1972 #1 hit for Sammy Davis Jr / TUE 8-23-11 / Cousin of Muhammad / Pupil coverer / British boob tube / Frozen dessert franchise

Constructor: Michael Farabaugh



Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (*for a Tuesday*)



THEME: Bolt — that's the clue for four theme answers





Word of the Day: ALI (23A: Cousin of Muhammad) —

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب; Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^th Rajab, 24 BH–21^st Ramaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam. Sunni Muslims consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shi'a Muslims regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi'a branches. (wikipedia)

• • •

Not my favorite kind of theme. Also, a theme that could've gone much deeper—to six answers at least, probably more. Bolt = eat food quickly. Bolt = large roll of cloth. Better to shorten up these answers and add a couple more than just have four, esp. when one is LIGHTNING UNIT (?). That's literally correct, I suppose, but UNIT is painful in that phrase. This puzzle wasn't so much difficult (compared to other Tuesdays) as it was hard to move through quickly. I'd get the front end of a theme answer, but it would not lead easily to the back end at all. UNIT? Bah. Even LEAVE didn't help me get SUDDENLY. IN A HURRY seemed plausible. Crosses there were weirdly hard to turn up, as STOW and WELD and DELL did not come easily. The grid seems mostly solid—I'm just underwhelmed by this type of theme, and by the execution of this particular incarnation of this theme type.



Theme answers:

• SPRINTER USAIN
  
  
• METAL FASTENER
  
  
• LIGHTNING UNIT
  
  
• LEAVE SUDDENLY
  
  

Can't write much more. I have to be up at 4:30am to catch a 6:15 flight. I'll be checking in periodically over the next few days, but you'll mostly be in the hand of capable and entertaining substitute writers—a different one every day! Hope you enjoy the tail end of your summer as much as I plan to enjoy mine (mine will involve a state fair, very dear friends, and probably more alcohol than I've consumed so far this calendar year).



Bullets:

• 15A: Instrument heard in Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" (OBOE) — I had no idea that was an OBOE. I nearly wrote in OGEE because I had MEAN instead of MODE at first for 8D: Number in statistics.
  
  
• 33A: The "she" in the lyric "She walked up to me and she asked me to dance" (LOLA) — keeping with the musical theme. Here's a song I actually feel like playing for you.

• 37A: Frozen dessert franchise (TCBY) — Or, as I always think of it, "I Can't Believe It's Not Yogurt" (it's actually "The Country's Best Yogurt")
  
  
• 64A: Half of a famous split personality (HYDE) — big help when I was flailing away down there in the SW.
  
  
• 3D: They have homes that many people visit (WEBSITES) — this clue feels like a stretch. They have "homes?" Yes, there's a "home" page, but if you are going to use "homes" in a way no one does when speaking about WEBSITES, your clue needs a "?"
  
  
• 38D: 1972 #1 hit for Sammy Davis Jr., with "The" (CANDYMAN) — from "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" — enjoy.

• 48D: British boob tube (TELLY) — I'm not sure that's equivalent slang. "TELLY" is a neutral term. Also, actor Savalas.
  
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Doll's House heroine / WED 4-20-11 / Half 1980s TV duo / Bespectacled dwarf / President whose first name means one who is blessed

Constructor: Michael Farabaugh

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: MIXED GREEN SALAD (39A: Dieter's fare ... or a hint to 17-, 24- and 49-Across and 10- and 26-Down) — anagrams of GREEN SALAD


Word of the Day: GIAN Carlo Menotti (40D: Composer ___ Carlo Menotti) —

Gian Carlo Menotti (July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste. He won the Pulitzer Prize for two of them: The Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955). He founded the noted Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) in 1958 and its American counterpart, Spoleto Festival USA, in 1977. In 1986 he commenced a Melbourne Spoleto Festival in Australia, but he withdrew after three years. (wikipedia)

• • •

Lots of anagrams. So what? Seriously. SEE GARLAND? That's ... funny? What is that? I mean, maybe you could *do* something with SEAL DANGER or LANGE READS or EARS DANGLE, but these anagrams just lay there. They also represent the only thing at all challenging about this grid, which is Monday/Tuesday-easy in all other respects — I struggled a tiny bit in the SW corner with APRON (51D: Place for a chip shot) and NORA (61A: "A Doll's House" heroine), but otherwise, torched it. This puzzle has impressive theme density, but that's not enough to make it interesting.


Also, a MIXED GREEN SALAD is not "dieter's fare." It's just a thing people eat. At restaurants. Every night of the week. You can see them. Eating the salad. And steak. And then dessert (thus, *not* dieting).

Theme answers:

• 17A: Lee at Appomattox, e.g.? (SAD GENERAL)
  
• 24A: Portly college figures? (LARGE DEANS)
  
• 49A: Salutation in an Anaheim baseball fan's letter? (DEAR ANGELS)
  
• 62A: Cowgirl Evans's hot temper? (DALE'S ANGER)
  
• 10D: Where to get discount flowers? (GARDEN SALE)
  
• 26D: Go out with the star of "The Wizard of Oz"? (SEE GARLAND)
  

I'll give the grid one thing—with the exception of CERT. (68A: Like some checks: Abbr.), the grid is very smooth. Oh, it also taught me something about OBAMA's name (didn't know "Barack" mean "one who is blessed," though OBAMA was my first and only guess for that clue). Honestly, there's not a whole lot left to say. Seems like there were a number of '80s TV duos (Simon & Simon, Cagney & Lacey, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Siskel & Ebert, Sam & Diane, Jack & Diane, Jack & Jill, etc.), so ALLIE didn't come right away, but she came (44A: Half a 1980s TV duo). Kitchen gadgets in three letters = always OXO (31D: Maker of Good Grips kitchen tools) (I've told the story about OXO being the first band I ever saw live, right? They opened for Hall & Oates ... another '80s duo!). "Bespectacled" is a good word, so that's a nice clue on DOC (62D: Bespectacled dwarf). I had no idea JAMA was a *weekly* (45A: Org. with a peer-reviewed weekly journal). Oaxaca is one of my very favorite place names—looks and sounds fantastic (32A: Other, in Oaxaca). My favorite chocolate is made using traditional Oaxacan methods.



Clearly I'VE run out of things to say. So good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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