Crosswise on deck —TUE 5-25-10— Turkish title of old / Came into base horizontally / Pattern named for Scottish county / Lecherous figure Greek myth

Constructor: Sarah Keller

Relative difficulty: Super Easy

THEME: SOAPS (39A: Afternoon fare ... or a hint to the ends of 20-, 33-, 41- and 52-Across) — theme answers are two-word phrases where second word is a brand of soap


Word of the Day: BIOME (43A: Community of plant and animal life) —

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity. (wikipedia)

• • •

Something is amiss today. This is the easiest NYT puzzle I've ever done. My time was faster than any recorded *Monday* time I have on record this year. I know I've never been under 3 on a Tuesday, and I was at 2:44 today. 2 minutes, 44 seconds. Obscene. Further, this puzzle is frighteningly dull (is that possible?). The theme is very basic, and the fill is a complete snooze. I visibly winced several times, mid-solve, at proximate garbage like ESAI next to ASTA, OBIT next to ALOE, etc. Ooxteplernon is well pleased. Even the "tough" stuff was crosswordese I've already mastered, i.e. BIOME, UELE (53D: River to the Ubangi), YEGG, and ABEAM (5A: Crosswise, on deck). One last problem: this same theme was in the NYT six years ago (June 22, 2004). ROTARY DIAL was even a theme answer in it. So were MOLTEN LAVA, JAMES IVORY, and MUSCLE TONE, as well as a short revealer (SOAP). In addition, it had TRADE / NAMES. Always good to check your theme answers against the database to see if what you're doing's been done (well) before. Sarah Keller is a reliable early-week pro, which only adds to the mysterious oddballness of this puzzle.



Theme answers:

• 20A: Keypad forerunner (ROTARY DIAL)
  
• 33A: Ghana, once (GOLD COAST)
  
• 41A: Body suit shade, perhaps (FLESH TONE)
  
• 52A: One of two in a Christmas song (TURTLEDOVE)
  

Only place I hesitated even a little was in getting into the NE. Didn't get EARTHY right off the bat (24A: Coarse, as humor), and so had to go inside the section and work my way back out. This proved no problem at all. Changed my original GMC to AMC and I was on my way (25D: Onetime Jeep mfr.).

I think that's it for today. Not enough interesting material to do a "Bullets" section. I liked the ARGYLE STUNTMAN column (5D: Pattern named for a Scottish county + 39D: Movie double, often), but not much beyond that. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]