Comic actor Dom / MON 11-29-10 / Bouquets-to-order co / Wildflower from which cultivated carrot originated / 1950s Ford flop

Constructor: Elizabeth A. Long

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: HEAD / BAND (35A: With 37-Across, hair accessory ... or a literal hint to 19-, 27-, 47- and 56-Across) — First (HEAD) words of four theme answers are all BAND names: QUEEN, KISS, TRAFFIC, CREAM


Word of the Day: Dom DELUISE (2D: Comic actor Dom) —

Dominick "Dom" DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death, and the father of actor, writer, pianist, director Peter DeLuise, actor David DeLuise, and actor Michael DeLuise. He had starred in various Universal Animated Studios films, such as All Dogs Go to Heaven and An American Tail. (wikipedia)

• • •

Felt a bit harder than normal, but I came in at a hair over three, which seems pretty normal after all. Times being registered at the NYT site seem slightly higher than average, so who knows. If it's tougher, it's barely tougher, so Medium. Love the concept, though it took me a while to understand—I had finished the puzzle and was looking over the theme answers to try to make sense of them. "A QUEEN band, A KISS band ... I don't get it ... Oh. OH! Hey, that's pretty good." SHAFTED BY seems a terrible answer to me, but most everything else seems at least acceptable (I don't want to revisit how I feel about PFUI—you can read about it here; I have begun reading Rex Stout, and allegedly this will make me change my mind...). There are lots and lots and LOTS of one-named bands, which makes me wonder "Why these?" But they are all famous and all likely to be heard on Classic Rock stations, so why not these? Still, this could easily be a Sunday theme. BREAD BASKET? RUSH LIMBAUGH? TRAIN WRECK? CHICAGO BEARS? Stop me when you've heard enough ... HEARTACHE? POISON IVY? BOSTON CREAM PIE? JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH ...


Theme answers:

• 19A: Wildflower from which the cultivated carrot originated (QUEEN ANNE'S LACE)
  
• 27A: Something that is ultimately ruinous (KISS OF DEATH) — struggled with this until I uncovered the "K"
  
• 47A: Orange item set out by a highway crew (TRAFFIC CONE)
  
• 56A: Very best (CREAM OF THE CROP)
  

Getting IRAQ WAR (1D: It started in 2003 with the bombing of Baghdad) straight off made QUEEN ANNE'S LACE easy in a way that it really should not have been for me, the botanically challenged one. KISS OF DEATH took a bit of work. Blew through all the big corners *except* the SW, where I couldn't drop either ORACLES (40D: Magic 8 Balls, e.g.) or CARRERA (41D: Classic Porsche model) off their initial letters, and SHAFTED BY (32D: Handed a raw deal from) ... well, it was my first thought, but I couldn't really believe it was real. Finished in one of the least sightly places in the grid (PFUI / HIED). Still, all told, I liked this one.


Bullets:

• 57D: Long-eared equine (ASS) — ooh, that's a good euphemism. "Long-eared equine." I'm gonna use that.
  
• 39D: Bouquets-to-order co. (FTD) — which I will only ever associate with the late great Merlin Olsen (who died in March of this year)
  
• 5A: "Nonsense!" (BOSH) — this clue should've read [One of an overhyped Miami triad]
  
• 64A: German river where American and Soviet forces met in 1945 (ELBE) — I did not know that.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]