Then I think about Summer, all the beautiful times.

Les filles ( & les garçons ? ), j'ai besoin de vous.

Suuuuper besoin de vous.

Laissez-moi vous expliquer le truc rapidos.

J'ai une amie, Camie, qui va voir Taylor Swift en concert le 17 de ce mois, à Paris. Elle est super fan depuis super longtemps, & elle fait le décompte de ce concert depuis un moment déjà ; Taylor Swift est sa chanteuse préférée.

Il y a un concours qui a été organisé, & qui permettrait au gagnant de rencontrer Taylor le jour de son concert. Pour participer, il fallait faire une vidéo où on reprenait une des chansons de Taylor & la poster sur You Tube, celle qui aura le plus de vues sera la gagnante.

Camie a posté sa vidéo ( oui, j'ai oublié de préciser qu'elle chante hyper bien ) & depuis quelques jours on est pleins à la soutenir. Le problème c'est qu'on est pas assez nombreux, & qu'il faudrait d'autres personnes pour regarder la vidéo pleiiiins de fois. Personnellement ce que je fais c'est que je met la vidéo sur un onglet, je met le son sur muet pour pouvoir écouter autre chose, & j'actualise la page à chaque fois que la vidéo se termine ! Ça ne coûte rien, & ça permettrait peut-être à Camie de réaliser son rêve. Le concours se termine aujourd'hui, donc vraiment, je vous lance un SOS. Elle mérite de gagner ce concours, & je souhaite du plus profond de mon coeur que tout le monde rencontre un jour sa star préférée parce que ça doit être absolument féérique. Donc voilà, maintenant je compte sur vous, il faudrait que Camie dépasse les 7000 vues au moins, elle est pour l'instant 3ème dans le classement. Si vous pouviez poster la vidéo sur vos blogs éventuellement, ou juste sur Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr ou je ne sais quoi d'autre, ce serait fantastique, vraiment.

Je vous remercie infiniment, & si jamais vous avez besoin de moi pour voter pour vous sur un concours, n'hésitez pas !

Vous êtes les meilleurs, je vous adore ♥♥.

Girls ( & boys ? ), I really need you right now.

Like, really, reaaaaaally, need you.

Let me explain you what the thing is about.

One of my friend, Camie, is going to see Taylor Swift on stage, the 17th of March in Paris. She loves Taylor for ages & she's sooo excited about the show ! On that day, a contest gives a chance to meet Taylor for real. She participates on that contest & so she had to post a video of herself singing a song of Taylor Swift, on You Tube. The video with the hightest number of views will win. She's actually the third, & it's the last day of the contest so I need you to help her realizing her dream. Can you please watch her video as much as you can ? You just need to open the video on You Tube & then watch it & watch it & watch it all over again ! Put the video on mute if you want to listen to something else n_n. If you can share the vidéo with your friends, feel free to do it, we need a lot of people because if she wants to win, she had to have at least about 7000 views.

Meeting your favorite singer would be amazing & magic for everybody, so help her please.

Thank you for all guys, do not forget that you're the bests, love ya ! ♥♥.

EDIT.

MERCI A TOUS. A tous, tous, tous. Tous ceux qui ont voté pour Camie, tous ceux qui ont eu la gentillesse de la soutenir & de l'aider. Vous êtes GENIAUX. 

Malheureusement je suis très déçue, Camie n'a pas gagné. 

Mais ce n'est que partie remise, je suis sûre qu'elle aura une autre occasion de rencontre son idole. 

Je vous remercie énormément, & je suis très fière de vous avoir pour lecteurs parce que vous êtes ... QKLJKSJDKLJSQDJQSKLJ. Voilà quoi, je vous adore. 

MERCI ♥.

 ( & Rendez-vous dans la journée pour du look ! ).

P.S. : an awesome giveaway at Amy's place, FlyingAKite ;'D.

1937 Cole Porter tune / SUN 3-6-11 / Constant Gardener heroine / Portrayer in 2003's Elf / Hungarian city known for its thermal baths

Constructor: David Levinson Wilk

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "For Your Edification" — theme answers are phrases beginning with a past participle ending in "-ED"; those phrases are reimagined (in the clues) as verb phrases involving guys named "ED"


Word of the Day: EGER (65A: Hungarian city known for its thermal baths) —

Eger (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɛɡɛr]; German: Erlau; Turkish: Eğri ) is a city in northern Hungary, the county seat of Heves, east of the Mátra Mountains. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret), and red and white wines.

• • •

Theme is interesting, but didn't thrill me, mainly because the reimagined phrases are essentially the same as the original phrases (in terms of the context, and the meaning of all the words)—it's just now a guy named ED is involved. This makes TOUCH ED IN THE HEAD the odd man out, as the meaning of "TOUCH" changes in the new phrase. Otherwise, this one felt right over the plate for a Sunday, the one exception being the vast swaths of whiteness at the top and bottom of the grid. Those really stand out visually, and were much harder to solve. The N and NW in particular were thorny for me—like a completely separate little puzzle containing just the one theme answer. Clues on all the longer Acrosses were nowhere close to obvious for me, and the short Downs, which should have helped me cut right through things, somehow weren't as helpful as I'd expected. COAGULATE had a vague clue (1A: Thicken). PNC PARK ... who even knows what ballparks are named any more? (more important question: who outside of Pittsburgh, can tell anyone anything about the Pirates except that they lose an awful lot?) (10A: Pirates' home) I know OBSESSION as a scent, not a biography title (20A: 1994 biography of Calvin Klein). And "ROSALIE" was a no-hoper for me. Sounds vaguely familiar, but I couldn't hum it for you (21A: 1937 Cole Porter tune). Never heard of Lee COWAN (1D: Lee of NBC News). Did not know OBAMA's mom's name was Stanley (2D: U.S. president whose mother's first name was Stanley). Never would have occurred to me that TOE could be an acceptable "part of Italy" in a crossword (8D: Part of Italy where Cape Spartivento is). Forgot who NORMA Shearer was (11D: "The Divorcee" actress Shearer). RIV!? I ended up doing this section last, and knowing the theme was a Huge help in getting WANT ED DEAD OR ALIVE, which then made the rest of that stretch of land much more tractable.


I finished up top because my first pass at that section was a total failure. In fact, I solved this in a highly unorthodox fashion (for me). Ran into 3D: 109-Down portrayer in 2003's "Elf" and knew (five letters) immediately that the answer was ASNER and that 109-Down must be SANTA. This sent me down to the opposite corner of the grid ... and I just decided to stay there, building off SANTA and working my way up (instead of my usual down). The fill down there, and a few other places, gets a bit xwordy. I'm not sure words like ETAPE and ENNA should be anywhere near each other, let alone crossing. But mostly the fill is decent and the clues are often entertaining and contemporary. Many will scoff at THA, for instance, but I loved it. I once wondered aloud to someone (probably Brendan E. Quigley), if THACARTERIII would make an acceptable themeless entry. Pretty sure the answer was something like "On my site, yes, in the NYT, no." But that might not be true. Lil Wayne (I can't believe his name's not even in the clue!) is a superstar, and that album sold in the gajillions (around 3.5 million, actually). It also won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2009.

[Warning: Profanity!]
Also loved the clues on TAN (35D: Noted John Boehner feature) and RED (94D: Buttons on the big screen).

Theme answers:

• 23A: Be willing to apprehend Mr. Bradley at any cost? (WANT ED DEAD OR ALIVE)
  
• 31A: Punish Mr. Harris in a medieval way? (BURN ED AT THE STAKE) — speaking of Mr. Harris in a medieval way ...

• 43A: Get Mr. Koch addicted to a modern reading method? (HOOK ED ON PHONICS)
  
• 66A: Preside over Mr. O'Neill's baptism? (BLESS ED EVENT)
  
• 75A: Do Mr. Sullivan's stand-up material? (CRACK ED JOKES)
  
• 93A: Prohibit Mr. McMahon from ever socializing again? (GROUND ED FOR LIFE)
  
• 103A: Perform brain surgery on Mr. Begley? (TOUCH ED IN THE HEAD)
  
• 116A: Put Mr. Meese in an Armani suit? (DRESS ED TO THE NINES) — first theme answer I got, which seems fitting, as Mr. Meese is the crosswordiest ED of all.
  

Bullets:

• 42A: Epitome of thinness (REED) — wanted RAIL, another such epitome
  
• 74A: Letters on Ozzie Smith's cap (STL) — Hall-of-Famer, and probably the most famous shortstop of my youth ('80s!)
  
• 129A: Brand name that used to be spelled out in commercials (NESTLE'S) — this ad is unintentionally hilarious for Several reasons, not least of which is the guy spells out NESTLE'S while repeatedly showing that the brand's actual name is the S-less NESTLE.

• 14D: Noted Cosell interviewee (ALI) — A gimme. A great sports relationship.

• 31D: Apiphobiac's fear (BEE) — APES = Latin for "BEES"
  
• 33D: Auto last made in 1936 (REO) — You could ride around in your REO listening to "ROSALIE," I guess, though cars back then probably didn't have stereos...
  
• 34A: "99 Luftballons" singer, 1984 (NENA) — You could hear German and English versions of this song on the radio in the mid-80s. A huge hit.
  
• 49D: "Mogambo" threat (TSETSE) — That movie's about malaria? (I'm told I mean "sleeping sickness")
  
• 56A: Retailer with a cat and dog in its logo (PETCO) — this is our pet store. I have a little PETCO card on my keychain. Recently earned my first free bag of dog food. Exciting, I know.
  
• 92D: Household pets that need ultraviolet light in their cages (IGUANAS) — speaking of pets ... I'm not sure if PETCO carries these. As far as I'm concerned, there are two legitimate pets: cats and dogs. Everything else should be wild or eaten.
  
• 110D: 1994 action flick with the tagline "Get ready for rush hour" ("SPEED") — This was a very good action movie. Also, I think it introduced the world to Sandra Bullock.
  
• 111D: "The Constant Gardener" heroine (TESSA) — didn't read it, but loved the movie. Had no recollection of the character name, however.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Specialty oven / SAT 3-5-11 / Channel between mainland England Isle Wight / Transient madness Horace / Rue Morgue murderer / Two bridges India

Constructor: Randolph Ross

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none


Word of the Day: The SOLENT (15A: Channel between mainland England and the Isle of Wight, with "the") —

The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England. // The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually. It is sheltered by the Isle of Wight and has a very complex tidal pattern, which has greatly benefited Southampton's success as a port. Portsmouth lies on its shores. Spithead, an area off Gilkicker Point near Gosport, is known as the place where the Royal Navy is traditionally reviewed by the monarch of the day. (wikipedia)

• • •

Did this in about half the time of yesterday's puzzle. It had a few tough parts, but behaved more like a Friday than a Saturday for me. Noteworthy parts of this puzzle include CLEAR AS MUD (best answer) (4D: Poorly explained), EAT FRESH (itself fresh) (52A: Subway line), and the fully-named APIA, SAMOA (APIA is an important crossword word in its own right — I learned it from crosswords, in fact — but I don't think I've seen it long-form like this) (44A: Capital served by Faleolo International Airport). Toughest part of the grid for me, by far, was the NE. Tried and failed to get into it early on (approaching from the west). Ended up finishing the puzzle by hemming in that section (approaching from the south) and forcing the tough answers to give up their secrets. Thorniest answer was MOILS (9D: Churns), which I had as the much more sensible ROILS. But I could Not get a Yankee to fit into RA---; ran the alphabet on that third letter and came up empty. Only after I accepted the non-solidity of the "R" did I (finally) see Roger MARIS (9A: Yankee star who batted left and threw right). Had never heard of the SOLENT, so that didn't help matters. Wanted "The SOLLES," but later realized that was due to my awareness of the existence of the Oregon city named "The DALLES." Weird, I know, but that's how my brain fired. Love the MINCing FOP, BORNE by the MORN to a state of, let's say, WRATH (46A: "A transient madness," per Horace).



Did not love (and did not understand, and do not understand) the clue on LEHR (5D: Specialty oven), which is apparently an oven for annealing glass. Also, never heard anyone say KNEEHOLE before (16A: Place to stretch one's legs). Oh, crud, it's not a clothing term: it's the space under a desk ... for your knees. I don't think of that as a place to "stretch," but OK. ONYM is horrid, but it's about the only thing in the grid that is (34D: Word: Suffix). Beyond that, not much else to say. A fine Saturday effort.

Bullets:

• 18A: It has two bridges in India (SITAR) — first thing in the grid, after I'd placed the terminal "S" on what ended up being ARKS (1D: They're open on Saturdays).
  
• 33A: Figure in the high 60s (D PLUS) — want to like this clue, but the phrasing is just a tad off, to my ear. A D PLUS *represents* a score "in the high 60s," but is not itself "in the high 60s."
  
• 7D: Real-life opera composer who's a title character in a Rimsky-Korsakov opera (SALIERI) — had the "SA-" so this wasn't tough, though I was slightly tentative when writing it in with nothing else to confirm it.

• 10D: "Valentine's Day" co-star, 2010 (ALBA) — as in Jessica, whom I know *only* from "Sin City"
  
• 36D: Senator supporter (OTTAWAN) — great clue. I had ATTACHE at first (?!). The Senators are, of course, Ottawa's pro hockey team.
• 26D: Area where Dali, Monet, Picasso and van Gogh all painted (MONTMARTRE) — got this off the "-TR-" at the tail end. Figured it had to be something French.
  
• 38D: Rue Morgue murderer (ORANG) — that's a revelation that's pretty hard to forget.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Bisous from Milan

Petit post en direct de Milan où le soleil est au rendez-vous !

Ce n'était pourtant pas gagné, hier j'ai été gracieusement reçue sous la pluie...

C'est ma première fois à Milan, je n'ai pas eu le temps de voir la ville, si ce n'est à travers des vitres de voitures.

Ma mère qui connaît la ville, me rejoint tout à l'heure et je lui fais entièrement confiance pour les bons plans.

Je suis partie pour le lancement de la nouvelle collection d'une marque de lunettes (je reviendrai dessus), j'en profite donc pour passer le week-end entre filles.

Je peux d'ores et déjà avancer un fait, que la cuisine est excessivement bonne !

J'ai déjà pu goûter à de délicieuses pâtes, le tiramisu n'en parlons pas, mais j'ai failli tomber de ma chaise en trempant mes lèvres dans un verre de vin rouge sicilien : Nero d'Avola Sicilia.

C'est décidé, je vais ramener un stock à la maison et j'en connais un, qui pourtant n'aime pas le vin rouge, qui va me siffler toutes les bouteilles !

Photos - Sisley Roche

Jean - Levi's

Tee-shirt - Petit Bateau

Gilet - Zara

Chapeau - Asos

Shoes - Van's

Sac - Vintage

Wonder-working biblical figure / FRI 3-4-11 / Last of Nordhoff Hall's Bounty Trilogy / City on Niagara Escarpment / ColorQube maker

Constructor: Joe Krozel

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: none


Word of the Day: ENCEINTE (4D: Pregnant) —

adj.
Carrying an unborn child; pregnant.

[French, from Old French, ultimately from Latin inciēns, pregnant.]

also, FYI:

n.

1. An encircling fortification around a fort, castle, or town.
2. A structure or an area protected by an encircling fortification.

[French, from Late Latin incīncta, from feminine past participle of incingere, to surround closely : Latin in-, in; see in- + Latin cingere, to gird.]

• • •

This was very hard when I was trying to do it while watching the end of "American Idol." I had most of the middle but only the wispiest bits of correctness in the top and bottom. Once the show was over, I concentrated on the puzzle, and it got a lot easier (though it remained tough). Once I got a long answer to fall, the bottom (and later the top) went down in reasonable time, but getting that first one to fall was Rough. Even with AAHS and FLAT going straight in the grid (i.e. even with the first two letters of every long Across down south in place), I didn't go anywhere. AFRICAN-AMERICAN *never* occurred to me, as I just assumed that was some general term, not a Jacksonism (46A: Term popularized by Jesse Jackson). Wanted something like RAINBOW COALITION (one letter too long). I think the first long answer I got was A LOT ON ONE'S PLATE (seen that one before). Tried to make 56A: City on the Niagara Escarpment "something, OHIO." Then considered NOVA SCOTIA... (I forget why), then gave up and came back and got HAMILTON, ONTARIO after more of the crosses were in place. I've been to HAMILTON. Presented my first professional paper there, actually. Good times (well, OK times). Anyway, the double ONE'S down there is ugly, and MESNE is possibly the ugliest answer I've seen this year (45D: Intervening, in law), but whatever: I was just glad to get out alive.

Up top, I had ENCEINTE but had no faith it was right since I know it only as a French word. Why in the world would English need it? It's just as long (syllable-wise) as "pregnant" and it reeks of Frenchitude. Had -LION at 5D: Casanova and considered LOVE LION and STUD LION before eventually hitting on STALLION. Strangely, the first long answer I got up there was PITCAIRN'S ISLAND (17A: Last of Nordhoff and Hall's "Bounty Trilogy")—this despite having no idea where PITCAIRN'S ISLAND is, or who Nordhoff and Hall are (!?), or what the "Bounty Trilogy" is. PI-C ... -ND just gave it to me. All kinds of trouble in the NW, where I had WITCH'S HAT for WIZARD HAT (23A: What may be put on before spelling?), ATM for HEN (20A: Source of collectible deposits), ALSO for ELSE (9D: Further) and HURT for NEAT (13D: Smart). Never heard of ELISHA (10D: Wonder-working biblical figure)—the phrase "wonder-working" is something I've only ever heard George W. Bush say, and whoever was discussing the clip in which he said it was talking about the way Bush's speeches were loaded with a kind of coded language of particular significance to evangelicals. Odd that that phrase evokes that memory so clearly. No idea how I remembered 3/4 of GERI's name (7D: "The Facts of Life" actress Jewell). I wanted TERI. I think Jewell has cerebral palsy. Hey, I'm right. Again, strange what my brain will retain. Thought GERI DON'T FEEL LIKE IT was I DON'T WANT TO DO IT at first. I'm guessing LOTT succeeded DOLE as Senate Majority leader, because he sure wasn't a senator from Kansas.



Gimmes were few, though, in retrospect, more than I'd imagined: ADIA (2D: #3 hit from 1997 album "Surfacing"), LOEW, TINE, STDS, A TIE, AAHS, FLAT, AVA, IVIES, WANDA, APSOS, NEOS, DOE, ANNO

Bullets:

• 36A: Philanthropist/art collector Broad (ELI) — Nope. No idea. But surrounding answers were easy so no problem. Broad (rhymes with "road") is a big figure in L.A., apparently.
  
• 37A: "Fabien ___ Franchi" (Oscar Wilde poem) ("DEI") — more obscurity. All crosses. Between this and the MESNE / MEA cross ... a little much, Latin-wise.
  
• 38A: ColorQube maker (XEROX) — had "FEAR Factor" at first instead of "THE X Factor," but once I fixed that, XEROX was easy. No idea what a ColorQube is. That is some gratuitous Q-action right there.
  
• 12D: Bond girl player in "The Girl With the Golden Gun" (EKLAND) — Britt. Heard of her, but can't picture her. Keep getting picture of Brett Somers from "Match Game" stuck in my head.
  
• 21D: They're straddled in pits (CELLI) — This reminds me: I did not like the clue on CAN I? There is nothing in "Please?" to suggest ungrammaticality or child-talk. If you're asking permission, it's MAY I?
  
• 51D: "Turnin ___" (2009 Keri Hilson hit) ("ME ON") — Now seems as good a time as any to remind you to remember the name Keri Hilson, because that KERI will come back to bite you, eventually.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Kenza Doll

Connaissez-vous Plasterdoll ?

Ca fait déjà quelques temps que j'ai découvert ce site sur lequel règne d'adorable illustrations représentant la mode dans tous ces états :

http://www.plasterdoll.blogspot.com/

A l'époque j'avais découvert ces dessins sur d'autres blogs (Karla's Closet, Style Bubble...).

J'avais inséré le lien de celui-ci à ma blogroll, et il y a quelques jours j'ai reçu un mail de l'artiste qui me remerciait de l'avoir placé et proposait de dessiner ma petite poupée gratuitement.

Je n'ai eu qu'à choisir la tenue, lui envoyer et en une semaine, j'ai perdu quelques années, mes cheveux ont poussé, mes yeux sont devenus bleus, et je me suis blessée au front !

Si vous désirez votre petite figurine sur papier, envoyez un mail à plasterdoll@gmail.com, avec comme sujet "J'aime Plasterdoll Kenza".

Bien sûr, envoyez vos photos, portraits, looks... Et au lieu de vous faire payer 45 euros, vous payerez 35 euros.

Je trouve que c'est une bonne idée de cadeau ! A encadrer et à conserver !

Je vous balance les photos originales de la tenue à mon retour de Milan, ou même avant... Yep je pars quelques jours, retour dimanche soir !

Starpeace recorder 1985 / THU 3-3-11 / Language gjuho shqipe / Quested Passage to India woman / Subject of sailor's weather maxim

Constructor: David J. Kahn

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: ANDREW JACKSON/JOHNSON (39A: Either of the two presidents who also served as a 17-Across (U.S. SENATOR) from 62-Across (TENNESSEE)) — central answer in the puzzle works whether you choose JOHNSON or JACKSON


Word of the Day: Gilbert ADAIR (60A: Gilbert ___, author of "A Void," a 290-page novel without the letter E) —

Gilbert Adair (born 29 December 1944 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish author, film critic and journalist. He won the Author's Club First Novel Award in 1988 for his novel The Holy Innocents. In 1995 he won the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for his book A Void, which is a translation of the French book La Disparition by Georges Perec. The original book contains no instances of the letter e; Adair translated it with the same limitation. His works are compared to those of Julian Barnes, A. S. Byatt and Patrick Gale. [so ... more "translator" than "author" ... not that knowing that would've helped me one whit] (wikipedia)

• • •

Another tricky DJK tour de force. This one was tough all over for me, and it was not until the bitter end that I figured out what was supposed to be happening in the central answer ("'Either of the two...?' But ... no two presidents had the same names ... except ADAMS ... JOHN ADAMS ... well that's not right"). My version went with ANDREW JOHNSON because I came at the last name from 33D: It's rich in sugar (CANE/CAKE), and I wanted CANE from the second I got the "C." HOOK came easily too (41D: Captain James of the high seas). Only problem was BOLLS, which looked so wrong (37D: Cotton ___) ... and yet I knew that "boll weevils" were a thing ... a bug ... that gets after cotton? Seemed OK. Turned out to be right (though, curiously, my software recognized only JACKSON as "correct").



I had to struggle at least a little in nearly every part of the grid. The worst part was the NW, where TURKEY for IGUANA (1D: Creature with a dewlap) started things badly, and then, later, INCHES for LOSSES (2D: The "5" in "6-5," e.g.) really put me in a hole. Wanted GO IT ALONE early on (14A: Act independently) but INCHES said nay. Finally figured out the theme answer must be U.S. SENATOR, dumped INCHES, and it all fell into place quickly. Wanted YALE at 9D: School whose 1910 football team went undefeated and unscored upon (NAVY). Never heard of either of the literary characters (ADELA or ABBIE) (16A: ___ Quested, "A Passage to India" woman / 42A: Wife in "O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms") or the so-called "author" of "A Void" (ADAIR). But I nailed IMO with no crosses (61D: Start of many a blog comment), even though no one ever starts comments on my blog that way, and that little answer helped make the SW the easiest quadrant by far. SE was also doable (learned "jipijapa" from an earlier puzzle, which helped). Really the NW and the eastern middle that held me up the most. I enjoyed figuring this one out, and had a genuine aha moment at the end. This is very much in the mold of the famous CLINTON / BOBDOLE puzzle of election day 1996 (wherein either answer worked and the clue was something like [Winner of today's election]). That puzzle spooked people. I doubt this one will have the same effect. But it's still pretty dang good.

Bullets:

• 24A: Food sometimes eaten with a small fork (OYSTER) — Had the "O," wanted OMELET (?)
  
• 32A: Year the first Tour de France was held (MCMIII) — if you gotta have a giant Roman numeral, it should at least have an interesting clue like this (one that was actually semi-helpful in getting at least the first three letters)
  
• 52A: Subject of a sailor's weather maxim (RED SKY) — at night, sailor's delight. This confirmed COOK for me. I mean HOOK. I think.

• 7D: "Starpeace" recorder, 1985 (ONO) — knew it, somehow—possibly from the three letters, possibly from having seen it in xwords before, and possibly for the vaguely ONOish-sounding quality of "Starpeace"; give starpeace a chance, man.
  
• 11D: Real-life character in the 1950 western "Broken Arrow" (GERONIMO) — strangely, I think the first answer that popped into my head was RED ADAIR. He was real, and there was at least one movie based on his exploits...
  
• 12D: Language known to native speakers as "gjuho shqipe" (ALBANIAN) — Whoa. Whoa. That is possibly the weirdest-looking language I've ever seen. Needed many crosses, the most helpful of which was the "B" from VERBS (18A: Come and go, e.g.)
  
• 27D: 1940 Henry Fonda role (TOM JOAD) — I prefer the 1968 Henry Fonda role of "Frank" in "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]