Bygone Acura / WED 4-13-11 / 1987 duet Eric Clapton Tina Turner / Humanoid race in Avatar / McSorley's order / Cultural phenomenon 60s

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: INTEGRA (36A: Bygone Acura that's involved in a crackup at 17-, 23-, 45- and 55-Across) — phrases containing anagrams of INTEGRA

• RED GRANITE (17A: Wisconsin's state rock)
  
• TANGIER, MOROCCO (23A: City on the Strait of Gibraltar) [uh ... STRAIT is in the grid (5D) ... unusual oversight]
  
• TEARING US APART (45A: 1987 duet by Eric Clapton and Tina Turner)
  
• "YOU INGRATE!" (55A: Rebuke to a thankless wretch)
  

Word of the Day: P.W. BOTHA (22D: 1980s South African president) —

Pieter Willem Botha (12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil (Afrikaans for "The Big Crocodile"), was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989. // Botha was a long-time leader of South Africa's National Party and an advocate of the apartheid system although, while in power, he did make concessions towards human rights. He was also a staunch opponent of Communism. // Early in 1998, when Botha refused to testify at the Mandela government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he was supported by the right-wing Conservative Party in his refusal but was fined and given a suspended jail sentence later that year. (wikipedia)

• • •

Whoa, this one slapped me around quite badly. First, every single theme answer was either strange or unknown to me. All of them. I'm not sure I knew TANGIER was in MOROCCO. I've certainly never heard of RED GRANITE or this alleged Tina Turner / Eric Clapton duet, "TEARING US APART" ("The song did not crack the US Hot 100"—wikipedia). And I don't think I've heard anyone say "YOU INGRATE!" ... well, ever. Maybe in a 19th century novel. But they all seem like valid answers and they certainly fulfill the theme, which is clever. Long Downs in NW and SE were surprisingly hard to come up with—again, as with theme answers, this was true for All of them. In fact, there was a brief period of time where I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get the NW at all. COHOS plural? (1A: Pacific salmon) Not clear from clue. OPART? (14A: Cultural phenomenon of the '60s) Again, not at All clear from clue. STRAIT? (5D: Naval route) I thought SEAWAY. COROT? (1D: "Woman With a Pearl" painter) He painted that? DODO could've been DOLT (28A: Nitwit), GOO is not a word I'd use to describe melted ice cream (not even close), ORG could've been COM, EDU, etc. (4D: Modern address ending) Seriously, very rough for me. Other parts I breezed through, but that corner, and to a lesser extent the SE corner (PRIORATES?? PEA SALADS??) (33D: Monastic offices + 32D: Vegan side dishes) made this one a tough Wednesday for me. Sassy and skillful enough for me to find it ultimately enjoyable, once I got over my annoyance at the significant slow-down.



Had MAXIM for AXIOM (7D: Truism) and MAY BE for ARE SO (43A: You ___ right!"). Otherwise, everything besides NW/SE corners went down without much of a fight. Really liked the clue on DEAR SANTA (39A: Line that goes to the North Pole?). In fact, besides REPR. (25D: Second ed.), I really liked most of the fill in this puzzle, even the short stuff. Very bouncy stuff (BOING!) even in the tight corners.



Bullets:

• 35A: McSorley's order (ALE) — got this right away, but don't really know what McSorley's is (I'm assuming it's a pub...). McSorley's Old Ale House is, apparently, "the oldest 'Irish' tavern in New York City [...] it was one of the last of the 'Men Only' pubs, only admitting women after legally being forced to do so in 1970" (wikipedia)
• 57A: Ink-colored, in Shakespeare (EBON) — "Rouse up revenge from EBON den with fell Alecto's snake" (Henry IV 2, V.v)
• 37D: Humanoid race in "Avatar" (NAVI) — never seen the movie, but NAVI will always remind me of Angela (aka Puzzle Girl)'s son, who wore his NAVI costume to the National Mall for the "Rally to Restore Sanity" this past October. He was not the most absurd-looking person there. Hell, he's not even the most absurd-looking person in this picture.

• 10D: 1984 best-selling business autobiography ("IACOCCA") — now *that* would be a good name for a city in MOROCCO. IACOCCA, MOROCCO! Just saying it makes me want to go to there.
  
• 45D: Formerly much-ballyhooed fitness program (TAE BO) — that's a mouthful of weird syllables for a simple TAE BO clue. "Formerly much-ballyhooed" is not a descriptor you see every day.

Whoops, I finished with an error. I assume that the actual quote is not "Unto us A SIN is given"...
Oh well. I'll get 'em next week.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Jails British slang / SUN 2-20-11 / Astrologer to rich famous / Band 1998 song One Week / Three-stringed instruments / Spartan walkway

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Wunderbar!" — Each rectangular "bar" formed by three contiguous black squares represents the letter string "BAR" and thus forms part of the answer adjacent to and in line with it, e.g. [three black squares]ELY = [BAR]ELY


Word of the Day: QUODs (39D: Jails, in British slang) —

noun, dated

1: Prison; often in phr. in quod, in prison. (1700 —) .
Listener Now, one of this chap's maternal uncles...has got to pay a 50 quid debt or go to quod (1968). verb trans.

2: To put in prison. (1812 — 1930).

[Of unknown origin.] (answers.com)

• • •

A lovely, clever, original puzzle. Unusual theme, interesting execution — just cool all around. Even outside the theme material, the puzzle was exciting — several big, open spaces filled (mostly) beautifully, esp. in the N and NE (OCTOMOM SASHIMI is on the menu in hell, I believe) (21A: Noted parent in tabloids + 25A: Food often dipped in soy sauce). MAKE HAY, DOG HANDLER, OH DEAR ME, and BALALAIKAS (100A: Three-stringed instruments) all really liven up the joint, as does SADISTIC (which is how some might describe the highly ambiguous clue, 12D: Really mean). Once I picked up the theme, I found the rest of the theme answers very easy to get (spot me three consecutive letters to any answer, and I'm pretty confident I'll take it down fast). But the non-theme stuff was varied and tricky enough to keep the puzzle right at a typical Sunday difficulty level for me. I picked up the theme fairly early on with ***ENAKED LADIES and had no trouble with any of the theme answers that followed. There are some slightly rough patches—the center, perhaps because of the theme density in that region, has some unlovely stuff like NGOR and QUODS and EBEN and GOL, but it was all short and gettable (though QUODS / QTY gave me a bit of a fright). Not a huge fan of RESOLDER and (esp.) ISOLATORS, but these are minor infelicities in an otherwise delightful grid. Grade: A.

Theme answers:

• 26A: Band whose 1998 song "One Week" was #1 for one week (***ENAKED LADIES) — To understand how I feel about the ***ENAKED LADIES, please watch this highly informative video from a recent episode of "Community" (Jeff Winger says it all):

• 46A: Pear variety (***TLETT)
  
• 48A: Milky Way, for one (CHOCOLATE ***)
  
• 66A: Onetime head of the Medellin drug cartel (PABLO ESCO***)
  
• 69A: Mattel announced their breakup in 2004 (***BIE AND KEN)
  
• 84A: Classic western slugfest (***ROOM BRAWL)
  
• 87A: It's just below a B (SPACE***)
  
• 109A: Plan on ordering a drink, say (BELLY UP TO THE ***)
  
• 27D: Sharply reprimanded (***KED AT)
  
• 28D: Just (***ELY)
  
• 99D: Cravat holder (TIE ***)
  
• 88D: Lounge in a many a hotel (PIANO ***) — a few point off here for essentially replicating the "BAR" meaning from 109-Across
  

I know of Fibber McGee and Molly (20A: Hometown of old radio's Fibber McGee and Molly=>PEORIA) only from the sitcom "Newsradio," where Andy Dick's character gets a set of Fibber McGee and Molly audio tapes as a gift from his boss, while the rest of the staff gets new sports cars. I can't embed the clip, so I'll just embed a different clip from that show featuring the late, more-than-great Phil Hartman:


I have no idea how I know Sidney OMARR (30A: Astrologer to the rich and famous)—possibly because I own some old paperback by him. "My Bed Has Eyes" ... is that right? No, here it is: "My Bed Has Echoes." Even better. Talk about obscure (the book, not the astrologer himself). I have a BETTIE Page mug on my desk, right here (40A: 1950s pinup queen ___ Page). If you put a hot beverage in it, her bikini top disappears. In huge letters on the bottom of the mug it reads: "NOT MICROWAVE OR DISHWASHER SAFE," so I don't drink out of it. It's more a paperweight / decorative item. Yesterday, people wanted STOA instead of ODEA. Now, here's STOA (42A: Spartan walkway). Yesterday, people wanted OMNI instead of EVER. Today, here's OMNI (49D: Present opener?). Weird. Haven't seen Tea LEONI in a long time (in crosswords or otherwise) (80A: Sandler's "Spanglish" co-star). I thought the "Simpsons" had invented Dolores DEL RIO (114A: Actress Dolores of the silent era) as a fictional costar of Troy McClure (voiced by the aforementioned more-than-great Phil Hartman) who appeared in such films as "Calling All Quakers" and "Preacher With a Shovel." But that was Dolores Montenegro, it turns out. Took me a while to fully read the second half of the clue at 18D: Civil war locale beginning in 1991, so SOMALIA stayed hidden for a bit as my mind scoured mid-19th-century America. Speaking of, apparently "Fourscore" is one word. I did not know that, which caused me to wonder why the answer to 32D: Fifth word of the Gettysburg Address (AGO) wasn't YEARS. Of course I also tried to solve 83D: Part of the next-to-last line of the Lord's Prayer (DELIVER US) by reciting what turned out to be not the Lord's Prayer but whatever you call the prayer that starts "Now I lay me down to sleep..."

Bullets:

• 6D: "Star Wars" guru (YODA) — I have a wee YODA figurine on the shelf in my bedroom. I think I found it in the gutter one day. Or else I got it for nothing at some garage sale.
  
• 14D: Pioneer in quadraphonic records (RCA) — got an angry email from someone who insisted the correct answer was CBS. Refrained from yelling at said someone for talking about the puzzle before I'd even solved it. (Please don't write me about the Sunday puzzle until after 7pm Saturday evening, thanks).
  
• 100D: Recurring Matt Damon title role (BOURNE) — not RIPLEY. He should do another RIPLEY, though. I'd like that. Malkovich did a great RIPLEY in "Ripley's Game," btw.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Berry touted as superfood / MON 1-17-11 / Fully extended ballerina / Westernmost of Aleutians / Traveling show of 1970s 2000s originated in Cairo

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY — the first words of the theme answers are, respectively, MARTIN, LUTHER, KING and DAY


Word of the Day: LATH (1A: Plaster backing) —

Lath and plaster is a building process used mainly for interior walls in Canada and the United States until the late 1950s. After the 1950s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process in the United States. In the United Kingdom, lath and plaster was used for some interior partition walls, but was mostly used in the construction of ceilings. In the UK, plasterboard became a more common ceiling construction from 1945 onwards. (wikipedia)

• • •

This one definitely played tough. I had perhaps my most disastrous Monday opening ever, starting with not knowing LATH (the word still looks strange to me), and then throwing down FLASKS instead of FIFTHS (14D: Bottles of liquor). North was worse, in that I couldn't come up with ON TOE (15A: Fully extended, as a ballerina) or INHD (an ugly answer, 6D: How many TV shows are now shown)—I think I had TIVO, which I knew was Wrong on many levels. Just stared at 5A: Bigger than big. Could come up with only LARGE and ENORM (yes, really). GIANT is an appropriate answer, of course, but with ON TOE and INHD not coming, I wasn't getting much help. Wanted GO BAD, not GO SOUR (5D: Spoil, as milk), never heard of the "VALSE Triste" (28D: Sibelius's "___ Triste"), wrote in ROMP for ROUT (which I do routinely, btw) (35D: Easy win), and still have very little clue how [Embodied] is a good clue for SUBSUMED. That's quite a literal understanding of [Embodied], I think. I managed to get my bearings after the horrible start, and ended with something like a normal Tuesday time. Seems like a fine, simple tribute puzzle. Fill seems about average, though probably somewhat below Ms. Gorski's normally exacting standards. ATTU, Liz? :) (23A: Westernmost of the Aleutians). Favorite answer of the day: UNIONCARDS (27D: Things in the wallets of many laborers).



Theme answers:

• 17A: "S.N.L." alum who co-starred in "Three Amigos!" (MARTIN SHORT) — ugh, the MARTIN just reminded me of Steve Martin (also in "Three Amigos!"), which only blocked MARTIN SHORT's name further...
  
• 26A: His "Dance With My Father" won the 2003 Grammy for Song of the Year (LUTHER VANDROSS)
  
• 41A: Traveling show of the 1970s and 2000s that originated in Cairo (KING TUT EXHIBIT) — the Steve Martin subtheme continues...

• 54A: They're in la-la land (DAY DREAMERS)
  

This will sound nitpicky, and I freely admit that it is, but I miss the "JR." in this puzzle's theme. Wendy's has as JR. CHEESEBURGER. That's 14, to go with LUTHER. Now just get an odd-numbered KING entry for your center and bam, theme complete (warning: side effects may include Terrible puzzle).

Bullets:

• 34A: Social reformer Jacob (RIIS) — I feel as if his crossword star is rising. This is likely complete coincidence, i.e. I've probably just seen him a few times this week (I do a lot of puzzles).
  
• 61A: Names hidden in Hirschfeld sketches (NINAS) — I remember learning about this hidden NINA thing in a puzzle a few years back, and it baffled me because I had no idea who "Hirschfeld" was, let alone what hidden NINAs were.
  
• 2D: Berry touted as a superfood (AÇAI) — I don't know. I'm always skeptical about stuff like this, though I confess that I do enjoy this AÇAI Berry Granola cereal I have every morning with my oatmeal (to give it crunch). You can't really taste the berries.
  

Enjoy your holiday if you've got one. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Spouse in 2009 headlines —THU 1-13-11— 1944 mystery play by Agatha Christie / Pegasus appeared in company's logo / Nickname Schumann's Symphony No. 3

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: NILE and its anagrams — five theme answers end or begin (in alternating fashion) with a word made out of the letters N, I, L, and E


Word of the Day: "OLEO" (30A: Miles Davis jazz number) —

Bags' Groove is a jazz album recorded by Miles Davis in 1954 for Prestige Records. Both takes of the title track come from a session on December 24, 1954 ("Bags" was vibraphonist Milt Jackson's nickname). The rest of the album was recorded earlier in the year, on 29 June. (The other tracks from the December session are found on the album Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants. All of the tracks from the December session are on Disc 3 of the Thelonious Monk Complete Prestige Recordings CD box set.) // The title composition and the three compositions on the album by the young Sonny Rollins all went on to become jazz standards. // The track "Oleo" was the first time that Davis used the Harmon mute on a studio recording. It would become an important part of his trumpet sound for the rest of his career. (wikipedia)

• • •

[It's pledge week here at the Rex Parker site (thru Sat.) —read my pitch for donations in the opening paragraphs of Sunday's write-up, here ... and thanks for your faithful readership (and the many kind messages I've received so far)]

This did not seem like a Thursday puzzle. Yesterday was the rebus, and today, a (relatively) straightforward anagram puzzle. That said, this one was slightly tougher, and I liked it quite a bit more, despite the surprising simplicity of the theme concept. I suspected yet another rebus of some sort with the first theme answer, as the first three words (MURDER ON THE) had me wanting ORIENT EXPRESS on the end—this despite having had to clue NILE very recently, and thus having seen and considered (and ultimately rejected) the Christie book as a possibility. No, wait ... her *book* was "Death on the Nile." This *play* (!?) was based on that book. Hmm. Strange.

Had a biggish hold-up with ELIN NORDEGREN, first because I had EL--NOR and I figured the woman's name would be ELEANOR, and second because I could not remember Anything about her last name except that it was Swedish. Or is it Norwegian? No, I was right the first time. Sweden. Needed almost all the crosses to get NORDEGREN. Only problems in the bottom half were "OLEO" (never seen that clue, that I can recall), and LUNK—a four-letter word that could easily have been DOLT or DODO (31D: Blockhead). I didn't know TWO IRONS hit "long shots." Do irons hit longer shots than woods? Use of "long" here seems really loose. More partials and short gunk than I'm used to seeing from Gorski, but enough lively stuff to be well worth the effort (especially like TAX LIEN, FREE REIN, and, oddly, RHENISH—27A: Nickname of Schumann's Symphony #3). First answer, aptly, was GIMME (1D: "I want it, and I want it now!").



Theme answers:

• 17A: 1944 mystery play by Agatha Christie ("MURDER ON THE NILE")
  
• 21A: Spouse in 2009 headlines (ELIN NORDEGREN)
  
• 37A: Something that may be on a house (TAX LIEN)
  
• 50A: Who said "I put up my thumb and it blotted out the planet Earth" (NEIL ARMSTRONG) —I was expecting some comic book mad scientist...
  
• 57A: Takes things a bit too far (GOES OVER THE LINE)
  

Bullets:

• 20A: Fashion designer Tahari (ELIE) — your Wiesel alternative
  
• 3D: 1938 Physics Nobelist (FERMI) — helped me change ELEANOR to ELIN NOR-
  
• 25D: Weeper of Thebes (NIOBE) — a handy classical lady to know: 60% vowels, unusual "B" placement.
  
• 59D: Bygone Spanish queen (ENA) — I know of her existence *only* because of crosswords. She has the same name as Bambi's aunt ... which I also know *only* because of crosswords.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Inventor of logarithms / FRI 12-10-10 / Alternative title of Mack Knife / Dualistic Egyptian deity / Dweller near Central Parks Strawberry Fields

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: Uh ... the black squares form a musical note, I think — I have no idea why this puzzle exists. Is it really a puzzle about a song from "Babes in Arms" (JOHNNY ONE NOTE—33A: With 36-Across, "Babes in Arms" tune that's apt for this puzzle)? I mean, is that it? Does the theme go anywhere else? Further, BEMIRED MORITAT!!!!!? ... what in the Sam Hill...?


Hey, Judy Garland in blackface ... that's ... something... (thanks for the heads-up, Amy)



Word of the Day: MORITAT (31A: Alternative title of "Mack the Knife") —

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has become a popular standard. // A moritat (from mori meaning "deadly" and tat meaning "deed") is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In The Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. The Brecht-Weill version of the character was far more cruel and sinister, and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero. (wikipedia)

• • •

Disaster. Not 'cause it was hard (which it was, for me) but because it's just ungainly. I'm sitting here trying to understand why I'm supposed to care that the black squares make a musical note, and that the central answer is some song I've never heard of from some musical I've heard of but know nothing about. If there were good reason — if this were a tribute to a composer, say, or the anniversary of some Broadway something or other — then I'd just grumble about my ignorance and be on my way. But this thing ... why? There is so much ugly fill that I'm astonished. A stunt puzzle gone horribly awry. Weird names crossing each other (NAPIER (1D: Inventor of algorithms) / INKSTER (19A: Two-time U.S. Women's Open winner), IRENE / RENES), partials dressed up like identical twins as if that's supposed to be endearing (SET A, IT'S A) [___ date], the apparently massive -ATE family (Uncle GLUTAMATE, the whole clan of BORATES). Wow. There are bits and pieces that I like (JOE TORRE (33D: Author of "Chasing the Dream: My Lifelong Journey to the World Series"), ALL SEWN UP), but the general barfiness of everything east of the note really puts this puzzle in the Fail category for me. Perhaps there is some key that will unlock its mysteries, some key that I do not possess. If so, please share it with me.



No idea who NAPIER is, so I went NARCS/ NEWTON / AMON-RA (should've been AMEN-RA, 2D: Dualistic Egyptian deity) ... not much else for me there, so I went to NE and got all of it except went with GLUTAMINE (is that a thing? I think I was thinking of GLUCOSAMINE. If I'd been thinking clearly, I would've said "monosodiumGLUTAMATE" to my stupid self), which destroyed my ability even to see ONE NOTE ("JOHNNY ONE NONE? Is that a soccer score?"). Put the from-outer-space MORITAT in there and I was well and truly screwed. IN MOTHBALLS (23D: Being reserved) took Forever to get, as it's not an expression I use or hear, but I accept its validity. But that whole section is just BEMIRED (42A: Stuck, in a way) in unpleasantness.



I think the most irksome thing is the pride of place given to "JOHNNY / ONE NOTE," when a. it's not really a theme (no other answers relate), and b. today is not important in the history of "JOHNNY ONE NOTE"; in fact, it's just a song that happens to have "NOTE" in its title. That Is Not Enough Of A Basis For A Puzzle. Man, if I hadn't been able to throw down ERIE CANAL (55A: Early 19th-century engineering marvel) with No crosses, I might still be working on this thing. I guess that means I might have been an ABNEGATOR? (12D: One who surrenders) Am I using that right? Who knows? "MORITAT!" [Alternative word for "Uncle!" "No mas!" etc.].



Bullets:

• 15A: Plant whose roots are used as detergent (AMOLE) — another unpretty word. Really wish A-HOLE was an answer that could fly...
  
• 26A: Air-gulping swimmer (GAR) — why is a fish gulping air???
  
• 29A: Grp. knocked in "Sicko" (AMA) — hovered between this and HMO.
  
• 39A: It might accompany a bar line (LEER) — this clue is great. I had no idea what to make of "bar line." Thought it might be musical ... you can imagine why.
  
• 54A: Stethoscope inventor Laënnec and others (RENÉS) — Pfft. Whatever you say. Same thing for the other name cross, IRENE (43D: Rich of old films). Thankfully, that "E" was utterly inferrable.
  
• 6D: Dupes in some mailboxes (SPARE KEYS) — a truly unexpected answer. Nice.
  
• 52D: Dweller near Central Park's Strawberry Fields (ONO) — baffled me, which it shouldn't have. I don't know if I've ever seen "Dweller" used to refer to a single, specific person. It's usually "SLAV" or "OMANI" or some such general term.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

1986 Brad Davis film / SUN 10-31-10 / Jazz saxophonist/flutist Frank / 1987 Adrian Pasdar film / Athenian porch

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Fangs for the Memories" — Vampire movies, and then you draw a bat


Word of the Day: SAL soda (75D: ___ soda) —

n.
A hydrated sodium carbonate used as a general cleanser.

• • •

Lots of pretty damned obscure movies, but a delightful puzzle experience nonetheless. A thematic tour de force, with tons of theme answers are a child's place mat activity at the end. None of the connect-the-dot letters are inside theme answers *except" the first "R" in VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN, which I'm kind of obsessed with now, from a constructor's point of view. That's 18 "dots" for the drawing—to land that last one right inside a long theme answer ... that impresses me, somehow. I might just be naive. I'm wicked tired from waaaaaaaaaaalllllking so much today at the Rally For Sanity, so I don't know how much sustained writing I can do. How far did we walk? Well, we parked at Arlington Cemetery and walked to rally, so you do the geographical math. Mob scene. Public transportation largely useless (for those of us who didn't bother getting there at the crack of dawn). So: walking. Fun, but exhausting. Maybe I'll just pick at this thing for a few minutes at a time for the rest of the night. Maybe I'll make PuzzleGirl alternate 10-minute shifts with me.

Well she's out getting ice cream or something, so I'll have to forge ahead. I had two errors in this puzzle—one a stupid oversight, the other ... actually, the other wasn't an error, but a flat-out guess that proved correct. So the error—I doubt I ever even looked at the clue for 26A: High-water mark; I just have seen most of it filled in and figured, because of the theme, that the answer was BLOODLINE. Why not? I'd buy a "Concerto in B" by Gershwin (the Down cross). But no: FLOODLINE is the only thing that fits the clue. And the guess? The NAYA / SAL crossing. Never seen NAYA brand water, never Ever heard of SAL soda, so that "A," pfft. Honestly, that's a terrible clue for SAL. Rest of the puzzle was mostly EASY AS PIE (120A: "Piece of cake!"), or at least easy enough to hack through without much trouble. Never heard of many of the vampire movies, but those titles weren't hard to get.

Who orders a BANANA SHAKE? (4D: Fruit-based fountain treat)—never heard of such a thing, though of course I can imagine it. ROCOCO STYLE feels redundant (12D: What Chippendale furniture was made in). ROCOCO *is* a STYLE. Clue makes the answer fit, but :(

Theme answers:

• 23A: 1922 Max Schreck film (NOSFERATU)
  
• 56A: 1995 Eddie Murphy film (VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN)
  
• 68A: 1931 Bela Lugosi film (DRACULA)
  
• 97A: 1979 George Hamilton film (LOVE AT FIRST BITE)
  
• 113A: 1987 Adrian Pasdar film (NEAR DARK) — directed by Kathryn Bigelow (who directed "The Hurt Locker")
  
• 117A: 2008 Robert Pattinson film (TWILIGHT)
  
• 125A: 1986 Brad Davis film (BLOOD TIES) — this last one appears to be very obscure—listed at imdb as "Il cugino americano," and appears to have ZERO to do with vampires. I ... don't understand.

Bullets:

• 21A: Odd Fellows' meeting place (LODGE) — no idea what this means. Oddfellows are my wife's favorite candy from back home (New Zealand)
  
• 55A: Saturnalia participants (FEASTERS) — "Saturnalia" makes me think of orgies, not feasting.
  
• 61A: Athenian porch (STOA) — a crosswordy word that is just a reflex answer for me at this point, like STELE / STELA (which I would confuse STOA with if they weren't different letter counts)
  
• 95A: Bygone flightless bird (MOA) — like Oddfellows, also from New Zealand.
  
• 130A: Many visitors to Legoland (DANES) — Baffling. Aren't there Legolands of one kind or another all over the world? Is there some mother ship in Denmark?
  
• 119A: Bones also called cubiti (ULNAE) — hey, new ULNA knowledge! But, really? Someone calls them that?
  
• 118D: Jazz saxophonist/flutist Frank (WESS) — Uh ... OK, sure, why not? He needs a second "S," we'll give him a second "S."
  
• 60D: Epoch in which mammals arose (EOCENE) — Would never know this epoch existed were it not for crosswords ... so many vowels, such a weird opening pair of letters ...
  
• 72D: N.F.L. defensive lineman B.J. ___ (RAJI) — Uh ... OK, sure, why not? I wonder if there is anyone, anywhere in the world name WESS RAJI. Please write me if that is your name.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Hey, everybody. PuzzleGirl here. I managed to get out of writing anything about the puzzle by offering to take the kids out for ice cream. Worked like a charm! But Rex asked me to post some pictures from the rally today. You might have been under the impression that the rally was political in nature, but I think the following examples of rally signs clearly show that the people who attended had a wide variety of concerns/issues/opinions. Enjoy.

[Sahra Parker and PuzzleDaughter]

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

The Pirates of the N.C.A.A. / WED 8-4-10 / Czech Currency / Dagger in "The Mikado" / Residents of 10 Downing St.

Constructor: Elizabeth C. Gorski

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Turn to Stone— 5 answers have anagrams of "stone," alternating in the first or last word.


Word of the Day: KORUNA (Czech currency) —

The basic monetary unit of Czechoslovakia, introduced as the Czech crown after the 1914-18 war (abbrev. Kč), and replaced and revalued after the 1939-45 war as the crown of the Czech and Slovak State (abbrev. Kč); 1 Kč = 100 hellers. Also, a coin corresponding to this unit. (OED.com)

• • •

Caleb Madison here again, filling in for Rex today and tomorrow. In a perfect world, I'd have some sort of theme song whenever I come on the blog... Any suggestions? Brendan Emmett Quigley has already coopted "Tom Sawyer" for his 'Behind the Puzzle' posts. For now, I'll go with this:



There's a long intro, but you get the point.

On to the puzzle! When I saw the byline, I got my magic markers out, ready to draw a martini glass or a spider or a museum on my grid... no such luck. Seeing Elizabeth Gorski's byline on a puzzle is kind of like seeing Joss Whedon's name on a T.V. ad or John Woo's name on a movie poster or Big Boi's name on an album cover. Whatever it is, you know it'll be good. This puzzle was no exception. 6 solid theme entries, plus nice open corners with stacked 11s and 9s intersecting. Unusual, nice grid. The theme itself is pretty nice too. We've seen STONE as the basis of a theme before here, but here, a totally new twist.

Theme answers:

• 17a: Unwritten reminders- MENTAL NOTES
• 23a: The Pirates of the N.C.A.A.- SETON HALL
• 29a: Robert Frost poem about a snowfall- THE ONSET
• 43a: It may have wire binding- STENO PAD
• 50a: Oranges, reds and golds- FALL TONES
• 61a: Petrify... or what five alternating words in 17-, 23-, 29-, 43-, and 50-Across can do?- TURN TO STONE

Never heard of "The Onset" but it was easily gettable with both the theme and the crossings. Also, FALL TONES is a bit hackneyed, but again, the theme was tight enough that it didn't really matter.

Bullets:

• 18a: "Top Gun" target (MIG) — Any reference to "Top Gun" automatically makes me like a puzzle, as does a reference to "Buffy," "The Wire," Hall & Oates, or Phillip Marlowe. Is two "Top Gun" links too much? Nahhhhhhhh.
  
  

  [Warning: NSFW]

• 14a: Gorged, gorged and gorged some more, informally (ATE UP A STORM) — as far as longer answers go, this and ONE SENTENCE (64a: Many a Twittermessage) seem a bit of a stretch. I've only used 'dance up a storm', and the arbitrary-number-in-front-of-a-unit thing is never too great. The only not so great answer in the whole puzzle is...
• 65a: Taxonomy suffix (ZOA) — inferrable (like protozoa) , but not pretty. It's the price a constructor pays for FRIZZ
• 45a: Trees loved by squirrels (OAKS) — Makes me think of...
  
  



• 35d: Wham-bam-thank-you ma'am types- CADS— I have a hunch who's responsible for this clue- the same person who's out in Pleasantville with Will Shortz right now, trying his hardest to fill the shoes that I left when I interned for Will two summers ago. Forget it, Natan Last. Never gonna happen. You're probably just as inferior to me as an intern as you are as a constructor.
• 37a: Shaped like pizza slices- WEDGY— I would have put this in the 'bad stuff' category... but I kind of like it. It's marked 'rare' in the OED (I'm working there this summer, so that's the source I'm using), and I can't imagine using it, but it bears so much resemblance to another word that it's fun to say. Also, it's a word they'd use in "Buffy"
• 44d: One with no tan lines- NUDIST— That's one way to look at it.
  
• 10d: Residents of 10 Downing Street- PMS — This clue could also have been Once-a-month condition for Natan Last. This was my one mistake. I hastily filled in BUSMAN for 5a: Urban commuter's aid (BUS MAP) and didn't check/know the crossing. In retrospect, BUS MAP makes way more sense. Not a Natan Last-sized mistake, but a mistake all the same.

And I leave you today with a cover of a song by 15d: Dolly who sang "9 to 5."



Signed, Caleb Madison, Serf of the CrossWorld, Better At Everything than Natan Last

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Update from Natan Last:

1. At least I'm not ugly.

2. If you wave your wand with just the right amount of swish, you'll note that CALEB MADISON anagrams to I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. Wassup wit dat?

3. Did you guys know that Caleb ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ I think at least four babies brutally and ■■■■■■■■■■■was on the run from the law for, what, three years, until ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ puked on himself, i think someone said "it helped his look" ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ only to find he was naked in front of the whole auditorium ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ to which the girl replied, "in your dreams" ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and I swear if Caleb edits this at all ■■■■■■■■■■■■ need a stick for walking.

4. I love you CrossWorld!