Irish-born Tony winner Patrick / MON 5-23-11 / Bridge hand assessment / Online chat components / Much-kissed rock

Constructor: Steve Salitan

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (significantly above my avg. time—still well under 4 min.)

THEME: GOOD / LUCK (28D: With 37-Down, what 17-, 24-, 47- and 58-Across are all said to bring) — self-explanatory


Word of the Day: Patrick MAGEE (42A: Irish-born Tony winner Patrick) —

Patrick Magee (31 March 1922 – 14 August 1982) was a Northern Irish actor best known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as his appearances in horror films and in Stanley Kubrick's films A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. // Born Patrick McGee in Armagh, Northern Ireland, he changed his name to Magee for the stage. His first stage experience in Ireland was with Anew McMaster's touring company, performing the works of Shakespeare. It was here that he first worked with Pinter. // He was then brought to London by Tyrone Guthrie for a series of Irish plays. In 1957 he met Beckett and recorded some of his prose for BBC radio. Beckett was so excited with his voice that he wrote Krapp's Last Tape especially for him (it was recorded by the BBC in 1972). Beckett's biographer Anthony Cronin wrote that "there was a sense in which, as an actor, he had been waiting for Beckett as Beckett had been waiting for him." // In 1964, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, after Pinter, directing his own play The Birthday Party, specifically requested him for the role of McCann, and stated he was the strongest in the cast. In 1965 he appeared in Marat/Sade, and when the play transferred to Broadway it won him a Tony Award. He also appeared in the 1966 RSC production of Staircase opposite Paul Scofield. (wikipedia)

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Did not care for this one so much. Overly straightforward theme combined with a very clunky solving experience combined with my complete ignorance of bridge (ugh) made this one less than thoroughly enjoyable. Was disenchanted right away with NUMBER SEVEN—even though people talk about "lucky NUMBER SEVEN" all the time, still the "number" part felt redundant and weird. Top two theme answers have clues that steer you away from GOOD LUCK (no one ever wished upon an "overnight success," for instance), while the bottom two theme answers do not allow for any such clue reimagining. There's only one BLARNEY STONE, and a RABBIT'S FOOT is a RABBIT'S FOOT is a RABBIT'S FOOT. This lack of cluing cohesion gives the puzzle a wobbly feel. Cross-referenced revealer was mildly annoying, though not what you'd call a flaw. General frame of reference in this puzzle is olde-timey (bridge-playing, old mayors, old actors, an extremely awkward clue on the only modern thing in the grid — 21A: Online chat components, for short (IMS); etc.). Double stack of bad plurals on top of a cruddy EuroRiver in the west didn't help matters. I enjoyed MASS MARKET (30D: Not a niche audience; reminds me of my vintage paperback collection) and FINAGLE (10D: Achieve through trickery) and very little else.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Mickey Mantle wore it (NUMBER SEVEN)
  
• 24A: One who's an overnight success (SHOOTING STAR)
  
• 47A: Much-kissed rock (BLARNEY STONE)
  
• 58A: Common key chain adornment (RABBIT'S FOOT)
  

Bullets:

• 1A: Foamy coffee order (LATTE) — Do Not Like this clue. Yes, there is a small amount of foam on top of a LATTE, but I would not call a LATTE "foamy." A cappuccino, yes. A LATTE, no. P.S. RAPPERs do not drink LATTEs, but middle-aged white guys do. I had two just this past weekend. P.P.S. some RAPPERs probably do drink LATTEs. DJs too.
  
• 57A: Common breast-pocket stain (INK) — I think this clue means "chest pocket." The ink stain happens on chest pockets, stereoptyically (i.e. nerdically). A "breast pocket" is "a pocket inside of a man's coat." I mean ... I'm sure there are INK stains in there too, but that inside pocket is *not* the one associate with INK stains.
  
• 47D: Sudden charge in football (BLITZ) — that's *American* football. A sudden charge in the *other* football is called a "Messi":

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. Thanks to jesser and treedweller for covering for me this weekend while I attended the wedding of my good friend / former student / part-time assistant Donna in Bucks County, PA. In case you were wondering what all those photos were about (1. the cake we had made, based on the design on the invitation; 2. the ceremony itself; 3. Best Dog). Here are wife and post-playing-in-the-rain daughter:


See you tomorrow

PPPPPPS: I lost my phone this weekend in the wilderness of PA. Well, turns out I just left it in a cab. The company has my phone but "the boss doesn't like us" to mail phones to people even w/ promise of full remuneration, so I am looking for someone *very close* to Lansdale, PA to go get my damned phone from the taxi people. E-mail me at the rexparker at mac dot com address if this person is you. Reward: undying gratitude. [UPDATE: Nancy in PA to the rescue! Problem solved! Woohoo!]