Suspense novelist Hoag / WED 8-17-11 / Yalta locale / Stooge surname / L'eggs wares / Big Apple mayor before Koch / Former Ford minivan

Constructor: Michael Black



Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium





THEME: Initial things — Clues are famous people with two first initials and a last name that can also be a thing (or things). Initials are written with a slash between them, because each represents a different word that can precede the last name in a common phrase. So ...

• 20A: M/C Hammer? => Mallet or Claw
• 39A: W/C Fields? => Wrigley and Coors
• 58A: L/L Bean? => Lima or Lentil

Word of the Day: Abraham BEAME (66A: Big Apple mayor before Koch) —

Abraham David "Abe" Beame (March 20, 1906 – February 10, 2001) was mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As such, he presided over the city during the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, during which the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. (wikipedia)

• • •

Loved the grid but found the theme answers jarring, first because of the OR / AND / OR inconsistency, and then because I have a hard time hearing "MALLET hammer" or (especially) LENTIL bean." I guess if you think of the answers as types of thing, rather than word that can precede said thing, it all works fine. Lots of cruddy short stuff, but most of the longer stuff is nice, and that matters more. Too much damned Latin — ET ALII ERGO IRAE INITIO. Had no real problems except those of my own making, most notably at the end, in the SE corner where I couldn't get INITIO to come out right. This was largely because of a plausible typo that left me with OHIO as the answer to 65A: "___ be in England": Browning. Last I checked, OHIO be not in England.





The change from OR phrase to AND phrase and back to another OR phrase can be explained by the nature of the names in the clues. "Fields" is a plural, where "Hammer" and "Bean" are singular. Thus the AND for "Fields" and OR for the other two.



Bullets:

• 14A: "The Godfather" score composer Nino (ROTA) — I will always associate this composer with "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, as I've read several interviews where he expresses his admiration for ROTA.

• 31A: Suspense novelist Hoag (TAMI) — she has one of those names where first and last names are both built for puzzles.
  
  
• 34A: Literally, "reign" in Hindi (RAJ) — Period of British colonial rule in India. Also a character on the sitcom "What's Happening?"
  
  
• 43A: Former Ford minivan (AEROSTAR) — really wanted ECONOLINE, which is definitely a van, just not a mini.

• 1D: Yalta locale (CRIMEA) — Yalta looks like Yeltsin who was president of Russia which is home to the CRIMEAn peninsula. Or was. It's now a "sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine," whatever that means (wikipedia).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

German port on Weser / TUE 7-26-11 / Kid-lit elephant / Jan Brady player on Brady Bunch / Early Ron Howard role / Bridge maven Sharif

Constructor: Michael Black

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

THEME: Road Sign Colors — answers are road signs, clued solely via their colors


Word of the Day: Catherine PARR (43D: Henry VIII's sixth, Catherine ___) —

Catherine Parr (Katherine, Kateryn, Katheryne or Kathrine); 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him. She was also the most-married English queen, as she had a total of four husbands. (wikipedia)

• • •

So it's just road signs, with the added little bonus that they are all different colors (hence the unusual and slightly tougher-than-usual theme answer cluing). Pretty good idea for an early-week puzzle, with interesting longish fill throughout. A bit unusual to have so many Across answers be as long as or longer than so many Across theme answers—MAKE A BET, DIET SODA, EVE PLUMB (my favorite answer; 44A: Jan Brady player on "The Brady Bunch"), and LONE STAR are all the same letter count as DEER XING and HOSPITAL, and much longer, of course, than EXIT and STOP. Usually, theme answers are the longest answers in the puzzle. Occasionally a Down answer (assuming the theme answers run Across) is as long as or longer than the shortest theme answer. This is just convention, but it's one that I like. Keeps the theme answers distinct; separates them from the rest of the herd; gives them pride of place. But no big deal.


Bigger concern is the pangram (use of every letter of the alphabet). All I can think of when I see a pangram is "I wonder how much better this grid *could've* been if the constructor hadn't tried to pull off such a bush-league stunt." Thankfully, today, the grid is at worst average, so there's no obvious casualty of the pangram—made me suffer through JOS and IZE, but I guess I can handle that. WHOA, I take that back. That damned "C"—I was wondering why there's that terrible REC / DECI- cross, and at first I thought it was the nearby "X"'s fault, but there's already an "X" in the theme answer DEER XING, so that "X" wasn't necessary for the pangram. But, it turns out, the "C" was. If you have to go REC / DECI- to pull off your little pangram, It Is Not Worth It. Just Say No.

Here's Liz Gorski on crossword pangrams — all you need to know.

Theme answers:

• 17A: [White] (SPEED LIMIT)
  
• 26A: [Yellow] (DEER XING)
  
• 37A: [Green] (EXIT)
  
• 40A: [Red] (STOP)
  
• 53A: [Blue] (HOSPITAL)
  
• 64A: [Orange] (MEN WORKING)
  

Got slowed down, fittingly, by DEERXING, esp. as it was crossed with the mystifying (at first) TRAD. (21D: Like much folk music: Abbr.). Also went with SOUP for STEW (16A: Bouillabaisse, e.g.) and SHORES for SHOALS (48D: Lighthouse locales). I don't think Better Than EZRA has had a hit this century, and they had only a handful in the last, so they hardly seem like a Tuesday-level clue (70A: Rock's Better Than ___). That said, I got that answer instantly.

Bullets:

• 28A: Without a time limit, as a contract (OPEN END) — no "-ED" on the end?
  
• 57A: Professional with an apron (BAKER) — Had "B-KER" and reluctantly wrote in "BIKER"...

• 4D: German port on the Weser (BREMEN) — also feels Harder Than Tuesday (that's the name of my Better Than Ezra cover band)
  
• 14A: Bridge maven Sharif (OMAR) — too bad you can't really hide "Sharif" behind a misdirection. I mean, if your clue were [Cheese lover Sharif] or [Philatelist Sharif], I would still plunk OMAR in the grid, instantly.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld