Ruminant's third stomach / WED 6-22-11 / YM or Us output / Yount had 1406 of them / Online option since 1998 / Moo makers / Unit for chairmaker

Constructor: Tim Croce

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: THE FIRST LETTERS / OF EACH / CLUE GO / FROM A TO Z IN ORDER (21A: Including 38-, 41- and 60-Across, a description of this puzzle's theme) — just what it says, only the clues do that A TO Z cycle three times ...


Word of the Day: OMASUM (6D: Ruminant's third stomach) —

The omasum, also known as the bible, the fardel, the manyplies and the psalterium, is the third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. Though its functions have not been well-studied, it appears to primarily aid in the absorption of water, magnesium, and the volatile fatty acids produced by rumen fermentation, that have not been absorbed into the bloodstream yet. The numerous folds of its mucosa are thought to trap digesta particles so that the maximum amount of nutrients may be absorbed. (wikipedia)

• • •

Feels like something I've done and not liked before. Theme answers = instructions. Puzzle hook is found is first letters of clues (instead of grid itself). Fill is not terribly interesting, and clunky in parts, due in part to the fact that a stunt grid like this imposes certain limits. For example, this puzzle, in addition to accommodating the "description," *had* to be 78 words, i.e. a multiple of 26, to accommodate the A TO Z pattern in the clues. Puzzle felt a bit harder than normal, probably (again) because of pressures of the theme (I mean, why would you go to Robin Yount for an RBIS clue (64D: Yount had 1,406 of them)?? Oh, you require a "Y" clue. Well all right). As a solver, I don't get any pleasure from marveling at the *cluing*. I guess there might be some joy in breaking the code (... DRINK MORE OVALTINE ...), but that part wasn't terribly difficult, or terribly revelatory ... or rather it *was* revelatory, just of something I didn't care about ("huh ... OK ... back to filling in this mediocre grid, then ...").

["... from chimpan A to chimpanzee ..."]
OMASUM is what I'd call a "sore thumb."

EDA and ESA and ERTE all in the same grid! An embarrassment of riches! (42D: LeShan who wrote child-care books) (26D: Conductor ___-Pekka Salonen) (68A: Harper's Bazaar illustrator of the 1910s-'30s). My favorite part of the puzzle was the symmetrical and virtually synonymous END LATE (8D: Take too long) and RUN OVER (45D: Not stay within the allotted time). Considering I ran over my normal Wednesday time, these answers seem appropriate. Hold-ups included OMASUM (the second "M" in particular, since "No Love (But Your Love)" is not in my brain's catalogue of Johnny MATHIS songs (29A: "No Love (But Your Love)" singer, 1958)); RBIS (I had HITS and then RUNS); CREATE (the clue works, but it's hard to see how at first) (53D: Result in); NETZERO (forgot they existed) (46D: Online option since 1998); SEURAT (French artist, German-sounding clue) (24A: Kröller-Müller Museum artist); and ... I think that's it.



Bullets:

• 15A: Domitian's "you love" (AMAS) — here's where I figured out something was fishy. Clue was easy to figure out, but ... Domitian!?
  
• 20A: Historical region of France (ARTOIS) — now probably best known to Americans as part of the Stella-ARTOIS beer name.
  
• 48A: Xavier Cugat film "___ Were Never Lovelier" ("YOU") — I kind of want to clap for this clue. Xavier Cugat wins the "Best X Clue" category today.
  
• 49A: YM or Us output (ISSUES) — Love this clue. Looks like gibberish until you realize you're looking at magazine titles.
  
• 70A: John McCain ranch locale (SEDONA) — a beautiful place, I'm told. SEDONA, I mean. No one I know has been on McCain's ranch ... I don't think.
  
• 4D: "Pshaw!," to a Valley girl ("AS IF!") — Another good clue, mostly because it has me imagining Valley girls actually saying "Pshaw!"
  
• 9D: Unit for a chairmaker (SLAT) — OK, I will give this puzzle one thing—the limits it puts on cluing really encourages some decent inventive thinking. Clues aren't boring, even if the grid kind of is.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Jimi Hendrix's first single / TUE 6-21-11 / Cathedral toppers / Summation signifier / Source of lots of living room arm waving / Roadie's tote

Constructor: Kelsey Boes

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: Tables the turn — X THE Y phrases are flipped to become Y THE X phrases, with attendant wacky cluing


Word of the Day: EILEEN Collins (42A: Astronaut Collins) —

Eileen Marie Collins (b. November 19, 1956 in Elmira, New York) is a retired American astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She was awarded several medals for her work. Col. Collins has logged 38 days 8 hours and 10 minutes in outer space. Collins retired on May 1, 2006 to pursue private interests, including service as a board member of USAA. (wikipedia)

• • •

Weak theme / strong grid. Not a bad Tuesday combination. The fact that the first two theme answers begin with third personal singular (i.e. S-ending) forms of the verb threw me, and made the execution feel clunky, even though, technically, those forms are perfectly appropriate for the expressions they are playing off of. I wonder how many theme answers you could amass using this model. A bunch, I'm betting. SCRIPT THE FLIP. POWER THE FIGHT. BOMB THE BAN. WHEELS THE GREASE. CHECK THE SPLIT. SHIP THE RIGHT. Etc etc. Nothing mind-blowing in the fill, but it's solid throughout, with a good, unforced Scrabbliness (note the lack of X—god bless you, Kelsey Boes). Xs, Js, Ks, Qs, and Zs are lovely when you don't have to make huge sacrifices in smoothness and elegance to get them, so the lack of "X" shows nice restraint. No need to force the issue. I liked the NE corner the best—something about SHEESH (9D: "You've got to be kidding!") and HEY, JOE (10D: Jimi Hendrix's first single) makes me feel like I'm half-heartedly eavesdropping on an animated conversation between someone named Joe and someone named, let's say, SHARI (9A: Puppeteer Lewis).



Theme answers:

• 20A: Kirects rush-hour traffic? (CONTROLS THE JAM)
  
• 25A: Posts abusive comments about a team supporter? (FLAMES THE FAN)
  
• 43A: Blend an illegal street drug? (WHIP THE CRACK) — I, uh, don't think that's how it's made.
  
• 52A: Ask "Is this really diet soda?," for instance? (QUESTION THE POP) — I don't think you'd ask the question to the can directly, unless you were insane, or, like JOE and SHARI above, a little drunk.

[#1 the day I was born]
Did this in the same time it took me to do yesterday's, but I was slow yesterday, so I'll say "Medium" today. Hard to make these calls when statistically significant time differences are measured in seconds. I think the preponderance of proper nouns might hold people up a bit, perhaps—particularly in the RIZZO / EILEEN / RICOHS / EASTMAN section—but not much, probably.

Bullets:

• 16A: Bird that flies with its neck retracted (HERON) — I did not know that. I'm having a hard time visualizing it. Oh ... I see. That seems familiar. Somehow I was imagining a neck telescoped back in on itself.
  
• 37A: Woodrow Wilson is the only U.S. president to have one (PH.D.) — in Political Science from Johns Hopkins.
  
• 41A: Source of lots of living-room arm-waving (WII) — very nice clue. (WII is the latest Nintendo video game system)
  
• 5D: Cathedral toppers (CUPOLAS) — probably the SAT-est word in the grid.
• 59A: Summation signifier, in math (SIGMA) — had the -MA and thought GAMMA but then wisely waited for crosses.
• 44D: Roadie's tote (PRE-AMP) — this might have given folks trouble too. I think of roadies toting AMPs, sure, but PRE-AMPs? I don't doubt that they do, but that's not the first (or second) word that comes to mind. Kind of wish PRE-AMP and PRELIM hadn't been in puzzle together.
  
• 45D: Magnetic induction units (TESLAS) — had the TE-, so no problem. TESLA (as a physicist and a "unit") is a common grid denizen.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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