Norwegian violinist Bull / SAT 7-24-10 / Literary character whose name is said to mean laughing water / Hidalgo co-star 2004 / Tennyson hero

Constructor: David J. Kahn

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: AHA MOMENT (66A: What you may have while solving this puzzle?) — rebus puzzle with "AHA" crammed into five different squares


Word of the Day: SEALERY (65A: Place for barkers?) —

[SEAL FISHERY]=> 2. a place (as a rookery) where seals are hunted. (Webster's 3rd Int'l)

• • •

References to seal slaughter aside, I liked this puzzle, but it was way-ay-ay too easy for a Saturday [I see now, checking my time against the leaderboard at the NYT site, that I was faster than some of the fastest solvers in the country, which never happens, so now I'm having anxiety about my grid ... must double-check its accuracy ... nope, it's right alright. Weird. OK, back to the write-up]. In fact, it was essentially a Thursday, with a handful of Saturdayed clues. I knew something was slightly out-of-the-ordinary today when 1. I saw David J. Kahn's name (he does fancy puzzles, generally, not straight-up themelesses); and 2. I saw the grid (maximum word count, no really long answers, i.e. not at all a conventional Saturday grid. Got the trick when I had everything in the NW done *except* 13A: Literary character whose name is said to mean "laughing water" (MINNEHAHA). Ended up with MINNEHO, because I had (yuck) SORE at 6D: Hot spot (SAHARA). That first AHA ended up being my literal "AHA moment," so I did not (at all) need the theme-revealing "[AHA] MOMENT" at the end. Redundant by that point. AHA squares were easy to uncover. Know nothing about county seats in Florida, but knowing AHA was in play made TALLAHASSEE easy (20D: Seat of Leon County, Fla.). The only real struggle presented by this puzzle came in the SW, where I had MAHARISHIS, which didn't work, and then nothing ... guessed the RANEES part from Raja / Ranee of xword fame. Never heard of SEDALIA (61A: Missouri site of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival). Never heard of SEALERY. Lucky to have three intersecting Unknowns and still emerge unscathed, and in reasonably good time.



Theme answers:

• 13A: Literary character whose name is said to mean "laughing water" (MINNEHAHA)
• 6D: Hot spot (SAHARA)
  
• 34A: Raptor 350 and others (YAMAHAS)
  
• 12D: Tennyson hero (SIR GALAHAD)
  
• 20D: Seat of Leon County, Fla. (TALLAHASSEE)
  
• 38A: Founding member of the Washington Freedom (MIA HAMM)
  
• 41A: Singer Jackson (MAHALIA)
  
• 36D: Old royalty (MAHARANEES)
  
• 58D: Some Siouan speakers (OMAHAS)
  
• 66A: What you may have while solving this puzzle? (AHA MOMENT)
  

Thanks to all of you who have wished my daughter well and asked after her health following the accident. As I said initially, she is just fine. Aside from the abrasion on her neck and the three staples in her head (!), it's really as if nothing ever happened. Her main concern is whether she'll be able to swim during our early August vacation. Doctor assured her today that unless she was planning on banging her head into things, there'd be no problem.

Bullets:

• 7A: Sources of woods used for saunas (ASPENS) — our early August vacation will be in Colorado. Oh, and I wanted APPLES (!?) here at first.
  
• 14D: Nonabrasive leather (CHAMOIS) — is leather generally used to abrade things?
  
• 18A: Norwegian violinist ___ Bull (OLE) — Norwegian feminist last month, Norwegian violinist this month. Norway appears to be the late-week random-name-generator of choice. I love that his name is OLE Bull. Total coincidence, or bilingual parents with a sense of humor?
  
• 21A: Figure depicted in une église (ANGE) — advantage, French-speakers. Got it off the "A" in "EMMA" (10D: Classic novel that ends with two weddings), but I probably could've guessed it with no crosses at all.
  
• 43A: English word that comes from Tswana (TSE-TSE) — weird to call this an "English" word, but literally accurate, so ... OK.
  
• 57A: 1992 Elton John hit ("THE ONE") — this made me smile; reminded me of a 1992 cross-country road trip I took with my roommate; we listened to and mockingly, stridently sang along to a lot of radio hits on that trip. See also "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Don Henley and Patty Smyth.

["Fire flying from your hands!" (???)]

• 63A: Fellow with no monetary woes (MADE MAN) — hmmm. I did not know this was the primary significance of this term. It *is* a mafia term, right?
  
• 8D: "Hidalgo" co-star, 2004 (SHARIF) — Two thoughts: "What the hell is 'Hidalgo?" and "Omar SHARIF is still alive?" Answer to latter question: yes!
  
• 28D: Actor who played Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," 1951 (SIM) — weird to see him today and LOM yesterday, as in my head they are essentially the same person, i.e. random three-letter bygone actor known now only for being occasionally useful in a tight crossword spot.
  
• 31D: Appeared in, as a TV show (CAME ON) — don't like this clue. "Julio Iglesias CAME ON 'Golden Girls' last night" ... nope, sounds wrong. He WAS ON. He GUEST-STARRED. The show itself CAME ON. [Ran, as a TV show] sits better with me. OK, now trying to come up with different clues for CAME ON has started me laughing out loud, so I'll move on.
  
• 49D: Capital midway between Rome and Istanbul (TIRANA) — Albania. Not sure if I learned this from crosswords exclusively, but puzzle work has certainly solidified its place in my brain. Still needed several crosses.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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