Cosmonaut Makarov / SAT 5-22-10 / Exobiologist's query / Young Republican 1980s sitcom / Player of logical crew member / Puffed product since 1937

Constructor: Will Nediger

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none


Word of the Day: Max BROD (24A: Kafka confidant Max) —

Max Brot (Hebrew: מקס ברוד) (May 27, 1884 – December 20, 1968) was a German language Czech-Jewish, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist, known for his close friendship with Franz Kafka. // Max Brod was born in Prague, then part of the province of Bohemia in Austria-Hungary, now the capital of the Czech Republic. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is most famous as a friend, biographer, and literary executor of Franz Kafka. (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow. Followed up my fastest Friday of the year with my (by far) fastest Saturday of the year. Possibly my fastest Saturday ever (I tend to time these less often than the other days, so I don't really know). 8:23. Started writing in the NW and never stopped. And I wasn't racing. Just deliberately moving through the grid. Solved it with utter continuity (using crosses the whole way) and never hit a significant snag. My only issue was with the "B" in BROD. I had to wait to see what the cross was, as it was clued via another clue (24D: 31-Across alternative). And then, I knew it would be BUS before I actually knew the answer to 31A: One in line at a station (CAB). I had CAR, but that did nothing for me at 27D: Negev native, e.g. (SAR...?), so I waited on the word I knew I knew, but couldn't recall. Didn't take long for SABRA to spring to mind (it's a name I learned from xwords). Only other bump in the road was entering TREMOR for (what turned out to be) STUPOR at 32A: Result of a great shock. Everything else came very easily.

This may be the first time ever that my Saturday time was faster than my Thursday time. 1A: Body measurement did nothing for me, but 15A: Throw off was obviously (to my brain) EMIT. I just read the clue with my Saturday goggles on (i.e. shaking off the obvious, apparent clue meaning and doing some lateral thinking). Then I simply knew MILA (17A: Actress Kunis of "That '70s Show") — she also does the voice of Meg on "Family Guy." With EMIT and MILA stacked neatly atop one another, I destroyed that NW corner: STAGGER (4D: Make zigzag) and MEMO PAD (1D: Place for notes) went straight in, OLEG (19A: Cosmonaut Makarov) went across, and there we were. ATTENDING and DEBRIEFS (28A: Questions about a flight, say) went easily across, giving me great access to both the NE (via FREE GIFT) *and* the SW (via NIMOY — 26D: Player of a logical crew member). I followed FREE GIFT (6D: Product recipient's surprise) to AGENT (23A: Gig getter, often) to AWNING (8D: Shade provider), etc. The only hold-up up there was 16A: Exobiologist's query ("ARE WE ALONE?"). I clearly did not know what an "exobiologist" was. I figured it was someone who studied exoskeletons. "ARE WE ... NOT MEN? ... ARE WE ROACHES?" (see 24A). Eventually JO MARCH (12D: Literary tomboy) et al in the far NE made the query clear.

Getting into the south = absolutely no problem with the big, fat, long gimme 29D: Ailurophile sitting there. I tried CAT LOVER and it wouldn't fit, but I knew that that's what "Ailurophile" literally means, so I just thought of another phrase: CAT PERSON. But that answer just stuck down into a bunch of empty space, so I decamped for NIMOY country. Put in the aforementioned bad answer, TREMOR, but because ENID was a gimme (43A: "Idylls of the King" woman), I was able to see TIN FOIL as the answer for 33D: Cheap hat material and erased TREMOR accordingly. ALEX (P.) KEATON is as familiar a pop culture figure as any that lives in my brain, so my only problem there was taking out the (to my mind necessary) "P" (54A: Young Republican of a 1980s sitcom). From there I pretty much rode the KEATON momentum like a wave over that little black bar in the SE, finally crashing down with a flourish in the (easily handled) SE, with the second "E" in TRESTLE being my last letter (40D: Sawhorse, e.g.).

All in all, I liked it. I don't trust my judgment much today, though. People almost always love the puzzles that they defeat handily, especially late in the week. Will worried out loud yesterday about having to follow Patrick Berry's beauty from yesterday, but I don't think this compares poorly at all. That was meant to sound like a compliment. To be a compliment. Honestly, I liked it.

Bullets:

• 27A: Capital near Potosí (SUCRE) — well, I know SUCRE is in Bolivia, but I have no idea what/where "Potosí" is...
  
• 47A: "Touché!" elicitor (ZINGER) — this is how I decided between CONK and ZONK at 47D: Fall into a 32-Across, with "out"
  
• 55A: ___ Caovilla, maker of high-end women's shoes (RENÉ) — as far as I'm concerned, this guy is from Potosí, i.e. way off my radar. Thankfully, I needed to know his name not at all. Never saw this clue.
  
• 5D: One putting a tale in the air? (BALLADEER) — only just now occurred to me that "air" here means "song." I figured "in the air" referred to the fact that his voice was audible, i.e. sound waves "in the air."

• 32D: Bands appearing after split-ups? (SPECTRA) — I assume this has something to do with prisms or other things that refract light. Thank god for ALEX KEATON, who helped me see that this ended in "A," not "S."
  
• 34D: Ascii alternative (UNICODE) — took one look at this and though "Oh, crud ..." Sounded techy. Ended up being at least vaguely familiar. Gettable, anyway.
  
• 39D: Andy Warhol subject (SOUP CAN) — actually wrote in SODA CAN (!?!?!) before immediately changing it, while repeatedly calling myself an idiot.
  
• 50D: Puffed product since 1937 (KIX) — again, I owe ALEX KEATON a debt of gratitude. I knew loving / identifying with that guy would come in handy some day.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Victorian vehicle / FRI 5-21-10 / Sedan chair accessories / Descendants of Japheth / Animal on Mauritius's coat of arms / Chicago outfit bigwig

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none


Word of the Day: RINSO (18A: Product once advertised as having Solium) —

Rinso was the brand name of a laundry soap most commonly used in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The brand was created by Hudson's Soap which was sold to Lever Brothers of Port Sunlight, England, in 1908. It was also manufactured by the Lever Brothers Company (later known as Unilever) in the United States, starting in 1918. // Rinso was one of the first mass-marketed soap powders. It was advertised widely on radio, being the sponsor of many network programs such as the popular daytime soap opera Big Sister from 1936 to 1946, and the night-time programs Big Town from 1937 to 1942, Mayor of the Town from 1942 to 1943, and most notably The Amos 'n' Andy Show from 1943 to 1950. During this time the product's advertisements happily chanted the slogan "Rinso white, Rinso bright" and boasted that Rinso contained "Solium, the sunlight ingredient".

• • •

Easy, beautiful puzzle. If you want to know why Patrick Berry is one of the most respected and admired constructors in the world of crosswords, just check out this grid. Gorgeousness as far as the eye can see. Gigantic, wide-open NW and SE corners that are filled Perfectly (so, so hard to fill in that much white space without resorting to some ugly and/or marginal stuff). He relies on a couple -ER words and four colliding words with the letter string "ATE" there in the SE, but not so that anyone but me (a hyperinspector) would notice. There's not a single answer in the puzzle that made me wince or caused me the slightest discomfort. Gush gush gush. Patrick Berry rules.

This was my fastest Friday of the year, but I jacked the rating up to "Easy-Medium" because my ease-of-solving felt freakish and idiosyncratic. I mean, for instance, I pulled LANDAU (12D: Victorian vehicle) instantly off just the "U," and not everyone can do that. I also just *knew* SWAMPY (41D: Camp ___ ("Beetle Bailey" setting)) and MADISON (7D: Mermaid's name in "Splash"), both of which gave me great leverage in the NW and SW, respectively. SWAMPY was particularly important — I went STAKE RACES (41A: Belmont and Preakness, for two) to SWAMPY and had that whole (amazing) section done before I blinked twice. ZONK-YANKS-PRONG-MAGOG (53D: Descendants of Japheth) — the fill is just bouncing off the walls down there. Great energy. Love it.

Biggest problems were getting started (as usual) and the SE, where I finished the puzzle off. Began with ABET (6D: Give shelter, perhaps) and then, stupidly, neglected to look one more Down over to MADISON, which I would have gotten w/o crosses. Instead, I went back west into the fat part of the corner and started mucking around. Wanted NEPAL at 5D: So-called "Land of the Gods" but had no way of being certain. Then ventured a guess of TOWEL at 21A: Beach bag item and decided sure, why not, NEPAL. Then MEN at 28A: Playing pieces, then the -ING suffix at 3D: Tossing about (STREWING). With second "T" and "M" in place LOST TIME leapt forth (1D: Something to make up for), and the NW was all over but the shouting. SWEPT (22A: Got award after award) through the NE and SW like a tornado, only to come to a near-halt in the SE, despite having it surrounded. Main problem — I had REGROUP where REGIMEN belonged (39D: Training recommendation). Seemed reasonable. But ONU- seemed an improbable beginning for 56A: Cramped vehicle (ONE-SEATER), so I scrapped REGROUP, and bam, TENT DRESS just fell into place (58A: Garment with no waistline). Wanted ONE-SEATER, but couldn't picture one, so waited. Then REGIMEN fell in, then HOME PLATE went across (54A: Swinging place?), and the corner went down without any more fight. The only answers in the whole puzzle that left me with that "wha?" feeling were RINSO (before my time, I assume), and JOSIP (48A: Marshal Tito's first name). I had JOSEP. But it's JOSIP. I really wish Yugoslavia had produced a Saturday-morning TV show called "JOSEP and the Pussycats." I would play a clip of it for you right now. But instead you get this:


[this cartoon and I are the same age]
Bullets:

• 10A: Sedan chair accessories (POLES) — Wow, I have no idea what a "sedan chair" is, apparently. Why would a chair require POLES? Oh, wait, are the POLES holding the chair up? Oh, I see, they are the poles that the porters (front and back) use to carry you in your little compartment. You gotta be pretty special / lazy to ride in one of those.
  
• 19A: Magazine founded by abolitionists in 1865 ("THE NATION") — They used to have a cryptic crossword. Do they still?
  
• 24A: "A very high price to pay for maturity," per Tom Stoppard (AGE) — Not the funniest quote in the world, but easy enough to figure out.
  
• 31A: Robert L. Fish Memorial Award and others (EDGARS) — the annual awards for mystery writing. No idea who "Robert L. Fish" is/was. He apparently wrote the book that the 1968 Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt" was based on, but he doesn't even have a wikipedia page (in English, that is).
  
• 45A: Animal on Mauritius's coat of arms (DODO) — makes sense. Only place on earth where DODO is known to have existed.
  
• 51A: Band name that has an umlaut over the "n" (SPINAL TAP) — embarrassing that this took so many crosses to get. I own the DVD and played part of it in class just a few weeks ago (I was teaching Swift's "Modest Proposal" ... I swear it was educationally justifiable).
  
• 4D: Old English aristocrats (THANES) — I know these *only* as Scottish.
  
• 11D: Poet exiled by Augustus (OVID) — another flat-out gimme. Love him. He has an irreverence and sense of humor that Virgil, say, does not. I love Virgil, too, but kind of in that way that you dutifully love some older relative with whom you have Zero in common. OK, a little more than that.
  
• 26D: Publike eatery (BISTRO) — Is "publike" a real word. I kept reading "public." That, and "pubic lice."
• 42D: Soap opera actress Braun (TAMARA) — the RINSO of the SW, i.e. "wha?"
• 43D: Kingdom that once included Sicily and Sardinia (ARAGON) — not to be confused with the Christopher Paolini novel "ERAGON" (a book, and series, that my daughter has devoured).
• 44D: Chicago Outfit bigwig (CAPONE) — the biggest wig. I was expecting something less obvious, like NITTI, but no.
• 48D: Poked fun (JAPED) — this answer will forever remind me of PuzzleGirl, who insisted I take it out of a grid we were constructing together. When I defended it as a perfectly good word (one that would add some zazz to the grid with its "J"), she called it all kinds of derogatory names, and ultimately I was forced to back down. I don't know what's in its place now. Something lame, no doubt (actually, it's something pretty decent ... but I still like JAPED).
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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