Pitcher Mike with 270 wins / SUN 3-23-14 / Eponymous German physicist / World capital on slope of active volcano / Resort city in 1945 news / Birthplace of Buddha now / Bootleggers banes / Garden State casino informally / Ex-Fed head Bernanke

Constructor: Ian Livengood

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Bright Ideas" — Quotation from THOMAS EDISON (86A), aka THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK (96A: Nickname for 86-Across), inventor of the INCANDESCENT LIGHTBULB (106A: Development of 86-Across … as depicted in the middle of this grid):

"I HAVE NOT FAILED. I'VE JUST / FOUND TEN THOUSAND WAYS / THAT WON'T WORK." (26A: Start of a motivational comment attributed to 86-Across)

Circled squares form image of lightbulb, and spell out (reading counterclockwise, from the top): "AHA MOMENT"

Word of the Day: Dolph LUNDGREN (116A: Dolph of "Rocky IV") —

Dolph Lundgren (born Hans Lundgren; 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the action hero stereotype, alongside Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris,Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

He received a degree in chemistry from Washington State University in 1976, a degree in chemical engineering from theRoyal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in the early 1980s, then a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering from theUniversity of Sydney in Sydney in 1982. Lundgren holds a rank of 3rd dan black belt in Kyokushin Karate and was European champion in 1980 and 1981. While in Sydney, he became a bodyguard for Jamaican singer Grace Jones and began a relationship with her. They moved together to New York City, where after a short stint as a model and bouncer at the Manhattan nightclub The Limelight, Jones got him a small debut role in the James Bond film A View to a Kill as aKGB henchman.

Lundgren's breakthrough came when he starred in Rocky IV in 1985 as the imposing Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, he has starred in more than 40 movies, almost all of them in the action genre. He portrayed He-Man in the 1987 fantasy/science fiction film Masters of the Universe, and Frank Castle in the 1989 film The Punisher. In the early 1990s, he also appeared in films such Dark Angel (1990), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), alongside Brandon Lee;Universal Soldier (1992) as opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme; Joshua Tree (1993), opposite Kristian Alfonso andGeorge Segal; Johnny Mnemonic (1995), opposite Keanu Reeves; and Blackjack (1998), directed by John Woo. In 2004, Lundgren directed his first picture, The Defender, and subsequently helmed The Mechanik (2005), Missionary Man (2007), Command Performance (2009), and Icarus (2010), in which he also starred. After a long spell performing indirect-to-video films since 1996, 2010 marked his return to theaters with The Expendables, an on-screen reunion with Stallone, alongside an all-action star cast which included, among others, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Mickey Rourke. He reprised his role as Gunner Jensen in The Expendables 2 in 2012 and the upcomingThe Expendables 3 in 2014. (wikipedia)

• • •

Solid work, but just too easy, with a gimmick that was too transparent. I knew what this puzzle was going to do as soon as I saw the title and read the Note: "When this puzzle is done, the circled letters, reading counterclockwise from the top, will spell a phrase relating to the puzzle's theme." OK, I didn't know the phrase was going to be "AHA MOMENT," but "Bright Ideas" as a title screamed both "Edison" and "Lightbulb," and I honestly predicted the bulb shape before I even opened the puzzle. This does not make me a genius; it just makes me semi-conscious. This would be a nice gateway puzzle for people who think the Sunday is too hard for them. But I was done in under 10, and since the whole theme was essentially already known to me before I started, it just wasn't that gripping. I will say that the long Downs are gold—Ian is a Really top-notch constructor, and there's hardly anything junky in the whole grid (though because the grid is so segmented, there are a *lot* of short answers, and they can't all be winners). He's one of a handful of constructors I know who do truly care about the overall quality of the grid—The Whole Grid, not just the theme. So the puzzle is expertly made, and it's got sports teams and bands and science and SESAME BAGELS (60D: Deli stock with seeds)—a very nice mix of knowledge, with punchy answers abounding. So even if the theme was D.O.A. for me, a. it won't have been for everyone, and b. there is still a decent puzzle framework underneath that theme.


There were few challenging or scary moments for me. Typically, the place that gave me the most trouble was the last place I solved—the "Q" in IQS / QUITO was the last letter in the grid. I may have briefly forgotten that QUITO existed. In fact, I'm definitely sure that briefly happened. But we're not talking about minutes of struggle here. Seconds. Just somewhat more seconds than other parts took me. OPEN CIRCUIT isn't a concept I know a lot about, so there was some initial futzing around in that area (I had Buddha born in NEMEA at one point …) (73A: Birthplace of Buddha, now). I blanked on SHARON, briefly. [Lockup] = CAN just made no sense to me until I had it all. Then I was like "Oh, yeah … I teach a course in crime fiction, so I should Probably know that." Really didn't care for the book "Life of Pi," so when I saw that clue I was like "How the *** should I know that guy's last n—… oh, wait, I know it. It's PATEL" (102D: Pi ___, "Life of Pi" protagonist). Turns out my brain still retains useless information—maybe not as well as it did when I was a teenager, but pretty well.

I'm gonna get back to basketball-watching / exam-grading, but first: Puzzle of the Week!

So if you want to see why, like Whitney Houston, I believe the children are our future, you'll want to tune into some of the work being done by young constructors on their independent puzzle sites. It's like getting a peek inside a test kitchen. Sometimes the stuff comes out a little rough or weird or not to my liking, but more often I am privileged to witness some truly inspired work—boundary-breaking stuff that you aren't likely to see in mainstream outlets. This week I'd like to single out Neville Fogarty's "College Humor," which has a nice, timely theme, but was super tough for me due to the fact that I am old (at least compared to Neville). Great stuff if you're young, great practice for navigating treacherous proper noun waters if you're less than young, and with a solid theme holding it all together. You should also head over and check out Peter Broda's latest themeless offering, "Freestyle #30," at his site, The Cross Nerd. As I mentioned elsewhere this week, this puzzle has a single clue/answer in it of a type that I find cheap and deeply annoying—but a. not everyone agrees with my philosophy on this, and b. more importantly, that answer aside, the puzzle is a pyrotechnic display. This guy has virtuosic tendencies where themelesses are concerned. So fresh, so current, so wow. I laughed in admiration mid-solve—that's about the highest praise I can give a puzzle. But the winner this week is Ben Tausig's Inkwell Puzzle for this week: "Upbeat Mixes," an easyish puzzle with a super-clever, funny, feel-good theme. Professional, polished, entertaining, witty. Good, good work. I won't spoil it—you can get it free here from Ben's Weekly sword Google group. Hope you like it.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. neglected to give Andy Kravis's "Themeless #12" the shout-out I'd intended last night when I was doing this write-up. I gotta get more organizized. Anyway, this puzzle leads with a dramatic 1-Across and doesn't let up from there. Sweet stuff. Andy drops grid science every Sunday at Andy Kravis, Cruciverbalist at Law (in fact, there's a new puzzle out Today). Add him to your list.

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1996-2001 show featuring home videos / SUN 2-9-14 / Cellphones in Britain / Attractive legs in slang / Battleship Potemkin locale / City on Seine upstream from Paris / King in 1922 news / Frist's successor

Constructor: Charles M. Deber

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "It Was 50 Years Ago Today" — celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first live television performance in the US on "The ED SULLIVAN Show" (2/9/64). Circles make the rough outline of a GUITAR, and the circles spell out the names of THE FAB FOUR, with "Paul McCartney" and "John Lennon" running down the left side and "Ringo Starr" and "George Harrison" running down the right.

Other theme answers:

• 3D: Craze caused by this puzzle's subjects (BEATLEMANIA)
• 17D: Song sung by this puzzle's subjects on 6-Down's show on 2/9/64 ("SHE LOVES YOU")
• 86D: Song sung by this puzzle's subjects on 6-Down's show on 9/12/65 ("YESTERDAY")
• 70A: Much of the audience for 6-Down's show on 2/9/64 (TEENAGERS)
• 110D: 1965 and 1966 concert site for this puzzle's subjects (SHEA)

Word of the Day: LOLLOP (32A: Move in an ungainly way) —

intr.v., -loped, -lop·ing, -lops.

1. To move with a bobbing motion.
2. Chiefly British. To lounge about; loll.

[Alteration of LOLL.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/lollop#ixzz2smHUmQXc

• • •

Probably the most impressive part of this grid is the way TEENAGERS lies across the center of the GUITAR in the middle of the grid. But that intense thematic density also highlights the very weakest part of the grid, fill-wise: AAU crossing NEUER! Yikes. I don't really know what AAU is (Assoc. of Amer. Universities?? Nope, Amateur Athletic Union) (66D: Junior Olympics org.), so that "U" was an educated guess based on my (crossword) knowledge that NEU is "new" in German. So … NEUER, sure, why not? (76A: More modern, in Munich). Anyway, this puzzle was far, far, far too easy. I've been seeing this anniversary heralded in print and on television for weeks now, so theme-wise, nothing made me think. I just filled in the blanks as fast as I could. Got the theme from the title and got most of the theme answers with very few or no crosses. Slowed up the most in the SE, where I just couldn't get SAFARI off the "S" (128A: Kind of jacket with pockets on the chest) or (more understandable) TROYES off the "T" (131A: City on the Seine upstream from Paris). Otherwise, cake. Fastest Sunday solve of all time, or close to it. Didn't hate it, but didn't love it. The circle-drawing is more sitar than guitar—fitting, if the time in question were later in the Beatles' career. But sure, GUITAR, why not? I'm sure some GUITAR somewhere has roughly those dimensions.


LOLLOP and "REALTV" were the big "????"s of the day. I'm sure I've seen LOLLOP before, but that didn't keep me from checking and rechecking all the crosses to make sure I wasn't missing something. There is a bunch of short fill one could complain about, but I don't think it matters much today, first because it's not Sooo bad (compared to NYT norms) and second because the crud didn't add to the difficulty in any way. Only thing worse than bad fill is bad fill that makes the puzzle harder to solve because of its badness. Do you just wear one EARPHONE? (67A: Announcer's ear) … OK, so it appears that "headphones" is always plural because it's essentially two EARPHONEs? I think of the things over your head as "headphones" and the thing in one ear as an "earpiece." But EARPHONE is a thing, because I looked it up, so … this has been "Musings on the Nature of the EARPHONE" by R.P.


Puzzle of the Week! This week was competitive, with Peter Broda continuing to kill it at his site with "Freestyle #28" and Jeffrey Wechsler bringing an impressive variation on the "answers-change-direction" theme to the latest Fireball puzzle ("Following Directions"). But the win, for cleverness as well as timeliness, has to go this week to Brendan Emmett Quigley for "X Word." It's not pornographic, despite the potential implications of that title. It's a basic theme concept, but it's done Just Right. I won't tell you any more so you can do it yourself.

Lastly, a big public thank-you to Cynthia and Olivier Kaiser who sent me a financial contribution all the way from France and then asked that instead of a thank-you card, I send my thanks via my Sunday blog post. So that is what I am doing. Right now! And while I'm at it, a big shout-out to all my International Herald Tribune solvers, wherever you may be.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS, in the battle of the tribute puzzles, I think this wins: Merl Reagle's "Beatles, on the Flip Side."

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Morning Joe co-host Brzezinski / MON 1-20-13 / Dunes transport briefly / Former owner of Capitol Records / Actress Saldana of Avatar / Matchmaker's match-ups

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: MLK, JR. (38A: Annual Jan. honoree) — a tribute puzzle in honor of MLK Day (i.e. today)

• LINCOLN MEMORIAL (17A: Site of a 1963 speech by 38-Across)
• CIVIL RIGHTS (30A: Cause associated with 38-Across)
• "I HAVE A DREAM" (49A: Repeated phrase in 38-Across's speech at the 17-Across)
• "WE ARE FREE AT LAST" (65A: Famous closing words of the 49-Across speech)

Word of the Day: MIKA Brzezinski (36A: "Morning Joe" co-host Brzezinski) —

Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski (/ˈmiːkə brəˈzɪnski/; born May 2, 1967) is an American television host and journalist. Brzezinski co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast Morning Joe with former Republican representative Joe Scarborough. // Brzezinski was born in New York City, the daughter of Polish-born foreign policy expert and former National Security AdvisorZbigniew Brzezinski and Swiss-born sculptor Emilie Anna Benešová. Her mother, of Czech descent, is a grandniece ofCzechoslovakia's former president Edvard Beneš. Her father was then teaching at Columbia University, but the family moved to McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., in late 1976, when Zbigniew was named National Security Advisor by newly elected President Jimmy Carter. Her brother, Mark Brzezinski, is an American diplomat and the current United States Ambassador to Sweden since 2011. (wikipedia)

• • •

Pretty lackluster, as tributes go. Liz is one of the best constructors on the planet, but this theme just lies there. Bunch of "I HAVE  A DREAM"-related speech stuff. Kind of ho-hum. My favorite thing about this puzzle is ATTACK AD (58A: Aggressive campaign TV spot) — a modern reality that represents the reality of our current political system. Great, modern answer that cuts against the obligatory pieties of today like an indictment. Fill is a bit subpar in places, too—standard for the NYT, but a bit less than I expect from a constructor of this caliber.

[Any way we can get "AMERICA HAS GIVEN THE NEGRO PEOPLE A BAD CHECK" into the puzzle? How come no one ever quotes *other* parts of this (great) speech???]

I found this a bit harder than normal (though by no means "hard" in any absolute sense) because of PARI- (which I didn't know how to spell: went with PARA) and ONE ALL (which I had as ONE ONE). That made 21A: Matchmaker's match-ups look like this: POIRANGS. I am quite fond of this terribly wrong non-word, POIRANGS. Sounds like an exotic ape … or fruit. But alas, the answer was PAIRINGS. I also stumbled by entering the in-the-language EPIC instead of the crosswordese / technical term no one uses, EPOS at 46A: Long narrative poem. This meant that my Niagara Falls (40D: Niagara Falls sound = ROAR) was making all kinds of weird sounds, most notably FIAR (I typoed the "F" somehow, perhaps instinctively following MLK with JF … K? Who knows? Anyway, slowed down there as well. Time was still quite normalish.

Enjoy your day, especially if you're lucky enough to have it off.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Philippine seaport with reduplicative name / TUE 12-24-13 / Class of automobile inspired by Ford Mustang

Constructor: David J. Kahn

Relative difficulty: Challenging (*for a Tuesday*)

THEME: NELSON MANDELA (36A: Late political leader who wrote "Long Walk to Freedom") — bunch of Mandela-related answers

• PRESIDENT OF / SOUTH AFRICA (18A: With 60-Across, 1994-99 role for 36-Across)
• ROBBEN / ISLAND (8A: With 68-Across, prison where 36-Across spent 18 years)
• F.W. DE KLERK (29A: Predecessor of 36-Across and sharer with him of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize)
• APARTHEID (48A: Bygone policy in 60-Across)

Word of the Day: PONY CAR (24A: Class of automobile inspired by the Ford Mustang) —

Pony car is an American class of automobile launched and inspired by the Ford Mustang in 1964. The term describes an affordable, compact, highly styled car with a sporty or performance-oriented image. (wikipedia)

• • •

I don't know why the Times runs puzzles like this—dashed-off trivia-crammed puzzles about the recently deceased. This doesn't come off as tribute. Comes off as a rush job. Bunch of data crammed in a grid. Fake theme answers like TATA (46A: Father, in Xhosa, and a nickname for 36-Across) and ATTENDEE (3D: Barack or Michelle Obama, at the memorial service for 36-Across) only add to the haphazard, arbitrary, whatever-fits feel of the "theme." A well-crafted puzzle with a clever hook of some kind would've been worthy of the man. This just feels weirdly slapdash. Certainly NELSON MANDELA's life is worth commemorating. I just don't quite see this as rising to the level of "commemoration." Also, "role" is a very, very weird word to describe PRESIDENT OF / SOUTH AFRICA. Broadly defined, sure, I guess "role" works, but I was like, "Mandela was an actor???"


This puzzle was much harder than your typical Tuesday, but I think it's an asterisk puzzle—not made in accordance with normal Tuesday standards. Singular. An outlier. A obituarial one-off. PONY CAR!? Yeesh. That, crossing DYE, nearly derailed me. Never heard of a PONY CAR. I LOL'd at TWO-D (27D: Having no depth, briefly), which came up in a recent Rex Parker Facebook discussion as one of my reader's Most Hated Crossword "Words." I suggested we start saying it as one word, TWOD, pronounced just like it looks. We could use it as a pejorative for someone we don't like. "Don't be such a TWOD, Steve." It's good because it sounds profane but is merely nonsensical. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go REPACK for my trip to the Philippines, where I am planning to REMAP ILO ILO (actually, I just have a really early appointment and so need to get some sleep).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Creator of first crossword / SAT 12-21-13 / Jerry Orbach role in Fantasticks / Kingdom vanquished by Hammurabi / Girl's name in #1 1973 1974 song titles / Ranch sobriquet / Neighborhood org since 1844 / Fruit whose name comes from Arawak / Morlocks enemy

Constructor: Todd Gross and David Steinberg

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: First crossword puzzle — today is the 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle. The shaded area corresponds to the shape of that original puzzle, which looked like this:

Puzzle's creator (ARTHUR WYNNE) and publisher (NEW YORK / SUNDAY WORLD) both appear in the grid, as does the puzzle's publication year (MCMXIII)

Word of the Day: KREWE (12D: Mardi Gras group) —

A krewe (pronounced in the same way as "crew") is an organization that puts on a parade and/or a ball for the Carnivalseason. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and Springtime Tallahassee as well as in La Crosse, Wisconsin and at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.

The word is thought to have been coined in the early 19th century by an organization calling themselves Ye Mistick Krewe of Comus, as an archaic affectation; with time it became the most common term for a New Orleans Carnival organization. The Mistick Krewe of Comus itself was inspired by a Mobile mystic society, with annual parades inMobile, Alabama, called the Cowbellion de Rakin Society that dated from 1830. (wikipedia)

• • •

[SYNDICATED SOLVERS—my book review of Ben Tausig's "The Curious History of the Crossword Puzzle" appears in the Wall Street Journal today (January, 25, 2014). Here is a PDF.]

I've been seeing references to the 100th anniversary of the crossword all over the web today, so this feels rather anti-climactic. Yes, 100 years. Yes, that's the publication and the creator. Yes, that gray area is the shape of the original puzzle—though nothing about the content of that gray area (with the notable exception of FUN) corresponds to the original puzzle. If you want a FUN puzzle with which to celebrate the anniversary of the crossword, I suggest Merl Reagle's Google Doodle (if it's still up … it was on Friday). This was very easy if you were aware of the anniversary, maybe a little less so if you weren't. I've seen ARTHUR WYNNE's name so many times in the past few days that "gimme" doesn't even begin to describe it. Not sure how anyone's supposed to know what the gray area represents—did you get a note? My .pdf had no note.  It's a bit insidery, esp. the FUN bit. Maybe there's a note out there that my version just didn't have. Who can say?


I like FUNGICIDE (16A: Jojoba oil is a natural one). Otherwise, shrug, puzzle's OK. Only trouble today was spelling AMIDALA (22D: "Star Wars" queen and senator), which is not AMADALA. Nor is it AMYGDALA, though it's close. Had I SWEAR instead of IT WAS I (40D: Formal confession). No other bumps to speak of.

If you want to read a little something on the 100th anniversary, I recommend this thoughtful little piece by Ben Tausig: "The Shape of Clues to Come: The Crossword at 100."

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Bitmap images / FRI 10-7-11 / Wheeler Peak locale / Mitchum's genre / Hindu god often depicted meditating / From knowledge sea power org

Constructor: Kevin G. Der

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: STEVE JOBS (57A: This puzzle's subject) — products and companies and concepts associated with the recently deceased APPLE co-founder

Word of the Day: NeXT (64A: Company founded by 57-Across) —

Next, Inc. (later Next Computer, Inc. and Next Software, Inc. and stylized as NeXT) was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets. NeXT was founded in 1985 by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs after he was fired from Apple. NeXT introduced the first NeXT Computer in 1988, and the smaller NeXTstation in 1990. Sales of the NeXT computers were relatively limited, with estimates of about 50,000 units shipped in total. Nevertheless, its innovative object-oriented Nextstep operating system and development environment were highly influential. (wikipedia)

• • •

Good thing I went to sleep before doing the puzzle last night—looks like there was a big snafu. This puzzle was a last-second replacement for the regularly scheduled puzzle, but the replacement order didn't go through for the NYT applet (NYT's online solving venue), so everyone there merrily chomped their way through something else. At least one other blogger did her whole write-up before learning of the mix-up. Not the first time online stuff has gone horribly awry at the NYT. But this is likely not truly annoying to anyone but said blogger. So you did the "wrong" puzzle — now you can do two puzzles, if you want, or wait for the canceled puzzle to appear at a later date. Seems reasonable to rush a tribute puzzle to press, and as tribute puzzles go, this is a fine one. As usual, it's simply crammed with answers related to the deceased—no bells or whistles. But with a gajillion theme answers and (with a very small number of exceptions) generally interesting fill, for all its sttraightforwardness the puzzle is still pretty impressive.

Theme answers:

• 1A: Brainchild of 57-Across (IPOD)
• 16A: Film studio spearheaded by 57-Across (PIXAR)
• 17A: Brainchild of 57-Across (MACINTOSH)
• 26A: Slogan associated with 57-Across ("THINK DIFFERENT")
• 42A: Frequent description of 57-Across (CREATIVE GENIUS)
• 57A: This puzzle's subject (STEVE JOBS)
• 60A: Company co-founded by 57-Across (APPLE)
• 24D: One of many from 57-Across (BIG IDEA)    

This puzzle comes with a special IPOD "Crossword" playlist. I love that the top line goes IPOD, then "ADIA," then "USE ME"—if ever there was a time to trot out the classic crossword songs, this was it. Other things to put on your IPOD: some NINA Simone ("I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free" is one of my favorite songs ever ever ever—seriously, if you're ever feeling down, just play it. Trust me); something called "Have a Little Faith IN ME" (1D: "Have a Little Faith ___ (1930 hit)); a pianist I've never heard of (59D: Pianist Nakamatsu => JON). I admit that my first thought for 13D: "Symphony in Black" artist (ERTE) was ARNE, as my brain registered only "symphony." Also, I thought the Mitchum in 38D: Mitchum's genre (NOIR) was writer James MICHENER (!?). But no, it's the amazing actor Robert Mitchum of "Night of the Hunter" and "Out of the Past" fame.




There was virtually nothing tough about this puzzle. I guess tributes are really designed to be completed successfully by as many people as possible. I have NEXT to no memory of NEXT, so that was a puzzler, but I got SHIVA (36D: Hindu god often depicted meditating) and I pieced together "GO WEST" (44D: Film in which the Marx Brothers join the gold rush) ... loopiest thing in the grid is UDE (25A: Ulan-___ (Siberian capital)), which I needed every cross to get, but which is probably some old-school crosswordese that I should've just known.




The response to JOBS's death surprised me. I'd never really thought about his place in American culture much. He was just the APPLE guy with the turtlenecks. But he clearly had a massive impact on the way many of us live our lives (he said, as he typed on his MacBook Pro). It was kind of entertaining to read a lot of my friends' Apple/Mac memories on Facebook yesterday. Here's what I wrote:

My dad was an early adopter before the term was in use: Betamax, anyone? Laser Disc players ... in 1982? Yeah, that was us. We owned the first model Apple Macintosh (ca. 1984). One of my fondest early Mac memories is of me and my sister using MacPaint (mind-blowing, to us) to draw mocking pictures of John and Yoko, based on / inspired by the ubiquitous ads for "John and Yoko: A Love Story" (TV, 1985). Also, I wrote my college application essays on that thing. Good times.

My sister, in response.

Yeah, Dad has always been on the forefront of gadgetry. I am cracking up about John & Yoko...do you remember what John said in his caption bubble? "Yoko, you're numero ono." I also remember thinking MacPaint was the best thing ever, because it had all of those crazy patterns. I think we gave John plaid pants w/ a checked shirt. That Mac went w/ me to college BTW, and caused me no end of grief. MacWord sucked pretty bad by the time 1990 rolled around.

And my best friend. 

I've never forgotten how in August 1998, after the announcement and just prior to the release of the original iMac, when I was at math grad student camp at UC Berkeley, the head of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, a research mathematician, turned to his equally nerdy colleague and declared, "The iMac is going to be the death of Apple." The degree to which that asshole was incorrect is a large cardinal number that would require googolplexes and quattuordecillions to quantify.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Naturalist John / TUE 3-29-11 / Barrel supports / Early Indian invader / Feminizing suffix / Protagonists in Star Wars / PC screen type

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: ELIZABETH / TAYLOR (55A: With 17-Across, late Hollywood star)—several different roles and movie titles populate the grid

Word of the Day: METAZOAN (37D: Multicellular animal) —

(zoology) The multicellular animals that make up the major portion of the animal kingdom; cells are organized in layers or groups as specialized tissues or organ systems. (answers.com)

• • •

Not great as tribute puzzles go. This one feels hastily thrown together, with roles and partial titles and titles all cobbled together into a dense but arbitrary arrangement. "THE SANDPIPER?!" What the heck is that. It's certainly not a definitive Liz Taylor role, that's for sure. SUMMER feels like a pretty weak way to get a symmetrical answer for TAYLOR (it's also a bit weird to have her name divided up the way it is, with last name coming first ...). The best part about the grid was the numeral "8" in "BUTTERFIELD 8" / 8 TIMES. Otherwise, straightforward and kind of dull. Weak in theme answers as well as overall fill (though ACUTE PAIN next to WOMANIZE is nice, especially in a grid with this kind of theme density).

Theme answers:

• 4D: 1944 title role for 55-/17-Across (VELVET)
  
• 21A: 1963 title role for 55-/17-Across (CLEOPATRA)
  
• 27A: 1965 film starring 55-/17-Across (THE SANDPIPER)
  
• 45A: 1960 film for which 55-/17-Across won a Best Actress Oscar (BUTTERFIELD 8)
  
• 49D: How often 55-/17-Across was married (8 TIMES)
  
• 61A: "Suddenly, Last ___" (1959 film starring 55-/17-Across) ("SUMMER")

Bullets:

• 3D: Early Indian invader (ARYAN) — baffled by this one, which made the NW a bit harder than normal (esp. true give the intersecting theme answers—difficult to pick up if you don't know the theme yet).
  
• 29D: Feminizing suffix (-ENNE) — hate this clue, generally. First, I know it'll be a suffix (suboptimal fill). Second, it could be at least four different things. No way to know except from crosses.
  
• 47D: Protagonists in "Star Wars" (REBELS) — hmmm. I guess so, though "protagonists" doesn't sit quite right with me. HAN Solo is a protagonist. REBELS are a group he generally belongs to (by the end). Don't think of the collective as "protagonists."
  

That's all for today.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Silents actor Novarro / WED 12-1-10 / Celtic sea god / Hall-of-Famer Walter Dodger manager for 23 years / Shaded passageway / Sheik's mount

Constructor: Caleb Madison

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: WOODY / ALLEN (1A: With 66-Across, subject of this puzzle, born 12/1/1935) — nine WOODY ALLEN movies clued only by their years of release


Word of the Day: Walter ALSTON (8D: Hall-of-Famer Walter who was a Dodger manager for 23 years) —

Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall of Fame. He maintained his residence in Oxford and died there in 1984 at the age of 72.

• • •

What a weird solving experience. Strangely, the theme was completely beside the point for me. I mean, once I got it, I knew all the movies, so no problem at all. No tricks, no whistles, no bells. The problem for me was Everything Else. The cluing felt hard all over and I struggled a lot more than I usually do on a Wednesday. First of all it took me a while to pick up WOODY, since 1D: Something played out in a theater (WAR) and 3D: Geometric suffix (-OID) [frowny face] were big ????s to me, as was YEOMEN at first (5D: Palace workers), so I just had -O-D-. It dawned on me who it was only after seeing (with several crosses) that 34A: ... 0f 1971 must be ... BANANAS, thus the theme must be WOODY and the years must be movies. OK.

Thought my struggle was over, but no. ELYSIAN? Ouch. I know ELYSIUM. Forgot it had an adjectival form. ALSTON? Double ouch (turns out I didn't know him back in 2008, either, which is the last time he showed up) (8D: Hall-of-Famer Walter who was a Dodger manager for 23 years). No idea what an ION exchange is. BTWELVE took forever to see (27D: Vitamin involved in cell metabolism). Trying to get CLASSA from bottom up (12D: Top-level)? Not easy. Didn't get ANO even after I had it filled in (it's AÑO—man I hate that as a crossword word). ALIGNED is not a word I think of when I think of [Neatened]. PERGOLA (52A: Shaded passageway)!? FEBRILITY!? Great words, I'm not complaining—they were just tough to come up with. Only real complaint is SW corner (which I got rather easily)—looks like a junk heap. AAAMAP is pretty made-up. NONONO is ... just 3 NOs, and ANEAR? A-NO! So strange to struggle (somewhat) in a puzzle where I knew every theme answer, and one of the answers (29A) is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Theme answers:

• 9A: With 64-Across, 1-/66-Across movie of 2005 (MATCH / POINT)
  
• 17A: ... of 1987 (RADIO DAYS)
  
• 22A: ... of 1990 (ALICE)
  
• 29A: ... of 1979 (MANHATTAN)

• 34A: ... of 1971 (BANANAS)
  
• 36A: ... of 1973 (SLEEPER)
  
• 43A: ... of 1977 (ANNIE HALL)
  
• 50A: ... of 1983 (ZELIG)
  
• 57A: ... of 1978 (INTERIORS)
  

Bullets:

• 28A: Silents actor Novarro (RAMON) — again, NO idea.
  
• 22D: Sheik's mount (ARAB) — mind would *not* let go of camel. Would. Not. Let. Go.
  
• 24D: One-named 1970s-'80s supermodel (IMAN) — This, I knew, though for some reason I wrote in ELLE at first (even though ELLE McPherson clearly has Two Names).
  
• 47D: Hank with voices on "The Simpsons" (AZARIA) — This, too, I knew. He's won four Emmys, three of them for voice-over work on "The Simpsons"

• 54D: Celtic sea god (LER) — the only part of OOXTEPLERNON I ever want to see in a puzzle is "NON."
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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