Seminal 1902 sci-fi film / TUE 3-6-12 / Raccoon relative / Time Machine leisure class / Silvia mother of Romulus Remus

Constructor: Wesley Johnson

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "So what?!" — that is the clue for four 15-letter answers

• DOESN'T CONCERN ME
• COULDN'T CARE LESS
• IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM
• NO SKIN OFF MY BACK

Word of the Day: Zero MOSTEL (CLUE) —

Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version of The Producers. He was blacklisted during the 1950s, and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities was well-publicized. He was a Tony Award and Obie Award winner. (wikipedia)

• • •

Got a full eight hours sleep for once, but this means I went to sleep when I would normally have been doing the puzzle. And now I have almost no time to write because I teach in two hours. So, to be brief:

Theme is fine. All the phrases work. I like that they're all grid-spanners. Unfortunate drawback is that there is no other long(er) fill to make the grid interesting. Mostly 4s and 5s. Solid, but dull.

I could *not* process the "W" in NOW ON / AWOL (15A: Currently airing / 7D: M.P.'s target). Just didn't compute. Can't ever remember seeing NOW ON in a grid, and M.P.s, to me, are Members of Parliament ("Why would they have a 'target?'"). My brain might have just failed to warm up properly, since I solved this literally minutes after waking up. But I blew through the rest of the grid, so maybe I have no excuse.

That is *not* a famous Kelly Clarkson song (59D: Kelly Clarkson's "___ One Will Listen") ("IF NO"). I own two of her albums. I've seen her in concert. I have never heard of that song. It's on an album ("All I Ever Wanted") that had five singles. "IF NO One Will Listen" was not one of them. The other partial in this grid, "A TRIP", also threw me pretty badly (32D: "___ to the Moon" (seminal 1902 sci-fi film)). But both partials were work-aroundable.




OK, Gotta go. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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