Dapper Dan's doodad — SATURDAY, Jan. 2 2010 — Spinachlike potherb / Oxide used television tubes / Sigmoid architectural feature

Constructor: Robert H. Wolfe

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: YTTRIA (43A: Oxide used in television tubes) — Yttrium oxide is Y₂O₃. It is an air-stable, white solid substance. Yttrium oxide is used as a common starting material for both materials science as well as inorganic compounds

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I'll take the beating I got yesterday over this dull slab of mostly 1-pt Scrabble tiles any day. Any Day. There were some great / tough clues here and there, but the fill!? Has no one learned the lesson of word count. Unless you are Patrick Berry, do NOT go under 60 words. Best to not even go close. You're just going to end up with a horde of -ER words (9 today, including a whopping FIVE in the SW alone) and a bunch of plurals (look at virtually every bottom-right square — where two answers terminat — to see what I mean). Found this one remarkably easy at first, and then suitably Saturdayish later on. RAISA (1A: Early 1990s first lady's first name)/ RESTAFF (1D: Fill positions differently) went in instantly, and the only thing that kept the NW interesting after that was a. the fact that I had FARADS where FERMIS was supposed to go (22A: Units in nuclear physics), and b. the fact that the STIPES (16A: Mushroom supporters) / SEPTIMES (4D: Defensive fencing positions in which the top of the blade is pointed at the opponent's knee) crossing was harrowing. Had no idea what went there, until I ran the alphabet and vaguely remembered STIPES. Why the long clue on SEPTIMES when none of that extra info helps with inferring the answer at all?

Followed YES MAN (26A: Rubber stamp) out of Puzzle 1 and down into Puzzle 2 (the SW). Threw down ATTAINER (27D: Goal getter) off just the initial "A" and ON RUNNERS (25D: How most sleds are mounted) off just the first "N." Slowed down in this section only by PROSED (39D: Wrote an essay, say) (!? ugsome word). I had PENNED, duh. Clue on ACER (44D: One not allowing a volley) is one of the worst I've ever seen. You never, ever, ever volley a serve, and an ACE is, by definition, a serve. So ... Clue Fail, to the extreme. ASSESS is the most dreadful of all crossword crutch words — typically lined up, as it is here, to provide the final letter for a large bank of words. Yuck.

OGEE (25A: Sigmoid architectural feature), a gimme, got me GASBAG (15D: One full of hot air), which helped me begin to get traction in the NE. This quadrant was by far the toughest for me. GAS BAG and GONE INTO (15A: Chosen as a career) were the only things up there for a bit. Many false starts until I locked in TEMPLE (8D: Congregation location) and things started to come together. Had INDUCTEE for ENLISTEE (7D: New face on base). Also had STAGES for STARES (11D: They're often drawn on the street). Not sure I get STARES. Why "the street?" What are you wearing that you are drawing STARES? Oh, best mistake of the NE — thought Dapper Dan was wearing a DICKEY (it's actually a TIE PIN, so I was in the correct general sartorial area at least — 9D: Dapper Dan's doodad).

Couldn't get REEFER at first (28A: One getting hit on?), off just the RE-, so had to jump into the utterly blank SE to try to finish off the puzzle. Wrote in SONES with a kind of crossword reflex that god knows I didn't have a few years ago (35A: Acoustic measures). From there, I went SEATERS (36D: Those who put you in your place?) -> SITTER (49A: Parents' hiree) (side note: really? You're gonna cross these?). Wanted ORACH at 47A: Spinachlike potherb, but it didn't fit. Only today is apparently "add-an-E" day, so ... ORACHE! Why not? Last letter in the grid was the "Y" in TYROS (41D: Pros' opposites) / YTTRIA. I've seen TYROS spelled TIROS before, so ... I had to think about it. Ended up going with the more customary spelling. Good move, that.

Bullets:

• 21A: A conductor may have it memorized (bus line) — really good clue. I could think only of a music conductor. "Doesn't (s)he *always* have the score 'memorized?'" Thought there might be something in music called the BAS LINE. It's French!
• 33A: Skipping syllables (tras) — That's the problem with skipping: So many TRAS (?). Do people skip any more, and if so, do they actually say "TRA la la?" Just checking.
• 42A: Kings Henry I and Stephen (Normans) — I'm a medievalist and this somehow wasn't a gimme. Stupid PROSED!
• 5D: Arterial problem: Var. (aneurism) — could've used a "Var." at ORACHE, though dictionary tells me that "ORACH/E" is an either / or situation. My crossword experience has been all ORACH.
• 14D: Eleanor who wrote "The Hundred Dresses" (Estes) — don't know you, but ESTES is the surname equivalent of ASSESS, fill-wise.
• 31D: Dramatic break (entr'acte) — like this. Hardly ever see the full thing in crosswords. Usually just the horrid ENTR
• 38D: Swank's co-star in "The Next Karate Kid" (Morita) — a gimme, but one whose spelling I question because (once again) I had PENNED instead of PROSED. PROSED!!!! (shakes fist at sky)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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Resistance leader in Woody Allen's Sleeper / FRI 1-1-10 / Abductor Sabine women / Play set entirely beauty parlor / Coin depicting Louis XVI

Constructor: Brad Wilber

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: none

Word of the Day: NICOL Williamson (25A: Williamson who played Hamlet and Macbeth on Broadway) —

Nicol Williamson (born September 14, 1936) is a Scottish-born British actor who was described by English playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". [...] Williamson's Hamlet for Tony Richardson at The Roundhouse caused a sensation and was later transferred to New York and made into a film, with a cast including Anthony Hopkins and Marianne Faithfull. Faithfull later stated in her autobiography "Faithfull" that she and Williamson had had an affair while filming Hamlet. [...] When Williamson appeared in the 1981 film Excalibur, director John Boorman cast him as Merlin opposite Helen Mirren as Morgana over the protests of both actors; the two had previously appeared together in Macbeth, with disastrous results. It was Boorman's hope that the very real animosity that they had towards each other would generate more tension between them on screen. (wikipedia)

[Speaking of Marianne Faithfull, her recent album "Easy Come, Easy Go" is fabulous. I got it for my wife for Christmas.]

[Cover of "The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists]

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Bloodbath. Slaughter. Not a pretty opening to the new year. I struggled not at all in the NE, a little in the SE, a lot in the SW, and an eternity in the NW. If I had only remembered the name of the damned horse part, my time could have been cut in half; without it ... freefall. Horrible, nauseating, I'm-never-going-to-finish free fall. Without the "W" from WITHERS (1A: Part of a horse between the shoulder blades), I could think of only HOODIES for 1D: Some winter wear (woolens). For the Longest time I had ONE O'CAT (14A: Quaint game with a giver and a striker) and OF NO USE and virtually nothing else in that NW corner. NICOL was nobody to me. ERNO was nobody to me (22A: Resistance leader in Woody Allen's "Sleeper"), IN FOR IT was invisible (2D: Sure to be grounded, say), HOODOO was ... DOOM something? I don't even remember (4D: Bring bad luck to). My one good guess (which I was completely unsure of) was STY at 29A: Foul territory? Otherwise, just horrible. Embarrassing. Here is a very, very fitting song for my bout with this puzzle...



But leaving the NW aside, the puzzle was clearly Saturday-hard throughout. I'm not sure who thought it was a Friday. Only a couple people have times showing at the NYT website that seem Fridayish. Mostly, it looks like a toughish Saturday rolled through there. As I look through the grid, there's not much that is utterly unfamiliar to me: ERNO, NICOL and AL RITZ are about it (23A: Eldest of a trio of comic brothers in 1930s-'40s films). It's the vague, terse, or deliberately misleading cluing that made it so hard to get traction anywhere. Guessed PFIZER right away (8A: Xanax maker) and the NE fell shortly thereafter. "Z"s are so handy! But when I tried to come across ... I had 19A: Pot cover. This is an example of what I'd call a "slant clue." In poetry, a "slant rhyme" is a rhyme that isn't one. Not really. Only in the most tenuous sense of the word. A slant clue is defensible, but groanworthy. "Covering," I might have bought. "Cover" is just ridiculous. So TEFLON didn't show up. Took some hacking, but eventually got the long Downs to fall, starting with POLITICAL ... something at 15D: City hall, often (ended up being ARENA). After much cogitation, "STEEL MAGNOLIAS" sprang to mind for 7D: Play set entirely in a beauty parlor — I had the "STE" to start. Didn't know it was a play.

But over and over, there was stuff that just refused to come easily. Figured answer to 34D: With 35-Down, Mocha is on it would be an island. But no. RED SEA. Thought 39A: Dieter's concern might be WEIGHT. No. INTAKE. As with STY, ADAGIO came to me but I never did trust it until I got several crosses (this also happened with OR ELSE and IMBUE). I "malapopped" at 32D: One of Iowa's state symbols (oak) — wrote in OWL, which was wrong, but ended up being Right later on at 44A: Notable head-turner. Einstein's a what? He could be a billion things. I listed half a dozen off the top of my head, and none of them were EMIGRÉ (53A: Einstein, notably). You eat AIOLI with bouillabaisse?? (45A: Bouillabaisse go-with). An ALIMENT is ... a thing? 41D: Sustaining stuff — I know the adj. ALIMENTARY, but have never seen ALIMENT. Over and over the clues were far from forthcoming. FILIAL is not among my top ten love types (48A: Like some love). Which ENID are we talking about here (43A: She's a paradigm of patience)? ENID of Eric (Geraint?) and ENID? Yikes. Plantation makes me think "slavery" — also cotton and sugar. So I had CANE where BALE was supposed to go (36A: Plantation creation). How the bleepity bleep am I supposed to know the first Across word in the world's first crossword?? (52A: FUN!).

To continue: Had DOB for DUI (31D: Police blotter abbr.). LAZARUS came like a bolt from the blue (59A: New Testament miracle recipient) after I struggled to remember his damned name for what felt like ever; but then ... that juicy "Z" led me straight to the obvious (to me) IDOLIZE! Only ... it's somehow not IDOLIZE. LIONIZE!?!? Come on, you're killing me! My favorite clue/answer pair of the day was one that gave me fits: 36D: Mix on the range (beefalo). There are many meanings of "range." And many meanings of "Mix." I went through all of them. Still didn't get BEEFALO until I was staring at -EE-ALO. I honestly thought KALE might be the [Plantation creation], which was going to give me, what, KEEBALO? Uncle! ("Uncle Keebalo" = trickster god of puzzles; he hates you).

Bullets:

• 27A: Its chapel was designed by Eero Saarinen, briefly (MIT) — I actually held a picture of EERO in my hand earlier in the evening. Three letters? I considered JFK, LGA ...
• 33A: Dostoyevsky's exile city (Omsk) — -MS- made this obvious.
• 51A: Time of Obama's swearing-in (MMIX) — more slant cluing. True, but you would say "year," not "time."
• 54A: Elk's enemy (puma) — I had WOLF.
• 60A: Great Dark Spot locale (Neptune) — not sure I knew this, but had so many crosses that it was obvious.
• 5D: Coin depicting Louis XVI (ecu) — had SOU.
• 8D: Choate ran with him in 1996 (Perot) — I know Choate as a prep school.
• 9D: Half of a recurring "Saturday Night Live" duo (Franz) — other half = Hans.

• 10D: N.Y.C. transportation debut of 1904 (IRT) — just one of those answers I know from doing so many crosswords.
• 11D: Movement Herman Wouk called "a single long action of lifesaving" (Zionism) — Thank you, PFIZER.
• 20D: Clown's over-the-top topper (fright wig) — great answer. Clue ... a little too cocky.
• 40D: Abductor of the Sabine women (Romulus) — my mythology plumb gave out on me. I could see the painting of "The Rape of the Sabine Women," but couldn't recall who was doing the raping (which here, yes, means "abducting").

Happy New Year everyone. Talk to you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

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