ (observance after Passover)) —

Counting of the Omer (or Sefirat Ha'omer, Hebrew: ספירת העומר) is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot. This mitzvah derives from theTorah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover (the 16th of Nisan) for Rabbinic Jews, and after the weekly Shabbat during Passover forKaraite Jews, and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the 'fiftieth day.' (wikipedia)

• • •

A very common theme type, given a nice little twist here with the playful theme-revealing phrase PLAYING WITH FIRE (that's what the puzzle's doing, in a way). Otherwise, nothing special here. Nothing offensive either. If you're wondering what cruddy fill like OMER and PENTA is doing in a very easily fillable little corner of this grid ... well, I can explain. But I don't want to. Can you guess? Because there *is* a reason. (Hint: it's something you probably haven't noticed and don't care about) Probably the same reason THRO and OEDS are in the opposite corner. And it's *not* because the constructor couldn't do any better—she certainly could. I'll let you think on it.




Give up? OK, here's the answer: the puzzle is a pangram (every letter of the alphabet appears in the grid). Except ... as a constructor friend of mine noted, you could still have your beloved (pointless) pangram and fix that damned NW corner very, very easily. His/her words, verbatim: "Ugh. Easy grid change to remove 14A. New 14A: {"The Wire" gangster} [OMAR], New 3D: {Seasonal cookie eater} [SANTA], New 1A: {Texas-based org.} [NASA]." So it appears there is absolutely No reason for the cruddy fill you see in the grid. I hereby retract my entire first paragraph. 




I imagine at least a few people are going to look at the intersection of OMER and ARPELS (4D: Van Cleef & ___ (French jeweler)) and think "......... ? ........" 

Despite booting several answers during my solve, and despite having no clear idea what the theme was til I was done, I ended up with my fastest Wednesday time since I started my spreadsheet three months ago. This probably should've run yesterday and yesterday's today. Well, yesterday's should've run Never, but if it had to run, today would've been better. I think I have noticed that speed solving is a bit like speed reading in that you take the clue in at a gulp, rather than word by word, and so sometimes there are processing errors. So, for instance, when I hit the clue 5A: It may be cut by an uppercut (JAW), I really only took in the first couple words and "uppercut," and so wrote in JAB (brain: "3 letters, starts J, boxing, JAB"). Occasional glitches like that are the cost of going fast, but I don't mind. Fun to see how my brain works (or doesn't). I also wrote in PUG for POM (22D: Fluffy lap dog, for short), TBA for TSA (41D: J.F.K. inits.), and started to write in ORKIN for ORTHO (46A: Name in garden products). I had a brief "oh crap!" moment at the KELSO / GELATO crossing (55A: Horse of the Year, 1960-64 + 51D: Cold dessert) because I wasn't sure I was going to be able to remember the damned horse and I could not think of a [Cold desert] starting with "G" ... "Damn, an old horse and some technical term for a cold desert—I'm doomed." But I remembered KELSO. Then, when I got GELATO from crosses, I realized I'd been reading [Cold dessert] wrong.



Bullets:

• 19A: Flu sufferer's quaff (HOT TEA) — herbal tea, maybe, though that's not really "tea." Do people drink hot black tea when they have the flu??? I'd rather have a hot toddy. Or just the bourbon.
• 29A: Revolutionary killed in his bathtub (MARAT) — a crossword staple. Helped me get rid of the damned PUG.
• 5D: Moe, Larry and Curly, ethnically (JEWS) — remember the one where they count the OMER? Me neither.
• 53D: Bidirectional, like a door (IN/OUT) — it's good that the puzzle is being inclusive and finally letting Bidirectional doors into the grid. Too many doors have been discriminated against for too long. Long live the LGBT door community (Locked, Garage, Bidirectional, and Trap)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Dan Feyer wanted me to pass along the following information on the Napa Valley Puzzle Challenge, coming up on Sat. Jun. 30, 2012 (10am-8pm):

The Napa Library Foundation is sponsoring a day of puzzle events -- including a crossword tournament -- on Saturday, June 30.  After a morning session of kid-friendly puzzles and games, and a free afternoon screening of the movie WORDPLAY, three-time ACPT champion Dan Feyer hosts the tournament at the Napa City-County Public Library.  The tournament will feature three unpublished New York Times puzzles as well as an exclusive Napa-themed crossword created especially for the event.  Between the preliminary rounds and the championship round, puzzle experts will lead a Q&A and discussion of crossword solving and construction.  Scheduled to appear: Tyler Hinman, Andrea Carla Michaels, Jeremy Horwitz, and moderator Dan Feyer. Visit www.napalibraryfoundation.com/events/ for more information!

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