Silents star Nita / THU 3-22-12 / Laulau side dish / Wearer of crown since 1952 / Celebrity widowed in 1980 / O Henry winner Region of Ice 1967 Dead 1973 / 1930s migrant / Bramble book of Robert Bridges poems

Constructor: Alan Arbesfeld

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: -EAKS / -AKES — STEAKS phrase flipped to STAKES phrase and vice versa. Ditto BREAKS/BRAKES

Word of the Day: BURL (54D: Small knot) —

n.

1. A knot, lump, or slub in yarn or cloth.
2. 1. A large rounded outgrowth on the trunk or branch of a tree.
   2. The wood cut from such an outgrowth, often used decoratively as a veneer.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/burl#ixzz1poAwJALo

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I'm really surprised this theme passed muster. Can't you do this kind of thing with like a billion different words? These phrases aren't funny. I barely know what "chopped steak" is. Thursdays should be much more interesting and adventurous than this. Tough cluing kept this Thursday-tough, but this things's a real disappointment, theme-wise.




Theme answers:

• 19A: Entrees for one of Dion's backup singers? (BELMONT STEAKS)
• 30A: Discounts at garages? (PARKING BREAKS)
• 36A: Severely reduced wagers? (CHOPPED STAKES)
• 52A: What mechanics may do as part of a tuneup? (SERVICE BRAKES)

Started this one strangely, spilling backwards into the middle of the grid starting with EN LAI, then "IT IS I" to STAN to "CONAN" to OKIE. Not sure what happened after that. I know I threw in I THEE with no help, and then got RAKE. The "Dion's back-up singers" part of the theme clue gave me the BELMONT I needed to get going in the NW. Figured out STEAKS and got NE from there. Had most trouble with the E and SE. Honestly, -PPED STAKES did nothing for me. Guessed OHM'S LAW off just the "W" but was not at all sure (38D: Current principle). Couldn't get TREED (49D: In a tough spot) or OVERT (50D: Plain) to fall from their first letters. No way I could see ON ALERT from [Primed]. Couldn't see COLLEEN (56A: Irish lass) because SHEILA was stuck in my head (wrong country). Tough. But ultimately doable.

I know almost nothing about the "Ring" cycle, so SPRITES? If you say so (1A: The Rhinemaidens in the "Ring" cycle, e.g.). The only author of "The Dead" that I know is Joyce ... right? And it fit, but the years were all wrong (9D: O. Henry Award winner for "In the Region of Ice" (1967) and "The Dead" (1973) = Joyce Carol OATES). "Bramble BRAE" means less than nothing to me (32D: "Bramble ___" (book of Robert Bridges poems)). Perhaps if I had any idea who Robert Bridges was ... Robert BURNS would've helped here. Maybe. Otherwise, I was on fairly comfortable ground, and benefited from a lot of well-placed gimmes, SANTINI being foremost among them (7D: "Great" part for Duvall). ONO and ZAK were also easy (57D: Celebrity widowed in 1980 / 24: Ringo's drumming son). Don't know what/where Laulau is, but its "side dish" couldn't be much else but POI. TÊTE pretty much solved itself (29D: Casse-___ (French brainteaser)). Same with OKIE (28D: 1930s migrant). Didn't know MISS U.S.A. straight off, but had the MISS in place before I ever saw the clue, so there wasn't much guesswork there (12D: Wearer of a crown since 1952). Final letter was the "G" in COG / GEM (36D: Certain tooth / 48A: Sweetheart).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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