Rush drummer/lyricist Neil / FRI 3-25-11 / Blue-backed Dr. Seuss character / One-named rock star 1990s-2000s / Wild flowers in Sara Teasdale poem

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none


Word of the Day: The TYMES (47A: Group with the 1963 #1 hit "So Much in Love") —

The Tymes are an American soul vocal group, who enjoyed equal success in the United Kingdom as their homeland. They share the distinction of being one of the few acts to have one and only one chart-topper in both the U.S. and UK with different titles [...] Their song "So Much in Love" was elected to the Songs of the Century in 2001. In 2005 The Tymes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. As of 2006^[update], they are still performing, with three of the original five group members; they appeared on the PBS special, My Music: Love Songs of the 50s and 60s. (wikipedia)

• • •

Very, very slow start for me. Couldn't get a foothold anywhere. Had a *very* tentative ARE WE in the NW (4D: "___ ready?"), a somewhat less tentative but still not rock solid ORECK in the SW (37A: Hoover rival), and not much else. Kept circling the grid, looking at short stuff, trying to get in, when I finally made some headway in the unlikeliest of places: ILA (42A: Pier grp.). I can barely tell ILA apart from ILO, and the only reason I know either is because of crosswords, but for some reason, that initialism felt Right, and I plunked LEANER (43D: "Almost" in horseshoes) and I'M DONE (42D: "All finished!") down shortly thereafter. Used those and gimmes LANG (52D: Filmmaker Fritz) and ATEE (53D: Exactly, after "to") to wrangle the SE, and I was off, building continuously (though sometimes slowly) on what I had until I finished the puzzle.



Lots of this stuff ended up falling into my wheelhouse (ironic, given the Ugly start I had): ALEPPO (39D: Largest city in Syria) is in "Othello" and a Nabokov short story whose title cites "Othello" ("That in ALEPPO Once..."). GEN X'ER ... well, I am one (41D: Millennial's parent). That was easy. NSF I know from having academic scientist friends (36D: Univ. research grantor). Neil PEART (31A: Rush drummer/lyricist Neil) ... well, see GEN X'ER, above. That guy was legendary, esp. among a certain kind of boy in the 80s (not me, but kids I knew, for sure). I quite enjoy BECK (30D: One-named rock star of the 1990s-2000s). As a onetime medievalist, I'm amused by the presence of JOUSTS at a "Renaissance" fair (8A: Renaissance fair sights). TREF is one of my most memorable of all crossword words (22A: Not allowed on certain diets), as I thought I had made it up during my first tournament puzzle experience—come to find out, it's a very common word in some sets (not to this California GEN X'ER, that's for sure). With the exception of ECK (45A: Opponent of Luther during the Protestant Reformation), PEART, and TYMES, this puzzle had little in the way obscurities, getting all its difficulty from rough cluing (that ION clue, yikes—25A: ___ drive (engine in "Star Wars")). Hard for me to dislike a puzzle with TIME WARP (12D: Dance in which "you bring your knees in tight"), ERIC IDLE (33D: "And Now for Something Completely Different" co-star) and STEAMY SLEAZE (18A: R-rated, maybe + 56A: Schlock). All in all, a suitably tough and entertaining romp from Mr. Nothnagel (constructor of the Finals puzzle at this year's ACPT)



Bullets:

• 59A: Where some jets originate (GEYSERS) — this was *not* one of yesterday's options!
  
• 30A: She "espied their tails side by side / All hung on a tree to dry" (BO-PEEP) — not a part of the rhyme I know, but I had that terminal "P" and figured it out almost immediately by context.
  
• 55A: Onetime General Motors spokesman (PAT BOONE) — Had forgotten or else never knew this.
  

• 10D: Uintah and Ouray Reservation tribe (UTES) — UINTA mts. (a must-know bit of crossword fill) are in Utah, so ... that was a clue, though it doesn't take much prodding for a solver to get from nothing to UTES. Tribe in four = UTES or OTOS / OTOE and then a host of other less common possibilities like, say, CREE.
  
• 13D: Those involved in cutting class at school? (STYLISTS) — well this one gave me fits. Had ST--ISTS and still needed help from the crosses (another beanball of a clue at 20A: Digs for peanuts? => HOSTEL).
  
• 15D: Blue-backed Dr. Seuss character (YERTLE) — the Turtle. I was at a loss until eventually I had the -TLE. Not on heavy rotation when I was a child. (Dr. Seuss Dictionary and "Green Eggs and Ham" and "One Fish, Two Fish" were the Seuss books of my childhood)
  
• "Wild" flowers in a Sara Teasdale poem (ASTERS) — not a poem I know. A very tough ASTERS clue (though as with UTES, it's not hard for a constant solver to get to ASTERS with minimal clue prodding: "Flower ... starts with "A" ... sure."

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. nice (loooong) write-up of the ACPT over at PuzzleGirl's "L.A. Crossword Confidential"

Company concerned with automobile history / THU 2-17-11 / Andy's dinosaur in Toy Story / Radioactive enemy of Captain Marvel / Cutesy in London

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: WAR & PEACE (33D: What's broken out of the answers to the starred clues? & 40A: Opposite of 30-Down) — WAR is removed from familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style


Word of the Day: ASHLAND (4D: Henry Clay's historic Kentucky estate) —

Ashland is the name of the plantation of the nineteenth-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, located in Lexington, Kentucky, in the central Bluegrass region of the state. It is a registered National Historic Landmark. // The Ashland Stakes, a Thoroughbred horse race at Keeneland Race Course run annually since the race course first opened in 1936, was named for the historically important estate.

• • •

This was a lot of fun—best Nothnagel puzzle I've done in a while. Remove a letter string / Get wacky phrase = an old trick, but this had many wonderful things going for it: interesting and occasionally funny theme answers (especially liked FLASH FORD), clean and fresh fill, and a theme revealer that was not just the missing word (WAR), but a second word (PEACE) symbolizing the first word's absence. Having the opposites WAR and PEACE cross each other in the grid's dead center, as well as having the revealers combine to form the title of a Russian novel = icing. Choked a bit on EXACTOR (23A: Tax collector, e.g.) ... I think I had EXCISOR (?!) ... but otherwise experienced no feelings of unpleasantness. Loved the nowness of CARFAX (34A: Company concerned with automobile history) and "SEEN IT" (15A: Jaded response to a movie suggestion), the colloquialness of "NOT BAD" (69A: "I'm impressed"), and the deeply insightful intersection of SEXY (60D: Hot) and REX (67A: Andy's dinosaur in "Toy Story"). Truly NOT BAD.

Theme answers:

• 18A: *Photogenic athlete from Cincinnati? (HANDSOME REWARD)
  
• 22A: *Cozy rooms for playing? (GAME WARDENS)
  
• 56A: *Social gathering for auction participants? (BUYER BEWARE)
  
• 61A: *Diatribes from captured criminals? (ARREST WARRANTS)
  
• 3D: *Commercial for a private school? (ACADEMY AWARD)
  
• 35D: *Expose oneself to a former U.S. president? (FLASH FORWARD)
  

There were several answers about which I had no clue, but they fell easily from crosses. These included ASHLAND, which I know much better as the site of an annual Shakespeare Festival, and Lew AYRES, whose name I've seen before, but only in crosswords (53D: 1948 Best Actor nominee for "Johnny Belinda"). Love the way the puzzle steered around a partial at AND ... GO! (7D: "Start ... now!"). That could so easily have been [Touch ___]. It's funny how dated PRETEENS looks now (39D: Much of Nickelodeon's target audience). That word has been largely supplanted by TWEENS. They're the same group of kids, right? I'm not criticizing PRETEENS; it's a fine word. Just observing how quickly language can change.

Bullets:

• 29A: Food made from fermented beans (MISO) — ugh, embarrassing how long this took me. Wanted TOFU, then had the M and S and wanted ... I don't know, MASH? I'm pretty sure we have a container of MISO in our fridge...
  
• 43A: Indian city now known as Chennai (MADRAS) — I did not know that. CHENNAI seems like a word that wants to be in crosswords, but I've never seen it (to my knowledge). Got this answer easily from just a cross or two.
  
• 24D: Halloween costume, maybe (CORPSE) — I don't get this clue at all. Even after getting CORP- I refused to write in the answer. A CORPSE is not a costume. A sheet—that's a costume. But a CORPSE? And plus, don't you mean "zombie?" A CORPSE would not be much of a costume. You'd just ... lie there. If you are animated (ambulatory, etc.), then you are not a CORPSE; you are undead. This distinction is important.
  
• 25D: Cutesy, in London (TWEE) — got this right away. This was a word I had never seen or heard used before 2008, when I first encountered it as a genre of contemporary music.
  
• 37D: Marked, as a questionnaire (X'D IN) — this answer looks wrong, but feels right, so ... I'll allow it.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Danish kroner topologically speaking / THU 1-6-11 / Application letters / Genre for Spice Girls Oasis / Capital ENE of Jerusalem / Symbol above 5

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium


THEME: BREAK / RANKS (9A: With 65-Across, go against the group ... or what the circled squares literally do in the answers to the starred clues) — circled letters are embedded inside a military rank, which is in turn embedded inside a larger theme answer

• PERCAPITAINCOME —> (17A: *Average national earnings)(circled "I" inside of CAPTAIN)
• AMMANJORDAN —> (26A: *Capital ENE of Jerusalem)(circled "N" inside of MAJOR)
• PERCENTSIGN —> (44A: *Symbol above a 5)(circled "T" inside of ENSIGN)
• MARSHMALLOWPEEP —> (59A: *Easter basket treat)(circled "M" inside of MARSHAL)

Word of the Day: BRIT POP (39A: Genre for the Spice Girls and Oasis) —

Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. The movement developed as a reaction against various musical and cultural trends in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the grunge phenomenon from the United States. In the wake of the musical invasion into the United Kingdom of American grunge bands, new British groups such as Suede and Blur launched the movement by positioning themselves as opposing musical forces, referencing British guitar music of the past and writing about uniquely British topics and concerns. These bands were soon joined by others including Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass, Sleeper and Elastica. // Britpop groups brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the backbone of a larger British cultural movement called Cool Britannia. Although its more popular bands were able to spread their commercial success overseas, especially to the United States, the movement largely fell apart by the end of the decade. (wikipedia) [Spice Girls??? They have almost Nothing in common with the bands in this blurb, besides being British]

• • •

I like the idea of this puzzle. I don't think I much like its actuality. It's an interesting variation on the embedded word-type theme, but ... there are several problems. First, the circled letters. When you a circle a letter, you draw the solver's eye to that letter, emphasizing its letterness. These letters, however, are meaningless *as letters*. They spell MINT, but I can't believe that's related to the theme. Is it? Maybe there's a rank at the U.S. MINT called "Marshal," because I can't find a U.S. military rank with that name—which brings me to another problem: theme consistency. "Marshal" is a military rank only in other countries, as far as I can tell. Three ranks that are native, one ... that isn't. I've been reading Patrick Berry's "Crossword Challenges for Dummies" over the past couple of days—by far the best guide to constructing puzzles I've ever seen, and particularly good for the novice / aspiring constructor. He spends a lot of time on themes and the importance of getting them Just Right. You do not want a "which of these four is not like the others?" reaction from the solver. "Marshal" sticks out badly in this lot. Next, there's the grid construction, which demonstrates very poor connectivity (another issue Berry highlights). Turn just one more square black (and its symmetrical counterpart, of course), and the two halves of the puzzle don't interconnect at all. Do that just one more time and you've got four islands. I really felt the narrowness of those passageways in the middle of the grid. Ended up feeling as if I'd solved two puzzles. Got the whole top half and had to reboot in the SW. Not ideal. Lastly, MARSHMALLOW PEEP, in the singular, seems weird. And are there non-marshmallow Peeps??? Fill in this puzzle is very smooth, without an obscurity in sight, and only MISDO (32A: Screw up) makes me want a do-over, so thumbs up in that regard. But themewise, this felt ragged around the edges.



Puzzle felt very easy overall, with only the poor connectivity and the supervague clue on NMI (related problems) holding me back at all (29D: Application letters). Somehow remembered the gymnasts' names today (HAMM=>30A: Olympic gymnast Paul or Morgan), and despite having no idea what the TORI clue was getting at (TORI are roughly the shape of donuts) (48A: Danish kroner, topologically speaking), the crosses were pretty kind. Lots of "?" clues today, but they didn't provide much in the way of vexation. Intersecting ones up top proved a little tricky (JINX (5A: Hurl curse words at?) / X-RAYED (8D: Saw right through?)), but only a little. Wanted ADAGE or MAXIM for MORAL (41A: "Slow and steady wins the race," e.g.). Hate A CAT, but like that A CAT is intersecting TAMER (48D: Circus chairperson?).

Bullets:

• 22A: "Hooked on Classics" record company (K-TEL) — their pop compilations were a staple of TV advertising when I was growing up. I think I own a K-TEL record, the lead song of which is "Him" by Rupert Holmes (of "Piña Colada Song" fame)

• 37A: Organ donation site (EYE BANK) — Had EYEBALL ... that lost me precious seconds for sure.
  
• 67A: Ciudad del ___ (second-largest city in Paraguay) (ESTE) — luckily the word was easy to get, because that's some nearly pointless trivia right there. The parenthetical part is like a parody of the kind of esoteric clues non-solvers believe (mostly erroneously) are the crossword's bread and butter.
  
• 3D: Medieval close-combat weapon (WAR HAMMER) — I don't remember this from either my Dungeons&Dragons days or my medieval studies grad school days, but it's a simple description that seems right enough. I was looking for something more technical, like a halberd or pollaxe or falchion or something else only nerds would know.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Title location Hemingway novel / WED 12-8-10 / Cartoon stinker / Mrs. Frisby's charges in Secret of NIMH / Motocross racer for short / Screening aid

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: SECRET AGENTS (53A: Undercover operatives ... or what are hiding in 17-, 20-, 35- and 58-Across?) — the word "SPY" can be found, backwards, inside each theme answer


Word of the Day: SOYUZ (29D: Russian space program started in the 1960s) —

The Soyuz programme (Russian: Союз, pronounced [saˈjuz], meaning "Union") is a human spaceflight programme that was initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960's. It was originally part of a Moon landing programme intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. Both the Soyuz spacecraft and the Soyuz rocket are part of this programme, which is now the responsibility of the Russian Federal Space Agency. (wikipedia)

• • •

This was thornier-than-average, almost all over. SE corner was a breeze, but almost everywhere else I had to struggle with vague or deliberately misleading cluing—which I don't mind, but don't expect so much of on a Wednesday. Nothing in the grid is very obscure (except SER. —??? yuck; 31A: It might precede a collection: Abbr.), but the cluing is clearly amped up a notch. Also, I had no idea what the theme was until very late, and there were many clues along the way that suggested a theme that never materialized. This happened largely in the NE, where the long WAR MOVIE was cross-referenced with the central Across, APOCALYPSE NOW, which made me almost certain we had some kind of movie tribute puzzle on our hands. Then there was the cross-referencing of two more clues, both in that same NE section: ALTAR and VOTIVE. So the whole thing felt a mess until I got much further along, and even after I finished, I had to think for a second to understand what SECRET AGENTS had to do with the theme answers. The NE and SW corners were, in general, the hardest parts of the puzzle — felt very open, and contained virtually no gimmes. You race ATVs (43A: Motocross racer, for short)? You wear SHAWLS to pray (49A: Some prayer clothing)? Yes, apparently.



Would've ditched SER. (it's short for SERIES? Maybe?) [someone in "Comments" says "SERmon," which makes sense, but doesn't make me like SER. any more] for SES or SED, which have the virtual of being words, albeit foreign ones. The backwards placement of SPY is an interesting twist on the normal way of "hiding" embedded answers in puzzles—in plain sight, stretched across two words. YPS is not a letter string that wants to be broken across two words, and freedom from that constraint means that there are more possible theme answers to work with. Grid is interesting. Lively. Only SER. and AMUST gave me any pause. Some of the cluing seemed a bit forced (in an attempt to be tricky, I suppose), but overall this one provided an enjoyable challenge.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Home of Eastern Michigan University (YPSILANTI)
  
• 20A: Harry Belafonte's specialty (CALYPSO MUSIC)
  
• 35A: 1979 film with Capt. Willard and Col. Kurtz ("APOCALYPSE NOW")
  
• 58A: Leaf-eating insect scourge (GYPSY MOTH)
  

Not sure how in the world I did this, but I read 15A: Mrs. Frisby's charges in "The Secret of NIMH" (RATS) as somehow asking for Mrs. Frisby's first name. Weird. Inexplicable. I object to the clue [Universally known] for FAMOUS. COOLIO is FAMOUS (33A: Rapper parodied by Weird Al Yankovic in "Amish Paradise"). I do not believe COOLIO is universally known. In fact, I'm certain at least a handful of you do not know who he is. Santa is universally known. And yet I would not call him "FAMOUS."







Bullets:

• 57A: Onetime TWA competitor (US AIR) — one of the keys to unlocking the SE. Just couldn't see many of the answers down there, including AS SUCH (43D: In and of itself), and the ambiguously clued CALLER ID (36D: Screening aid).
  
• 3D: First of a pair of lists (DOS) — this clue made No sense to me. Feels almost Saturdayish in its oddness. Once you get it, it's easy: "Oh, right, DOS and DONTS." But before you (I) get it, "... lists come in pairs? What kind of lists? WTF?"
  
• 10D: North Pacific islander (ALEUT) — crosswordese, but phrased this way, it stumped me at first. When I see "Pacific islander" my mind goes south. The fact that "North" is the first word in the clue did not affect this tendency in the slightest.
  
• 29D: Russian space program started in the 1960s (SOYUZ) — wanted SOYEZ, which is the 2nd person plural imperative "Be," in French.
  
• 33D: Medical condition treated by thrombolysis (CLOT) — another very non-Wednesday clue.
  
• 44D: Title location in a Hemingway novel (THE SEA) — glad this was the first thing that came to mind (given the crosses I had), because this could have been tough. Just like with A MUST, I don't normally expect articles (def. or indef.) in my answers.
  
• 51D: Cartoon stinker (LEPEW) — As in Pepe. The only other cartoon stinker I can think of is Pigpen, from "Peanuts." He's more dirty than stinky, though.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Subject of 1980s surrogacy case / FRI 11-5-10 / Bundles of bound quarks / Early film star who wore lipstick in shape of heart

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: none, but ... — CROSSWORD CONTEST! From the "Notepad" of this puzzle: When this puzzle has been completed, put nine holes over the grid and arrange the letters shown to form an appropriate two-word phrase (4,5). Where these holes are is for you to discover. When you have the answer, send it by e-mail to crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers chosen at random, whose entries are received by midnight E.S.T. Sunday, Nov. 7, will receive copies of "The New York Times Little Black and White Book of Holiday Crosswords." Only one entry per person, please. The answer and winners' names will appear on Friday, Nov. 12, at www.nytimes.com/wordplay.

[I have been asked to ask you not to post the contest answer in the comments ... so I'm asking]


Word of the Day: BABY M (25D: Subject of a 1980s surrogacy case) —

Baby M (born March 27, 1986) was the pseudonym used for Melissa Stern, the child in an American custody case between the egg donor/surrogate mother and the child's biological father. (wikipedia)

• • •

Solid Friday outing. Slightly on the toughish side for me, due largely to the SE corner. Could not get MAIN MENU forever (38A: Top-level commands, collectively), and everything south of there was affected. With A TO B already in grid, had no idea how the OED gamut was going to be phrased (43A: ABC), and though SEA HORSE was easy (34D: Fish whose male carries the eggs), I had lots of trouble seeing both ON BUTTON (35D: Starting point?) and NUCLEONS (36D: Bundles of bound quarks). Luckily, I knew both LAWSON (55A: Food writer Nigella) and OLSENS (57A: Noted TV twins), but even they couldn't bust me out of that corner in good time. Finally figured out that SH-- must be SHUL (46A: House of prayer), and that tipped the corner in my favor. Otherwise, I made steady progress, and didn't have any moments of serious struggle. And yet I was just over 10 minutes, which is on the long side for me, for Friday.

Felt like ONE appeared a lot in this grid, but it's only in there twice. There are just a lot of ONs (BITE ON, PLAYS ON, ROCK ON, ON ME, ON BUTTON ... is this some kind of record?), which clearly gave me that (erroneous) impression. I really liked CN TOWER, which felt fresh — I was just in Toronto, so got TOWER immediately, but couldn't remember the first two initials. C-something... good enough. Loved GETS / LOADED. ROCK ON and GOOD GAME added a nice colloquial touch. And CLARA BOW is both a nice answer and an opportunity for some interesting trivia revelation (7A: Early film star who wore lipstick in the shape of a heart).


["Rock on ... ROCK ON!"]

Oh, I nearly forgot—I finished with an error :(

I had seen ANAKIN Skywalker (40D: "Star Wars" name) in the puzzle so often in his nickname form (ANI) that I automatically spelled it ANIKIN and didn't blink at R.I.P. for 47A: Spirited response? (RAP). I thought, "Well, if someone's dead, I guess R.I.P. is a response to the person's spirit ... whatever." O well. Don't feel too bad about that one.



As for the contest: Piece Of Cake (though you may not think so, and for good reason). I'm not sure why there are so many "hole"s in the clues today (five, by my count), but not nine holes. Why go to five and then stop? There must have been a way to work four more "hole"s into today's clues. Would've been a nice touch. At any rate, any constant solver of the NYT puzzle should be able to figure out the Contest answer in a heartbeat. I sent my answer in to the Times at about 10:12 p.m. Thursday night.

Bullets:

• 20A: Some compact light sources (DIODES) — couldn't tell if "compact" was an adjective or noun here for a while.
  
• 28A: ___ Farm, setting for a George Orwell story (MANOR) — Yeesh, completely forgot this. Needed every cross.
  
• 52A: Iberian city that lends its name to a variety of wine (OPORTO) — that's crossword memory right there. Never would've gotten this without many xword miles under my belt.
  
• 2D: Maryland's historic ___ Creek (ANTIETAM) — figured out very quickly what the answer must be, but Could Not decide if word ended -AM or -EM ...
  
• 25D: Subject of a 1980s surrogacy case (BABY M) — haven't thought about this case since the '80s. Completely forgot the letter, but had good enough powers of inference to get the BABY part.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. Happy birthday, Tyler Hinman

Violin cutouts / THU 11-4-10 / Game item usually seen upside-down / Alley behind bar on TV / Topographical feature formed by underground erosion

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: NINE [HOLE]S (63A: Quick outing for Tiger Woods ... or what this completed puzzle contains) — a HOLE rebus


Word of the Day: quidnunc (55D: Like a quidnunc=>NOSY) —

n.
A nosy person; a busybody.

[Latin quid nunc?, what now? : quid, what + nunc, now.]

• • •

I am usually a rebus fan, but this one left me a little cold, despite its (impressive!) nine HOLEs. I just got tired of HOLE answers after a while. Not enough variety: Animal + HOLE, body part + HOLE, golf ... that's most of them right there. The best part about the grid was the revealer, NINE [HOLE]S, which is a fine, self-standing phrase *and* a literal description of the theme. Well done. But fill-wise, there just wasn't a lot to love today. Perhaps this is why the clues were "?"d up so much (9 HOLEs, 9 "?" clues)—to add an extra layer of interest or complexity or ... something. I find that when the "?"-clue amount gets above five, I start getting annoyed. There is no need for one, for instance, on the KIRSTIE clue (43D: Alley behind a bar on TV)? They were all fairly transparent, except 35D: Pre-schoolers? (ROE), which is exceptional. Inclusion of a couple long, semi-forced phrases (ACTS NAIVE, IRONED ON) also diminished enjoyment somewhat. It's not a bad puzzle by Any means. Very well executed. I just wasn't feeling it.

What I did like: the DIANA ROSS / SUPREMES connection; the [HOLE] square in the lead-off 1A position (bold!); and OPAQUE, which is just a stellar word (36D: Light-blocking).

Rated this one "Medium-Challenging," but rebuses always skew high, time-wise, so this might come out even tougher than that.

Theme answers:

• 1A: [HOLE]PUNCH / 1D: [HOLE] CARD (Game item usually seen upside-down)
  
• 21A: POT [HOLE]S / 7D: PIN[HOLE]S (Features of homemade cameras)
  
• 23A: POST [HOLE] (Fence builder's starting point) / 13D: AIR [HOLE] (Seal's opening?)
  
• 44A: [HOLE]-IN-ONE (End of a perfect Sunday drive?) / 31D: RAT [HOLE]
  
• 39A: LOOP[HOLE] / 26D: FOX[HOLE] (Below-ground sanctuary)
  
• 43A: KNEE [HOLE] / 30D: EAR[HOLE]
  
• 64A: F-[HOLE]S (Violin cutouts) / 54D: ARM [HOLE]
  
• 65A: SPY [HOLE] / 49D: SINK [HOLE] (Topographical feature formed by underground erosion)
  
• 63A: NINE [HOLE]S / 51D: EYE [HOLE]S
  

The one real sticking point for me was [HOLE] CARD, which I needed every cross to get and still didn't understand for the first few seconds I got it. Then I got it. Despite the fact that I don't play and don't care about poker, I've picked up some terminology during the time between when I see it on my TV and the moment a few seconds later when I grab the remote and change the channel—the [HOLE] CARD is the card in stud poker that the player is not obliged to reveal until the showdown (in today's clue, annoyingly, "upside-down" apparently really means "face down").

Bullets:

• 15A: Assistant played by Charles Bronson in "House of Wax" (IGOR) — I like when obscure pop culture trivia is presented in easy-to-get form. That way I can enjoy it rather than be annoyed at it. My favorite Charles Bronson movie = "Once Upon a Time in the West" (also my favorite Henry Fonda movie; also one of my favorite movies in general)

• 38A: They might give each French kisses (AMIS) — got it easily enough, but isn't there a word missing from this clue?
  
• 3D: Is of ___ (helps) (USE TO) — Found clue phrasing on this one and the other partial, 12D: Play ___ (perform some songs) (A SET) really awkward.
  
• 53D: Role for which Marion Cotillard won a 2007 Best Actress Oscar (PIAF) — the Oscars ceremony that I must have missed completely. Got burned by Ms. Cotillard before in crosswords. Never again.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Octopussy setting / THU 6-10-10 / Title first used Simeon I of Bulgaria / Question asked in foggy state / Bill with picture of Ben

Constructor: Mike Nothnagel

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: POINT BLANK CHECK POINT — Theme answers are phrased as equations,
one answer in grid + another answer in grid, such that clues end up being, in order: [POINT BLANK] (20A: EXTREMELY CLOSE), [BLANK CHECK] (36A: UNLIMITED BUDGET), and [CHECK POINT] (49A: INSPECTION SPOT)


Word of the Day: "I SPY" (8D: Best-selling children's book series by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo) —

I Spy is a children's book series with texts written by Jean Marzollo based on photographs by Walter Wick published by Scholastic Press. The books are named after the I spy guessing game. // The typical I Spy book contains photographs of an array of items, either in massive clutter, or set up to portray a scene, such as a haunted house. Below each picture is a riddle that asks the reader to search for specific items or words spelled out within the photo. (wikipedia)

• • •

I have a dentist's appointment at 7:30 a.m. (!?!?!) this morning, so I'm writing this the night before, and it'll have to be quick. I'm an early-to-bed, early-to-riser as well as a don't-&$^%-with-my-sleep-scheduler," so ... to the puzzle! Feels like ages since I've seen a Nothnagel puzzle. His return is a happy, if easy, EVENT (30D: Eclipse, e.g.) — speaking of EVENT, my first on that clue was CHEVY. My next was something having to do with the "Twilight" sequel. But no, just ... an EVENT. A lot of the cluing was like that today: short and ambiguous. [Lot] for KISMET, for example, or [Skinny] for INFO, or [Hoops] for B-BALL (I got that last one instantly — not so INFO). The word circle cluing is pretty ingenious, even if the answers they clue aren't barn-burners. Grid is super-clean and inventive. "WHERE AM I? EAST BERLIN!? Crap. Do I at least get to meet Octopussy?" Something about SUGAR SPOON amuses me (29D: Tea service accessory). It's such an arbitrary, unassuming, practical object. Like a prop in a play. An Oscar Wilde play. It classes up the joint.



I blew through the grid at first. AFEW to FLAX to ABLE to BLAH to LASE to EAST BERLIN (3D: "Octopussy" setting) in no time flat. Trouble getting REACT, for some reason (25A: Not be deadpan). I was thinking of the person delivering the jokes, not watching them. Needed a nudge or two to get "I SPY" (just typoed "I SPAY" ... now there's an add-a-letter theme waiting to happen ...). Nothing else presented much of a problem. Hardest part was probably just getting to POINT, which has a weeeird clue (61A: "Don't ___!"). I mean, that could've been anything, and even with P--NT, I wasn't sure. DON'T PRINT!? DON'T PAINT!?

Theme answers:

• 20A: 61-Across + 9-Across (EXTREMELY CLOSE)
  
• 36A: 9-Across + 26-Down (UNLIMITED BUDGET)
  
• 49A: 26-Down + 61-Across (INSPECTION SPOT)
  

Bullets:

• 5A: Auckland native, informally (KIWI) — I married one. A Dunedin native, technically.

• 24A: Rock grp. once promoted as "the English guys with the big fiddles" (ELO) — there's an ELO clue I've never seen before.
  
• 35A: Sch. whose Board of Visitors once included presidents Madison and Monroe (UVA) — wanted EVENT, and used this to confirm the "V"
  
• 55A: Bill with a picture of Ben (C-NOTE) — More "letter-word" slang (see B-BALL). Nice.
  
• 51D: Title first used by Simeon I of Bulgaria (CZAR) — dang, it's trivia day down on the old crossword farm. ELO, UVA, and now CZAR get tricked out "Did you know...?"-type clues.
  
• 32D: Amazing Stories, e.g. (PULP) — Yay! Got this instantly, as I have a thing for PULPS. I teach stories from PULPs in my crime fiction class. I'm giving a keynote address in October about PULP fiction (and the sensational mass-market paperbacks that followed). Right up / down my alley.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]