Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Tearjerker watcher's item

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)

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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!