Seinfeld's eccentric relative / WED 11-3-10 / 1545-63 council site / Philbin of live TV / P.U. inducer

Constructor: Tracy Gray

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: CUT IT OUT (62A: "Stop that!" ... and a hint to the answers to 17-, 23-, 39- and 52-Across) — familiar phrases have "IT" removed, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style


Word of the Day: TABOR (23D: Drum accompanying a fife) —

n.
A small drum, often having a snare, played by a fifer to accompany the fife.

[Middle English tabur, from Old French, alteration of tambur. See tambour.]

• • •

Monday easy. In fact, I was just 15 seconds slower than I was on Monday, and a full 36 seconds faster than I was yesterday. There's just no resistance here—not for me, anyway. The idea for the puzzle is cute, though it's the kind of thing that might have yielded many more (read: Sunday-sized) results. There must be a universe of potential IT-less phrases out there. These four answers aren't particularly scintillating—although LEARNER SPERMS is kind of memorable, however accidentally. I think I paused slightly in the SW as I tried to enter that corner and put down STY instead of PEN at 61D: Porker's pad. Otherwise, even the odd stuff was right over the plate for me. I wanted TAMBOR (and etymologically it seems I have some cause to want it), but it didn't take too long to get from there to TABOR. And though I'm not a big fan of "Seinfeld," UNCLE LEO is very familiar to me, and an admittedly great pop culture answer (68A: Seinfeld's eccentric relative). LOW PITCH seemed off to me (42D: Fastball in the dirt, say), if only because the phrase isn't very baseball lingo-ish. "I'm going to throw a LOW PITCH now" ... I don't know. Type of pitch is at least as important as location. I know I'm splitting hairs, but the phrase just doesn't gel for me. No matter, rest of the grid seems fine, if a little tired-fill-heavy.


[so THIS is why I say "Mother of Pearl!" as an exclamation... I was wondering where I got that.]
Theme answers:

• 17A: Online university staff? (NET PROFS)
  
• 23A: What Nashville sunbathers acquire? (TENNESSEE TANS)
  
• 39A: Sign prohibiting sunshades? (NO VISORS ALLOWED)
  
• 52A: Salon jobs from apprentice stylists? (LEARNER'S PERMS)
  

Today's puzzle was brought to you by the Turkish tourism board, who would like to remind you that, while most of its people are ASIAN (11D: Like most Turks), it's partially in EUROPE (60A: Where to find a piece of Turkey), and so less threateningly foreign than some of your other Middle Eastern countries. Turkey: We're Everywhere You Want To Be. Turkey: Come, Swim the Bosporus. Turkey: The Real White Meat. Etc.



Bullets:

• 46A: Bailed-out insurance co. (AIG) — AIG stands for something? Hmm. American International Group. I learned something.
  
• 5D: Former Big Apple mayor La Guardia (FIORELLO) — I have a vintage paperback (ca. late 50s) of "Life With FIORELLO," which is the only reason I know the guy's name so well. There was a Broadway musical based on this book: Fiorello!
  
• 15D: 1545-63 council site (TRENT) — response to Protestant "heresies"
  
• 36D: Bar closing time (TWO A.M.) — a sign of how old I'm getting—my first instinct was TEN P.M.
  
• 37D: Philbin of live TV (REGIS) — The "live" part, while true enough, seems weird to me. [Philbin of TV] would've been just as easy to get.
  
• 38D: "P.U.!" inducer (ODOR) — I didn't know that exclamation was spelled out in letters like that. Looks like a university abbrev.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]