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)

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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]