Apollo Daphne sculptor / WED 2-15-12 / Musician/record producer Bobby / Mythological figure being kissed in a statue at the Louvre / Salinger title girl / Producer of the 2600 game console

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: TAKING THE STAIRS — this phrase is found in circles that zigzag down the grid in imitation of a staircase. Two theme answers tie in:

• BROKEN ELEVATOR (3D: Possible reason for [see circled letters])
• NEEDING EXERCISE (11D: Possible reason for [see circled letters])

Word of the Day: Bobby ELI (29D: Musician/record producer Bobby) —

Bobby Eli is a Grammy Award winning musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia, USA. He is a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio group MFSB. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is an interesting use of circles, but NEEDING EXERCISE is not a great answer. It's just ... off. Not that thrilled about BROKEN ELEVATORS being in the plural, either. If the elevator is truly "broken," and the issue is not just power, than the plural seems far less likely than the singular. But still, the main problem is NEEDING EXERCISE which is impossible to imagine. "Hey, why are you TAKING THE STAIRS?" "NEEDING EXERCISE." "Uh ... OK." Maybe if you're an ESL student. Maybe. Otherwise, not a credible response. Not a phrase anyone has said, in a stand-alone way, ever. GET MORE EXERCISE is very, very in-the-language, and fits. Surely the clues could've been reimagined slightly to accommodate an actual phrase instead of whatever NEEDING EXERCISE is. "Needing" and "reason" (clue word) aren't even plausibly parallel. Always disappointing when a decent idea is marred by weak execution like this.




I seem to have been unusually fast today (3:30-ish), and I'm not sure why, as I don't really see the difficulty in this puzzle. I mean, the ELI clue is from outer space, true, but the rest seemed right over the plate. In fact, the only part of the grid that gave me any resistance was stupid NEEDING (and BERNINI, which I really should've known; 25A: "Apollo and Daphne" sculptor). I think I might have written in NEEDS TO EXERCISE as an initial stab (which is bad, but doesn't seem that much worse than NEEDING EXERCISE, frankly). Maybe the [Massenet opera] (THAÏS) was troublesome to people? But once I had "THA-," I knew it. I just had a conversation recently with someone who wondered why THAIS wasn't clued more often as the plural of THAI. That plural is certainly valid. Something to think about.

Bullets:

• 59A: Mythological figure being kissed in a statue at the Louvre (PSYCHE) — kisser is Cupid. BERNINI also has work at the Louvre. 

• 68A: Salinger title girl (ESME) — gimme. Crosswordese from the olden days.
• 27D: Producer of the 2600 game console (ATARI) — five letters, game console, come on.
• 31D: Stereotypical K.P. item (TATER) — awkward clue. First, the stereotype is a potato, not a TATER. Second, "item?" Boo.
• 64D: Reactor-overseeing org. (NRC) — I get these initialisms more out of guesses and good luck than any real knowledge of what I'm talking about. AEC is a related initialism. Or else I'm making that up.
• 39D: Liqueur served with coffee beans (ANISETTE) — I did not know that. I just saw "liqueur" and thought "which one has a lot of common letters?" Piece of cake.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Actress married to Kurt Weill / MON 11-21-11 / 1970 hit by Sugarloaf / Older woman's plaything in slang / Old dagger / Funnywoman Rudner

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: iTUNES (67A: Where to find the songs in this grid ... or an appropriate title for this puzzle) — songs with a color and some form of "EYE" in the title

Word of the Day: LOTTE LENYA (11D: Actress married to Kurt Weill) —

Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian singer, diseuse, and actress. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language film she is remembered for her Academy Award-nominated role in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) and as the sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963). (wikipedia)

• • •

Not really a Monday, and definitely not a puzzle for anyone under 30. Old songs with "eye" in them. Two -EYED, one EYES. Cutesy reveal. It's OK, I guess, if you enjoy LAYERs and BRAYERs and CD PLAYERs. Four partials is at least two too many for my taste. I'm guessing that if you know the music and like the music, you'll like this puzzle, and if not, not. I went through a classic rock phase in high school (yes, all these songs were already classic rock 25 years ago), so I knew all the titles, though "GREEN-EYED LADY" was by far the hardest to come up with, mainly because no one today, including most of those who actually lived through the very early '70s, could pick Sugarloaf out of a line-up. I actually listened to the opening of The Who's "Quadrophenia" today (a remastered version appears to have just been released—it's featured on Spotify), so seeing them at 1A was a strange coincidence.





Theme answers:

• 1A: With 10- and 65-Across, 1971 hit by The Who ("BEHIND / BLUE / EYES")
• 28A: 1967 hit by Van Morrison ("BROWN-EYED GIRL")
• 44A: 1970 hit by Sugarloaf ("GREEN-EYED LADY")

No serious sticking points—just a general feeling that the cluing was slightly tougher / vaguer than the usual Monday cluing. Clue on BAR for instance (53A: Legal profession). Perfectly good clue, but there are way more Mondayish clues for that one. I wanted LAW. Nice musical clue on REUNITE, but again, took some crosses to figure out (42D: What the Beatles never did). No big deal. Probably the most interesting feature of the grid is the crosswordesey LOTTE LENYA showing up here in her full-name form. I had to learn both her first and last names as part of my ongoing crossword training, but I don't think I've ever seen them together in the grid like this. Speaking of crosswordese, let's pause a moment to acknowledge the presence of both SNEE (62A: Old dagger) and ELY (66A: Cathedral town near Cambridge), but of whom YOU will be seeing again, if you haven't had your fill of them already.




Bullets:

• 16A: Hollywood's Howard and Perlman (RONS) — wish Perlman had been replaced with Jeremy. Lots of actors today. MEL Brooks (58D: Funnyman Brooks). RITA Rudner (42A: Funnywoman Rudner). The aforementioned LOTTE LENYA.
• 23A: Older woman's plaything, in slang (BOYTOY) — disappointingly, not SEX TOY. I guess sex toys could belong to women (and men) of any age.
• 51A: Who said "The joke's on you, Riddler!" (BATMAN) — it seems he said this at least once in the '60s TV series ... in keeping with the general old-timeyness of this puzzle.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Creator of GOP elephant / TUE 9-27-11 / Larklike bird / Noted 1964 convert to Islam / When repeated noted panda

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Tuesday)

THEME: COUNTRIES (34D: Sovereign lands ... or what are hidden in the answers to the six starred clues) — loose assortment of country names are buried inside familiar (or at least vaguely familiar) phrases

Word of the Day: PIPIT (44A: Larklike bird) —

The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae. The genus is widespread, occurring across most of the world, except the driest deserts, rainforests and the mainland of Antarctica.

• • •

This is a Wednesday puzzle. It's not even close to a Tuesday. How do I know. It took me 4:42, a full minute longer than my typical Tuesday. Also, when I finished, I was in *2nd* place on the NYT applet—that has literally never happened. As we speak, I'm in 4th, and falling, but even A Division solvers are taking over 4. This is not a complaint—it's just to say that the puzzle was clearly misplaced. Mis-slotted. The theme is kind of blah—random COUNTRIES, so what?—and the theme answers are often painfully unsnappy. I don't think I've ever seen the phrase CHICKEN YARD, though I can at least imagine what it is. Never seen a DIGITAL YEARBOOK, but I assume it's a thing. ROPERUG? Again, I can imagine it, but I've never heard the term. But you can't deny those answer have COUNTRIES in them, which is really all that's required. Central middle was the toughest for me. My farm was TWO ACRE rather than TEN ACRE (it's not as if either is some kind of standard—again, a non-snappy phrase) (42D: Like a small farm, perhaps), and so HEINZ (47A: Ore-Ida parent company) and ZION (48D: The Jewish people) and even ANIMAL INSTINCTS were all hard to see. Never heard of a PIPIT (or I have, and then forgot). Most of the rest of the fill was mediocre, except for THE WALRUS (5D: Character in a Beatles song), which is great. Too bad it doesn't have a country name inside it—it really should, for symmetry's sake. So let's all pretend there's a country called HEWAL. OK? Done.


Theme answers:

• 17A: *Area in front of a coop (CHICKENYARD)
• 23A: *Modern school memento (DIGITALYEARBOOK)
• 35A: *Braided floor covering (ROPERUG)
• 37A: *More than enough (TOO MANY)
• 50A: *Elemental parts of human nature (ANIMALINSTINCTS)
• 57A: *Discover to be fibbing (CATCHINALIE) 

Short stuff is pretty junky all around, but that's what you'd expect in most people's theme-dense puzzles. I was proud to remember the 39D: Creator of the G.O.P. elephant, and then sad to find out that I'd misremembered his name as NASH (it's NAST). Tried CAUGHT IN A LIE first even though it's obviously the wrong verb tense. Thought the wine bar request was the TAB (really didn't read the clue well enough I guess—57D: Request inside (or outside?) a wine bar (CAB). I always botch relative adjectives when the adjective ends in "Y"—SLYER looks just fine, but I guess not (29A: More clever=>SLIER). Good thing I couldn't buy LYNG LYNG as a panda name (26D: When repeated, a noted panda=>LING). Lots of Beatles in this puzzle today, but I'm gonna go out with some PIXIES instead (46D: Fairies)—it's my 8-year wedding anniversary, so (like every other day of the year) I'll do what I want. I love you, honey. xoxo


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

California locale just south of Camp Pendleton / WED 9-21-11 / Morlock's counterpart science fiction / Part of rock's CSNY / Pringles alternative

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: INNER CITIES (60A: Urban areas (as hinted at by the circled letters in this puzzle's grid)) — theme answers are California cities (why California? I don't know). Circles inside those cities spell out the names of other cities (*not* California cities)


Word of the Day: Graham NASH (51A: Part of rock's CSNY) —

Graham William Nash, OBE (born 2 February 1942) is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer. Nash was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash and as a member of The Hollies in 2010. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a mess. Why are the cities California cities? Moreover, why are three of them not-at-all-well-known California cities. I grew up in California, lived there til I was 21, and I've barely heard of three of these—certainly couldn't locate them with any confidence on a map (BAKERSFIELD, I know, though there's no way in hell I'd say its Cal State campus is a salient, identifying feature—there are a ton of Cal State campuses). And the circles?! They aren't consecutive, they contain random city names ... why does this puzzle exist? Even the revealer doesn't make any sense. The circled letters form cities *within* cities. INNER CITIES tells only half the story. If RENO were inside some random word or familiar phrase, then you could say it's an INNER CITY. But you have forced us to come up with these marginal California cities ... why? Why, when the revealer doesn't even require it? They're INNER no matter what they're *in*side. RENO inside PREMONITION would be an INNER CITY. RENO inside GARDEN GROVE is just torture. If you're going to force me to accept spaced-out circles (one of the ugliest things in all of crossworld), then there better be a damned good reason.


RENO can be found inside at least one other California city—one that's better known than all these so-called cities. One that is also a California State University campus site.

Theme answers:

• 17A: California home of the Crystal Cathedral (GARDEN GROVE) (RENO)
  
• 26A: California locale just south of Camp Pendleton (OCEANSIDE) (ENID)
  
• 38A: California State University campus site (BAKERSFIELD) (ERIE)
  
• 52A: California's Sonoma County seat (SANTA ROSA) (TAOS)
  

Got thrown by many clues today—California cities were the primary obstacles, but other things also provided resistance. The second "D" in MID-SIZED CAR, for instance (11D: Toyota Camry, e.g.). I was sure the adjective was "MID-SIZE" and so wrote in MID-SIZE AUTO. Grammar aside, it looks like my instincts were justified. Industry standard seems to be D-less "MID-SIZE." So that sucks. LUNETTES?? I don't know what these [Ornamental crescents] are—can't picture them—but crescents are moon-shaped, so OK. RENIN? (54D: Kidney secretion) Forgot. ENUF? (god that's ugly) (28D: Sufficient, informally) Misread clue and wrote in ENOW (also ugly, also commonish in xwords). Stared at [Part of rock's CSNY] and thought "?????????" I know very well who Crosby, Stills, NASH & Young are, but I've never heard them given the university-like initialism before. Absolutely baffling to me. RAMROD and "flintlock" are familiar terms in retrospect, but I couldn't get from one to the other easily at all today (50D: Flintlock accessory). I'd say RUBBER-NECKING or RUBBER-NECKERS caused a traffic jam way, way before I'd say RUBBER-NECKS (which I just wouldn't say) (25D: Causes of some traffic slowdowns). RUBBERNECKS is a verb to me.

Bullets:

• 20A: Morlock's counterpart in science fiction (ELOI) — more crosswordese (see also every circled city). Nice to see the Morlock out and about.
  
• 71A: Pringles alternative (STAX) — never heard of them. STAX is a record label.
  
• 1A: Humped ox (ZEBU) — strangely, knew this instantly. I don't know many *kinds* of ox, but I know this one, primarily because it was once on "The Simpsons," as a vocabulary word that Lisa was trying to teach Maggie.
  
• 42D: One who deals in rags? (PIANIST) — very tough, but clever. I was thinking rags = tabloids.
  
• 35D: The Rolling Stones' "___ You" ("MISS") — could think only of "TATTOO You," which is the name of a Stones album.

• 13D: Ursula of "The Blue Max" (ANDRESS) — here's the thing about Ms. ANDRESS: If you include her first name in the clue, then no other part of the clue really matters, because there's only one famous Ursula.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. this is so awesome I had to tell you about it right away—Frank Sinatra on how he acquired his crossword habit (personal letter to Eugene T. Maleska, former ed. of the NYT Crossword Puzzle).

Singer/songwriter Scialfa / SAT 9-17-11 / Cause for some spatial relationships

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Incredibly hard for a Monday, not so bad for a Saturday.

THEME: Words or phrases, mostly English, crossing other words and phrases in a square. Each word or phrase is separated from others by a black square. Clues are provided to assist the solver in determining which letters go in the white squares. Sometimes referred to as "none".

Word of the Day: AULANI — Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa is a beachside hotel, resort and vacation destination at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina near Kapolei on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Part of the Disney Vacation Club, it is the third Disney Vacation Club Resort located outside of a Disney theme park property. The resort opened on August 29, 2011. It is based on the Days Inn in Detroit, Michigan. (mostly Wikipedia, mostly true)

Yes, I know AULANI isn’t in today’s puzzle. This is better; you’ll thank me when it shows up. And to those who like to bet on the Word of the Day – too bad; I can’t condone gambling.

So Rex and all of the cool crossword people claim to be in St. Louis at Patrick Blindauer’s wedding this weekend leaving this Canadian accountant to sweep up the blog. I want proof – wedding guests, stop anagramming the maid of honour’s name long enough to take a picture or video of someone saying AULANI at the wedding. The first person to do so will get a fabulous prize from Rex. The fact that the wedding may have occurred before you read this just adds to the challenge.

If Brainiac comes down from outer space and shrinks St Louis and puts it in a bottle, I become the most important person in Crossworld. It could happen.

Who am I?
Just think of me as Andrew Carlton Michelle.

I can’t find the rule book, so today you’ll get: Seinfeld instead of Simpsons, a Broadway tune, sunny weather, smooth travel connections but no feisty dogs or cute daughters. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that. Oh, and mysterious formatting problems, questionable grammar and typos are guaranteed.

It is too bad Rex has been subjected to floods, missed flights and all sorts of plagues. You’d think by now he’d realize just how powerful Will Shortz is.

Random Question: In the lyrics to Neil Diamond’s “I Am, I Said”, you know, the song where the chair ignores him, he goes:


Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king
And then became one
Well except for the names and a few other changes
If you talk about me, the story's the same one


Except for the name and a few other changes? So the story is actually completely different. Am I right? I think I am (I said).

Theme answers:
There are no theme answers. Its a themeless puzzle. I said that already. Please pay attention.

Other stuff, like big words and tricky clues, all in a special boldface:

• 1A. [Singer/songwriter Scialfa] - PATTI. The wife of the Boss, Bob Seger.
  
  14A. [Cause for some spatial relationships?] - ALIEN ABDUCTIONS. Something sleazy about that clue.
  17A. [Debut at the 1979 Frankfurt Auto Show] - VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. Random 15 letter cars are always handy.
  20A. [One with nothing to hide] - NUDIST/21A. [Wallop] - SOCK. If you got nothing to hide, what's with the sock?
  28A. [Show one's stamped hand, perhaps] - REENTER. In a world of lousy RE words, this is a good one.
  32A. [Can't take a bit] - HATES. No hating around here today. All sunshine and lollipops.
  33A. [Bear essentials?] - CLAWS. Hidden by the socks, no doubt.
  36A. [They're in the vicinity: Abbr.] - ESTS. This place is awash with estimates. Here an EST, there an EST, everywhere an EST, EST.
  37A. [Sartre's "Les Jeux Sont ___"] - FAITS. Hey, I said no gambling.
  40A. [Damn] - CURSE. No means no. Watch your mouth.
  41A. [Like 14-Across] - EERIE. I wanted to put SILLY.
  42A. [Tool handle strengthener] - FERRULE. It is a real word so no whining about it.
  44A. [Member of a very early union?] - SEX CELL. If you don't understand this, please google it. No wait, don't!
  46A. [Titan after whom one of the oceans is named] - ATLAS. The Pacific Ocean, of course.
  48A. [Silver checker] - REIN. The horse Silver, as in hi-ho, hi-ho, its off to work we go. Hmm. That sounds wrong. Tonto, how does it go?
  57A. [Suffered serious consequences] - PAID A STEEP PRICE. What will happen to me if I keep this up.
  60A. [Groups aiming for good returns] - INVESTMENT TEAMS. Yay, financial terms! Accountants rule!
  61A. [Smoking and heavy drinking] - AGERS. Saturday crossword solving is another example.
  63A. [They go with uppers] - SOLES. Shoes. Parts of shoes.
  3D. [One spending a long time in the bathroom?] - TILE SETTER. Wow. Never saw that coming. Clue of the day. "WIFE" was too short to fit.
  4D. [Drug in a sci-fi novel series] - TEK. Written by Montreal's William Shatner
  
  5D. [What swallows swallow] - INSECTS. Swallow are birds and they swallow insects. They don't swallow swallows. That would be gross.
  9D. [Memphis hospital, familiarly] - ST JUDES. I wasn't familiar.
  12D. [Some marching bands] - ANTS. Watch out for the swallows!
  16D. [It's shown on TV monitors at many airports] - CNN NEWS. Rex will elaborate.
  27D. [Alexandria is in it] - DC AREA. Not sure which part of DC; I'm guessing the Justice League.
  29D. [Coming down hard] - TORRENTIAL. Rex will elaborate.
  31D. [Spur part] - ROWEL. A rowel is a part of a spur.
  40D. [Pirate's appurtenance] - CUTLASS. appurten-what?
  41D. [Grandfathers, e.g.] - EXEMPTS. Not a noun here. You were fooled.
  47D. ["The primary factor in a successful attack," per Lord Mountbatten] - SPEED. Don't try to pretty it up with fancy quotes; the answer is just SPEED.
  49D. [Capital near Faleolo International Airport] - APIA. Got me. I put OSLO. I always put OSLO.
  55D. [Lofty place] - ACME. Shout out to Andrea!
  58D. ["I think you overshared," briefly] - TMI. We're back at the sock and the bathroom.
  59D. [Locomobile competitor] - REO. That locomobile was one crazy vehicle.

72 words, nothing yucky, cool clues, sex, nudity, Montrealers, bathroom humour, and rock and roll. Just one smooth solve. What more can you ask on a Saturday?

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. Please tip the blogger on your way out.

Signed, Jeffrey, Usurper of Crossworld

Retreat 1970s-'80s New York City club / WED 8-31-11 / Victim in Camus's Stranger / 1922 Physics Nobelist / Reindeer herder

Constructor: Peter A. Collins



Relative difficulty: Medium



THEME: Beach Boys hits — 5 of them





Word of the Day: AMORIST (37A: Smitten one) —

["Did you mean 'define amorous'?" No, I didn't]



n.

1. One dedicated to love, especially sexual love.
2. One who writes about love.

[Latin amor, love; see amorous + -IST.]

• • •

Pretty straightforward Wednesday fare. Only trouble I had was navigating the grid—found the theme answer placement awkward on the split answers, what with the parts being far apart and the first part being on the right and second on the left. This is one of those themes that seems far too basic. Pick a band. Pick some hits that you can arrange symmetrically ... puzzle? Repeat using playwright / plays? Author / novels? Actor / movies? I don't really understand the puzzle's reason for being. It's an OK grid, though theme density leads to some unfortunate compromises, esp. in the SW, which made me wince. LAR IBO ABOU all scrunched together like that!? That's dangerous crosswordese density. But mostly, as I say, it was fine. Adequate. Here today, gone tomorrow. The best part — and the only thing separating this puzzle from USA Today fare — is the tripartite Down theme answer, "DON'T / WORRY / BABY." Helps that that is one of the very best songs the Beach Boys (or anyone) ever recorded.







Theme answers:

• 10A: With 64-Across, 1963 Beach Boys hit ("IN MY / ROOM")
  
  
• 17A: 1965 Beach Boys hit ("CALIFORNIA GIRLS")
  
  
• 23A: With 49-Across, 1965 Beach Boys hit ("HELP ME / RHONDA")
  
  
• 57A: 1963 Beach Boys hit ("LITTLE SAINT NICK") — did anyone else try to make LITTLE DEUCE COUPE fit? What about LITTLE SURFER GIRL? (not the actual title, I know) Bah!
  
  
• 7D: With 30- and 53-Down, 1964 Beach Boys hit ("DON'T / WORRY / BABY")
  
  

Had a few missteps here and there. Went CAIRO (off the "A") instead of RABAT (62A: African capital), and ALGERIA instead of ALBANIA (that's a big miss) (45D: Neighbor of Montenegro). Also couldn't remember STINE or STYNE (65A: "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" composer), couldn't easily get to the vague MARKER from 25D: Surveyor's stake, typically, and (shockingly) couldn't place Ronsard's "Odes" in the right year (though, now that I think of it, I do know the century) (12D: Year of Ronsard's "Odes" => MDL).



Bullets:

• 1A: Reindeer herder (LAPP) — a gimme! Finally, this crosswordy answer has become a gimme. I didn't even trip on the "LAPP or LEPP" issue (an issue I invented, as LEPP is not a thing).
  
  
• 34A: 1922 Physics Nobelist (BOHR) — his name came up at dinner tonight as we were discussing crosswordy words that every constant solver just Knows. The conversation started with a discussion of EDINA (where my wife bought many bras this past week) (I'll let her tell you about it).
  
  
• 52A: Minor player, so to speak (COG) — I like this clue / answer pair a lot. I just didn't get it ... until I did. That "C" took a while.
• 27A: ___ Retreat (1970s-'80s New York City club) (PLATO'S) — really, Really surprised this passed the old Breakfast Test (it's a very famous swingers' club). About as good a clue as you're going to see for PLATO'S. Way better than ["___ Republic"].
  
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Shepherd co-wrote Christmas Story / WED 7-20-11 / 1951 Bogart/Hepburn film / Requested gift in Christmas Story / Hall's partner pop music

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: ROYAL FLUSH (1A: [see blurb])

Blurb: "When this puzzle is done, you will find that the ends of the answers to the five starred clues, when in the 15-/67-Across [SAME / SUIT], comprise a 1-/71-Across [ROYAL / FLUSH]."


Word of the Day: NORIA (40D: Waterwheel) —

A noria [...] is a machine for lifting water into a small aqueduct, either for the purpose of irrigation or, in at least one known instance, to feed seawater into a saltern. (wikipedia)

• • •

Off-putting from the get-go. Bad enough when 1A = [see blurb] —I just started the puzzle, I don't want to see any damned blurb right now— but when that blurb is utterly nonsensical and unhelpful, as this one was, then things have really gone off the rails. Decided that after wasting those ten seconds, I'd just plow ahead and worry about making sense of the blurb later. Grid was mostly a piece of cake. Junky in places, but not overwhelmingly so, and I really enjoyed the long Acrosses in the middle, especially SIGOURNEY (a lovely actress who looks lovely in the grid) (44A: Weaver of tales on the big screen). But then I hit NORI- / -IRACE and stopped cold. Knew I'd seen that damned [Waterwheel] before in some crosswordy crossword gone by, but couldn't remember specifics, and couldn't make sense of 59A: *Shooting star?. I think I thought an AIR ACE was a flying star, primarily. Also, I thought -IRACE was one word. Good thing that clue was starred so I could separate ACE out and see my problem. But when I put the "A" in, I didn't get the "Congratulations!" sign. Turns out I still had a blank, up top at SA-E / E-ALL. [See blurb]! @##$%! Needed the blurb to get figure out SAME, because I *never* would've figure out EMALL, which is about the worst partial I've ever seen. E-MALL, which has been used many times, is also terrible, but at least it's inferrable. 'EM ALL is horrendous. I would've loved KILL 'EM ALL — a great full title. But that partial is JUNK (62A: Kind of mail). Trying to decided if it's junkier than NORIA (I think so) or DESIS (uh, probably) or ACNES (oh, man, close call).


Theme answers:

• 20A: *Midwest conference (BIG TEN)
  
• 22A: *Pancake (FLAPJACK)
  
• 39A: *1951 Bogart/Hepburn film ("THE AFRICAN QUEEN")
  
• 56A: *Billy Crystal's "Memories of Me" co-star (ALAN KING)
  
• 59A: *Shooting star? (AIR ACE)
  

The theme is just a dressed-up version of a "last words=10-to-ACE" theme that must have been done before. Unfortunately the dressing up (valiant) is accomplished via a convoluted blurb. In the end, this is a well-meaning and mildly ambitious attempt to make something new and interesting out of something old and not-so-interesting, but I can't say it succeeds.

Bullets:

• 17A: Requested gift in "A Christmas Story" (BB GUN) — You'll shoot your eye out!

• 50A: One-named female singer with the 2002 #1 hit "Foolish" (ASHANTI) — couldn't remember if she ended in "I" or "E." Thank god I guessed right, because that last letter runs smack into NORIA, which I couldn't recall confidently to save my life.
  
• 68A: Hall's partner in pop music (OATES) — My first concert! [seriously]. The bulk of their career spans my childhood and adolescence. This is one of the first songs I remember being my "favorite" song (I was in 5th grade):
  

• 10D: Pilgrims to Mecca (HAJJIS) — let's just hope you know who JEAN Shepherd is, because you could just as easily guess HADJIS / DEAN here. I guessed "J" and was correct. I have no idea why I guessed "J."
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

-----
[The following announcement will be up all week]

I'm coming to NYC for the Lollapuzzoola Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 6 (you should go—info here). But you know that. What you don't know (yet) is that I'm coming several days early to do some interviews for a crossword project I'm working on, and I'm hoping to interview some of You (New Yorkers) about your xword habit. I'm especially interested in talking to people who think they are unlikely solvers, or who solve in weird / interesting / iconic places, or who have good solving anecdotes, or who are famous / prominent in their fields, or any combo of the above. I'm also interested in ordinary everyday solvers. I'm not looking for fast or accomplished solvers. Just interesting solvers. If you live in NYC, this (probably) means you! If you are going to be in town on Aug. 4-5 and are willing to talk to me for a few minutes, drop me a line at rexparker at mac dot com. I'll be exceedingly grateful. I'll see what kind of response I get and set up a schedule from there. If I don't hear from you, I'll just have to wander the streets harassing anyone I see solving a crossword, even though this may result in my getting punched, or worse. So help me out. Thank you!

Vatican tribunal / WED 6-8-11 / Supermodel Wek / Hostess who inspired Call Me Madam / French city 1598 edict / Dudley's love old cartoondom

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: CRAPS / TABLE (37A: With 40-Across, casino fixture) — two theme answers are expressions related to a CRAPS TABLE. Then there's a note: "When this puzzle is done, connect the four V's with a square, the three K's with an upside-down L, and each K diagonally to the nearest V. Then draw a circle around the only X." This gets you a picture of a die with the one (pip) side facing you (51D: Snake eye (as this completed puzzle depicts)=>ONE)

[img courtesy crosswordfiend.com]

Word of the Day: Sir William OSLER (31D: Sir William who wrote "The Principles and Practice of Medicine") —

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician. (pronounced "oh-sler") He was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital as the first Professor of Medicine and founder of the Medical Service there. (The "Big Four" were William Osler, Professor of Medicine; William Stewart Halsted, Professor of Surgery; Howard A. Kelly, Professor of Gynecology; and William H. Welch, Professor of Pathology.) Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians, and he was the first to bring medical students out of the lecture hall for bedside clinical training. // He has been called the "Father of modern medicine." Osler was a pathologist, physician, educator, bibliophile, historian, author, and renowned practical joker.

• • •

Great if you like drawing on your grid, not so great if you like clean grids and tight theme execution. The "note" on the puzzle (which I didn't see until I was finished) is largely irrelevant to the solving experience—at least I imagine so; maybe it helped you get that damned NE "K," which I had to run the alphabet to uncover. I always thought KEN was a man, not a boy (toy), but maybe it's a close call. Anyway, the puzzle is weird for several reasons. First, the "X" that represents ONE (pip) is in the word meaning SIX (BOXCAR), while ONE sits oddly off to the side, all by its lonesome. Second, since when is the *side* of a die relevant? I have no idea what the roll was here; all I know is that it wasn't a SIX or ONE. The CRAPS part of this theme has precisely no relation to the visual representation of the die. And for this I had to endure ALEK (15A: Supermodel Wek) and OSLER and ATHS. and ROTA and *$&^ing AH, SO again? Not worth it.


Theme answers:

• 20A: Cry heard at a 37-/40-Across ("SEVEN COME ELEVEN")
  
• 51A: Cold, at a 37-/40-Across (ON A LOSING STREAK)
  
• 42A: Six, at a 37-/40-Across (BOXCAR)
  

Surprised I got through this in a normal time considering I had no idea about ALEK or OSLER or this PETERSON (28A: Colorado Springs ___ Air Force Base) or this PARALLEL (38D: Euclidean geometry's ___ postulate) or ALAN Watts (23A: Philosopher Watts) or this particular incarnation of REA (24A: New Deal inits.). Know MESTA only from being destroyed by her a few years ago (67A: Hostess who inspired "Call Me Madam"). I wonder if I'll remember ALEK or OSLER; I think an answer has to ruin me before it will stick in my brain. Otherwise, it's just a curiosity. Really liked BIG SHOT (42D: Honcho) and the clue on SKINLESS (5D: Like some hot dogs), which had me baffled as I looked for SKIing-related answers.

Bullets:

• 6A: Weekly reading for drs. (JAMA) — went looking for a plural like MRIS or something, but the terminal "A" straightened me out.
  
• 25A: French city with a 1598 edict (NANTES) — also the birthplace of Jules Verne, a fact which has stuck with me for reasons I don't know.
  
• 59D: Dudley's love in old cartoondom (NELL) — much better clue than that absurd-looking Jodie Foster movie. "Cartoondom" is a fine word.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

P.S. if you like cryptics, you should try out the debut from the new cryptic writers for The Nation, Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto (here). Also, Andrew Ries does a fine "Rows Garden" puzzle every week at Aries Puzzles. If you've never tried one, give it a shot.

Naturalist John / TUE 3-29-11 / Barrel supports / Early Indian invader / Feminizing suffix / Protagonists in Star Wars / PC screen type

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: ELIZABETH / TAYLOR (55A: With 17-Across, late Hollywood star)—several different roles and movie titles populate the grid

Word of the Day: METAZOAN (37D: Multicellular animal) —

(zoology) The multicellular animals that make up the major portion of the animal kingdom; cells are organized in layers or groups as specialized tissues or organ systems. (answers.com)

• • •

Not great as tribute puzzles go. This one feels hastily thrown together, with roles and partial titles and titles all cobbled together into a dense but arbitrary arrangement. "THE SANDPIPER?!" What the heck is that. It's certainly not a definitive Liz Taylor role, that's for sure. SUMMER feels like a pretty weak way to get a symmetrical answer for TAYLOR (it's also a bit weird to have her name divided up the way it is, with last name coming first ...). The best part about the grid was the numeral "8" in "BUTTERFIELD 8" / 8 TIMES. Otherwise, straightforward and kind of dull. Weak in theme answers as well as overall fill (though ACUTE PAIN next to WOMANIZE is nice, especially in a grid with this kind of theme density).

Theme answers:

• 4D: 1944 title role for 55-/17-Across (VELVET)
  
• 21A: 1963 title role for 55-/17-Across (CLEOPATRA)
  
• 27A: 1965 film starring 55-/17-Across (THE SANDPIPER)
  
• 45A: 1960 film for which 55-/17-Across won a Best Actress Oscar (BUTTERFIELD 8)
  
• 49D: How often 55-/17-Across was married (8 TIMES)
  
• 61A: "Suddenly, Last ___" (1959 film starring 55-/17-Across) ("SUMMER")

Bullets:

• 3D: Early Indian invader (ARYAN) — baffled by this one, which made the NW a bit harder than normal (esp. true give the intersecting theme answers—difficult to pick up if you don't know the theme yet).
  
• 29D: Feminizing suffix (-ENNE) — hate this clue, generally. First, I know it'll be a suffix (suboptimal fill). Second, it could be at least four different things. No way to know except from crosses.
  
• 47D: Protagonists in "Star Wars" (REBELS) — hmmm. I guess so, though "protagonists" doesn't sit quite right with me. HAN Solo is a protagonist. REBELS are a group he generally belongs to (by the end). Don't think of the collective as "protagonists."
  

That's all for today.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Role in Bizet's Pearl Fishers / WED 3-9-11 / Massey of old movies / Selective high-school org. / Hall-of-Fame hoopster Dan

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: TAILING OFF (59A: Waning ... or a hint to what is found by circling all the Ts in the completed puzzle) — circles spell out and form the outline of a KITE; circling the Ts in the grid provides the KITE's "tail"...


Word of the Day: Dan ISSEL (39D: Hall-of-Fame hoopster Dan) —

Daniel (Dan) Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948 in Batavia, Illinois) is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player and coach. [...] Issel accumulated over 27,000 points in his combined ABA and NBA career. At the time of his retirement the only professional basketball players to have scored more points than Issel were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving. He currently ranks #8 on the all time combined ABA/NBA scoring list.

• • •

Circles! Four of them. Well, nine if you actually circle the Ts ... which are "OFF" how? I didn't quite see how TAILING OFF was a "hint." I mean, I get the TAIL part, but the "OFF," not so much. Is the expression "TAILING OFF" related to a kite's tail? I thought, briefly, that the "OFF" was related to the fact that the *circles* had been left "OFF." Whatever, the reveal works well enough, I suppose. Not a very satisfying puzzle for me, but after yesterday's, it looks almost solid. Biggest issue was the center, where I took a long, long time to drop the "G" from "BLOWING" to get "BLOWIN IN THE WIND" (38A: Bob Dylan song ... or a hint to the object found by connecting the four circled letters in a diamond). I thought briefly that it was "BLOWING 'N THE WIND." Downs in there weren't immediately clear to me either—I'm talking about DRIEST (Least sweet, as wine) and HYATTS (25D: Some hotels), and especially NHS (36D: Selective high-school org.), which I only just now figured out—it must stand for National Honor Society. I have never seen that abbrev. in a puzzle. Ever. Appears to be a first-ever NYT appearance. Sometimes "fresh" is terrible. Rest of puzzle is mediocre, but nothing's terribly objectionable. Maybe a few too many crosswordy names like LEILA (26A: Role in Bizet's Pearl Fishers) and ILONA and HEDDA and NALA and RAE and SELA, and weird geographical partials like YORBA and ILE DE.

FLYING HIGH (17A: On cloud nine) has got "CLOUD NINE" stuck in my head, which is not so terrible.


The album "KITE" (1987) by the late, great Kirsty MacColl, is one of my favorite albums of all time. Should be much, much better known. Wall-to-wall awesome.


Not much else to say. Moving on.

Bullets:

• 21A: Commercially prized ducks (EIDERS) — I had no idea. I didn't know the down was rare enough to be "prized."
  
• 51A: Discontinued Chevrolet model (COBALT) — so COBALT goes the way of the ALERO ... I don't expect its afterlife to be as pronounced.
  
• 4D: Anti-honking ordinance, e.g. (NOISE LAW) — just had exchange with another puzzle blogger who didn't like this one. Seemed fine to me, but that may just be because the last two mornings, our (uh ... let's say "OCD") neighbor has been up before 5am, snow-BLOWING. The best part was when I looked outside and the snow blower was idling (loudly) while he cleared off his car. Nuts. So nuts that we don't even get mad anymore. His need to CONTROL his ENVIRONMENT is like a disease. Oh, and he Hates us, but that's another story. Anyway, we're pretty sure that running your snow BLOWer before 5am is against local NOISE LAWs, but we weren't about to call Code on him (as he has on us, multiple times, for stuff like ... chipped paint near a side attic window that No One but he can see; but, as I say, that's another story...).
  
• 52D: Letter before Peter in an old phonetic alphabet (OBOE) — alphabet used by U.S. forces in WWII, apparently. In "Peter and the Wolf," the OBOE is ... the duck, right? Yes! Memory!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Plant with purple flowers / SUN 2-27-11 / Aircraft control surface / Weekly since 1955 / TV title character who said I'm not Amazon

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: V-2 — theme answers are two-word phrases where both words begin with "V"; further, the grid has two unchecked letters (both "V"), and black squares in the middle of the grid form a double set of "V"s...


Word of the Day: CHIVIED (13A: Annoyed with persistent petty attacks) —

CHIVVY or CHIVY

v., -vied, or -ied, -vy·ing, or -y·ing, -vies, or -ies. v.tr.

1. To vex or harass with petty attacks: political opponents who chivvied the senator.
2. To maneuver or secure gradually: "had spent two weeks chivvying this division toward combat readiness" (Tom Clancy).

v.intr.
To scurry.

n., pl., -vies, or -ies.

1. A hunt or chase.
2. A hunting cry.

[Variant of chevy, a hunt, hunting cry, from Chevy Chase, title of a ballad about a border skirmish, from Cheviot Chase, a large unenclosed hunting tract in the Cheviot Hills.]

• • •

Unusual and mostly delightful Sunday puzzle. Nice change of pace in the grid structure, the unchecked letters, and the mostly vertical theme answers. A couple places in the grid seemed completely nuts to me, especially the NE, where CHIVIED (13A: Annoyed with persistent petty attacks), VINCA VINE (16D: Plant with purple flowers), and "OUT IN L.A." (22A: 1994 Red Hot Chili Peppers album) were entirely unknown to me (glad to see that the Red Hot Chili Peppers album was a rarities + demos album, and not an album of original material ... my '90s pop culture cred took a hit on that one). I can't really believe that much strangeness was allowed to live in one place in the grid, *but*, to the puzzle's credit, the theme came to the rescue and I worked it all out. Nearly spun out at SLIDE ON (40D: Use for skating) and SEVENS (40A: Common rolls)—had GLIDE ON, which caused a momentary freak-out. But I had the good sense to pull the "G," and, again, it all worked out. Had a bit of trouble in the west (mostly because I didn't bother to check the cross-reference in the MCCABE clue (57D: Warren Beatty title role with 56-Down), though also because I don't know my ELEVON (91A: Aircraft control surface) from my VINCA VINE), but it didn't last. Thornier than average, but I like that on a Sunday. Thumbs up.

Theme answers:

• 4D: The other way around (VICE VERSA)
  
• 27A: John McCain and John Kerry (VIETNAM VETS)
  
• 16D: Plant with purple flowers (VINCA VINE)
  
• 59D: Weekly since 1955, with "The" ("VILLAGE VOICE")
  
• 73A: "Wedding Crashers" co-star, 2005 (VINCE VAUGHN)
  
• 63D: Vessel seen just below the surface? (VARICOSE VEIN) — nice clue.
  
• 107A: Keepers of the flame? (VESTAL VIRGINS) — I work in Vestal. No idea what the virgin situation is there.
  

Interesting to see HUMVEES at 1-Across [Desert Storm transports], since I walked past a fleet of them at the local armory today while I was walking the dogs to the (snow-covered, completely empty) park. I have never seen anyone coming in or going out of the armory, but I've seen the HUMVEES and other vehicles around town, so ... something's going on. Binghamton's got upstate NY security locked down, America. Just so you know. The park was gorgeous because no one was around and so I could let the dogs go commando (no leashes!) on the little league field. Tried to go to our normal walk in the woods, but there was nowhere to park (lot snowed over, side of the road not plowed), so we went back and frolicked in the neighborhood. Here's me and my dogs, frolicking in our front yard. Well, the dogs are frolicking. I'm mostly just standing there:


Never heard of: HETH (1D: Eighth Hebrew letter) or IRONWOOD (9D: Tree with very hard timber). "IRONWEED," yes. Iron & Wine, yes. IRONWOOD, no. Also, no idea that Jude LAW was ever British P.M. He's had such a varied career (47A: British P.M. after Lloyd George).


There was a "Real World" joke on this past Thursday's episode of "Community," so that show was fresh on on my mind (57A: "The Real World" airer=>MTV). What was not fresh on my mind was the toy company DUNCAN—haven't thought of them in years (since the last time I played with a yo-yo, probably) (85A: Toy company behind yo-yos). I like how things get all Hebraic with HETH and MT. ARARAT (3D: Post-flood locale) and TEL AVIV (37D: Setting for part of 2005's "Munich") and TEACHER clued via rabbi, and then veer wildly in the center of the grid toward the pop cultural with "AVATAR" and then VINCE VAUGHN on top of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, former CO-ANCHORS of "Weekend Update" on SNL. Big fan of both Fey and Poehler: those women now anchor two of the only sitcoms worth watching: the Emmy-winning "30 Rock" and the amazing and highly underrated "Parks & Recreation," respectively.



Lastly, loved the clues on XENA (10D: TV title character who said "I'm not an Amazon") and SARCASM (54D: "Oh, joy!," e.g., typically). And I'm not even being sarcastic. Oh, joy!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]