Gaff to fisherman / TUE 12-7-10 / Event that may include blue films / Sock hop locale / Mournful peal / Sheep's accuser

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels & Kent Clayton

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: FOOTBALL MATCH-UP (39A: Bit of Sunday TV scheduling ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 50- and 59-Across) — theme answers are punning phrases made out of two NFL team player names.


Word of the Day: JARED Leto (50D: Actor Leto of "American Psycho") —

Jared Joseph Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Fight Club; Girl, Interrupted; Panic Room; American Psycho; Alexander; Requiem for a Dream; Lord of War; Mr. Nobody and Chapter 27. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars and has directed music videos under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins (a name borrowed from Dr. Seuss' The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins). (wikipedia)

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I'm almost certain I've seen this theme before ... which is exactly what I said the last time I saw this theme, it turns out. Discovered it with the first theme answer, and felt somewhat deflated thereafter. Grid is clean, long Downs are interesting (which I'd expect from an early-week pro like Andrea), but the theme is tired, so my overall enjoyment level was not very high. One thing I did like—the puzzle felt very contemporary. As I was solving, my software program showed only "... Kent Clayton" as the constructor, and I thought "this is someone very young" (in a good way). Puzzle seemed to draw quite a bit from contemporary popular culture (the ZACH clue in particularly made me think this—47A: Galifianakis of "The Hangover"; Mr. Galifianakis seems to be everywhere these days, including "Bored to Death," an HBO series created by Jonathan Ames, who is himself a crossword fan ... but I digress). At least three actors—ZACH, JARED, KATE—and a TV personality—MCGRAW—plus NANU (14A: Half of Mork's sign-off) ... plus two more actors—MIA and KEACH— give this puzzle an entertainmenty vibe. Light, airy, easy, fine.



Theme answers:

• 17A: Governor in Austin? (CHIEF TEXAN)
  
• 25A: Unwelcome result of a shopping sprees? (GIANT BILL)
  
• 50A: Airport baggage handler? (JET PACKER)
  
• 59A: Sheep's accuser? (RAM CHARGER)
  

Surely there are more of these—[Sam Adams after a week in Aruba?]=BROWN PATRIOT. Actually, most of the rest of the NFL is animals, which makes changing context of names less easy.

Had most of my trouble at 20A: Come together. GELL? MELD? KNIT? No, MEET.

Bullets:

• 21A: Card player's boo-boo (MISDEAL) — I put in MISPLAY, which is manifestly wrong.
  
• 45A: Sock hop locale (GYM) — For some reason I stared at G-M for several seconds. "Oh ... GYM!"

• 32D: Even that may include blue films (STAG PARTY) — my favorite answers of the day. So audaciously manly, running as it does through a baseball answer, a football answer, a GYM, and another football answer.
  
• 13D: Mournful peal (KNELL) — thought this was some strange word when I mistakenly had MISPLAY in place and thought it ended -YL. "IDDYL?" No, just KNELL. Both "peal" and "knell" are ripe for punning, in case you wanna make a Monday/Tuesday puzzle of your own.
• 38D: Gaff, to a fisherman (SPEAR) — I thought a "gaff" was a hook ... looks like it's actually a pole with a hook at the end. OK.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

PS nice feature on Crossword Champ Dan Feyer in the Times, here.

PPS ... this, from my favorite celebrity crossword solver (it's a *little* raunchy, so just ... be warned):

Prenatal Pole Dancing DVD from Christina Applegate