Old Russian co-op / THU 12-2-10 / Odin to Germans / Lake bordered by Malawi Mozambique / Fuji rival

Constructor: Joe Krozel

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Doubled clues — on nine different Across lines, two seven-letter answers share same clue


Word of the Day: GOLGI body (52D: ___ body (cell part)) —

The Golgi apparatus (also Golgi body or the Golgi complex) is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. It was identified in 1897 by the Italian physician Camillo Golgi, whom the Golgi apparatus is named after. // The Golgi apparatus processes and packages macromolecules, such as proteins and lipids, after their synthesis and before they make their way to their destination; it is particularly important in the processing of proteins for secretion. The Golgi apparatus forms a part of the cellular endomembrane system. (wikipedia)

• • •

Really feels like I've seen this theme before, but I guess not. Not much to enjoy here. The construction is interesting, in a way, but the whole thing was kind of tedious to solve. Also very uneven, in that the SE corner was (for me) a billion times harder than the rest of the thing, which was pretty easy to piece together even when the vocab got odd (e.g. WOTAN, ARTEL) (28D: Odin, to the Germans, 31D: Old Russian co-op). I didn't know NYASA (50D: Lake bordered by Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania) or GOLGI and forgot AGFA (58D: Fuji rival) completely (a phenomenally unmemorable name, for me, for some reason), and so ARISTAS was tough to uncover. In fact, I was so stuck, and so didn't care about the puzzle, that I just stopped and watched basketball for a while. Later, figured out that HEES (!?!) must be HEYS (59D: Startled cries), and that "Y" got me SIGNIFY and then the rest of the puzzle.

Theme answers:

• 1A / 8A: Orient (FAR EAST / SITUATE)
  
• 15A / 16A: Ace (AVIATOR / ONE SPOT)
  
• 17A / 18A: Lower in stature (DEGRADE / BENEATH)
  
• 34A / 38A: I, for one (PRONOUN / NUMERAL)
  
• 40A / 41A: Understanding (ENTENTE / EMPATHY)
  
• 42A / 43A: Tire (WEAR OUT / RETREAD)
  
• 60A / 61A: Loose (LIBERAL / AT LARGE)
  
• 65A / 66A: Mean (AVERAGE / SIGNIFY)

• 67A / 68A: Bristles (GETS MAD / ARISTAS)
  

Look, I get that it probably took a lot of thought and ingenuity and careful planning to get this grid to work out. But as a solver, I don't care about that. I care about solving enjoyment. And there just wasn't much here.

Bullets:

• 22A: Runnin' ___, 1944 N.C.A.A. basketball champs (UTES) — that's a long way to go to get an original clue for UTES, but enjoyed the journey. Grew up watching the Runnin' Rebs of UNLV play my hometown Fresno State Bulldogs on a regular basis.
  
• 32D: Religion with an apostrophe in its name (BAHAI) — where does it go? BA'HAI. That's my guess. Dang! It's BAHA'I. BAH.
  
• 57D: Person under the Union Jack (BRIT) — got it off the "R," though initially wanted something like REB.
  

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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