Social gathering with coffee / MON 4-11-11 / Lion King villain / Siberian plain / Dissect grammatically / Command post on ship / Ancient Peruvian

Constructor: Ian Livengood

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Fictional villains — 7 of them


Word of the Day: STEPPE (21A: Siberian plain) —

In physical geography, a steppe (from Russian степь, "steppe," further derivation unknown) is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. The prairie (especially the shortgrass and mixed prairie) is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. The term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert. Soil type is typically chernozem. // Steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid and continental climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 40 °C (104 °F) and in winter, –40 °C (–40 °F). Besides this huge difference between summer and winter, the differences between day and night are also very great. In the highlands of Mongolia, 30 °C (86 °F) can be reached during the day with sub-zero °C (sub 32 °F) readings at night. (wikipedia)

• • •

So ... villains. I like villains. These are famous villains, symmetrically arranged. Not much else to say, really. A very smooth, very easy Monday puzzle. The oddest thing in the grid is OMSK (54D: Siberian city), and that's really not all that odd (esp. for regular solvers). Weirdest thing about the grid (which I discovered only now, as I was figuring out the word count) is that it's only 14 squares across. No wonder my time was so good—13 fewer squares to fill in (give or take). KHAN and SCAR are weird throw-ins, in that neither really stands out as a theme answers, i.e. you could (and do) find those names / words in any puzzle. But theme density's always a good thing if it doesn't make for terrible non-theme fill, and those answers certainly didn't. Most interesting answer, for me, was THEME SONGS, though I really wish they'd gone with a somewhat less insipid example for the clue (3D: "I'll Be There for You" for "Friends," and others).



Theme answers:

• 8A: "Star Trek" villain (KHAN) — technically, shouldn't this be ["Star Trek II" villain]?

• 15A: "Batman" villain (THE JOKER)
  
• 19A: "Superman" villain (LEX LUTHOR)
  
• 36A: "The Silence of the Lambs" villain (HANNIBAL LECTER)
  
• 51A: Harry Potter villain (VOLDEMORT)
• 58A: Sherlock Holmes villain (MORIARTY)
  
• 63A: "The Lion King" villain (SCAR)
  

Bullets:

• 33A: Action to a newborn baby's bottom (SLAP) — is this really common, or just something they do in movies for dramatic effect?
  
• 8D: Social gathering with coffee (KLATCH) — this word has nothing, inherently, to do with coffee. Clue should have been [Coffee ___].
  
• 16D: Janis with the 1971 #1 hit "Me and Bobby McGee" (JOPLIN) — there's this one contestant on "Idol" that judges keep comparing to Janis, which you'd have to be tone deaf to believe. Woman's voice is fine, even remarkable at times, but there's just None of the soul, personality, life that Janis's voice had.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Mass exodus of expertise / MON 4-4-11 / Gaelic spirit whose wailing portends death / Trophy for great college gridder / Scented bag in drawer

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: Body rhymes — rhyming two-word phrases where first word is a part of the body

Word of the Day: BANSHEE (25D: Gaelic spirit whose wailing portends death) —

The Banshee, from the Irish bean sídhe [bʲæn ˈʃiː] ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds"), is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. (wikipedia)

• • •

Simple, sprightly theme with really exceptional fill (for a Monday). Big corners, with lots of interesting words, and still Monday-easy. Still don't have this speed-solving-on-paper thing down yet, but I was definitely better than last week. Speed bumps for included EARLIER for EARLY ON (2D: Toward the beginning) and a complete inability to come up with SOUR (15A: Like unripe apples). S- ... SO- ... SOFT? Unh! (it's SOUR). Crosses sorted things out (and amazing crosses they are up there—CONFABS (11D: Chatty discussions) /CUTICLE/TRINKET form a fantastic trifecta). Stupidly wrote a "D" at the end of "NER-" before I looked at the clue (18D: Tyrannical Roman emperor=>NERO). I wonder if the pattern in which you solve makes a difference in terms of speed. I went mostly clockwise from NW back around to SW, and that last part had me approaching lots of Acrosses backwards, from the back end, which doesn't feel like the optimal way to pick up a word. Eh, maybe it doesn't matter.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Mass exodus of expertise (BRAIN DRAIN)
  
• 25A: Hiker's carryall (BACKPACK)
  
• 37A: Upside-down maneuver (HANDSTAND)

• 53A: Salon work (HAIR CARE)
  
• 63A: Recommended by cardiologists (HEART SMART)
  

Wife got thrown (though not badly) by two theme elements. First, she thought the first and second words of theme answers would all be spelled (in the rhyming parts) the same, and so had some trouble coming up with HAIR CARE. Also, she asked "why do some start with Hs and some start with Bs?" Sure enough, first two theme answers start B, last three start H. I hadn't noticed. So ... why? Total coincidence, I imagine.



As I said, really liked much of the fill here, incl. the whole NE corner, BANSHEE, VERVE, and LONG RUN (46D: Period extending well into the future). Frustratingly, I got held up on the very last answer I entered—the second [Language of Kenya] clue I encountered, this one the Abbrev. Me: "There's aNOTHer language of Kenya that I should know? Dear lord, what could it ... E- ... oh. Right. OK. Of course. ENGlish." Done.

Bullets:

• 8D: Argentina-based musical ("EVITA") — not sure why the phrasing on the clue seems weird to me. Maybe because its structure seems analogous to that of "plant-based lifeform." A musical whose very substance is Argentina.
  
• 42D: Trophy for a great college gridder (HEISMAN) — Ha ha. "Gridder." So crosswordy. Reminds me of this joke: a gridder, a cager, and a netman walk into a bar ...
  
• 49D: Scented bag in a dresser drawer (SACHET) — which rhymes with CACHET, which I always confuse (spelling-wise) with CACHE.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Spanish discoverer of the Pacific 1513 / MON 3-28-11 / English pirate captain / Diplomat Annan / Food thrown to lions / Fawn's father

Constructor: Robyn Weintraub

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: CHIPS (69A: Things that 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across may have)


Word of the Day: BALBOA (48A: Spanish discoverer of the Pacific, 1513) —

Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 – January 15, 1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. // He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas (a settlement by Alonso de Ojeda the previous year at San Sebastián de Urabá had already been abandoned). (wikipedia)

• • •

Solving on paper now, so I'm far less certain of how difficult puzzles are. Today's felt very easy from the NW straight through to the SE, but the NE and (esp.) SW corners really thwarted my speedy forward progress today. At high speeds, it doesn't take much (for me) to get derailed. In the NE, I simply couldn't come up with DIVERGE (22A: Branch off), even with D-, then DI-, DIV-, and DIVE- in place; brain wanted only DIVERT. Bah. Crosses finally forced me to see the (now) obvious. Stutter-stepping so much cost me valuable seconds. But the real tripping took place in the SW, where neither BALBOA nor AT RANDOM (39D: Haphazardly) would come, and so I just couldn't sweep straight into that corner at all. Had to reboot—Always a dicey proposition, and a time thief. First few clues I looked at were too vague to be gimmes. Finally saw KOFI (64A: Diplomat Annan) and worked that corner from there. BALBOA just isn't in my first (Monday) tier of explorer names. No idea why ATR- didn't trigger AT RANDOM. It just didn't. Dangerously wrote in some answers without looking at clues. Worked fine for BRITISH PUBS and RED MEAT. Didn't work so fine at BRUIN (had BR-IN, wrote in BRAIN) (51D: Boston N.H.L.'er). Had SORT instead of SCAN (67A: Copiers do it). Wrote in SIRE (!?) instead of STAG (34A: Fawn's father). I have a Lot of work to do to become an effective speed solver on Easy puzzles. I'm just a mess.

To recap: The puzzle was not hard by any means, but speeding caused much tripping.


The theme is fine. Don't like OLD DISHES as a theme answer (not a thing), but the variety of CHIPS is impressive.

Theme answers:

• 18A: Much-used dinnerware (OLD DISHES)
  
• 27A: Centers of casino action (POKER TABLES)
  
• 46A: Places to drink and play darts (BRITISH PUBS)
  
• 60A: They're shrugged (SHOULDERS)
  

Bullets:

• 29D: English pirate captain (KIDD) — along with BALBOA, another proper noun that just wouldn't jump out of my brain and onto the paper (brain wanted KIDD, actually, but then vetoed it when the only KIDD it could identify accurately was Jason KIDD)
  
• 5D: Like living with Mom and Dad, perhaps (RENT-FREE) — like this answer. Can't recall having seen it before.
  
• 38A: Food thrown to lions (RED MEAT) — I'd have thought RAW, but ... yeah, probably also RED.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Winter autobahn hazard / MON 3-21-11 / Joint woe afflicted Benjamin Franklin / Underground vegetable edible greens / Bottle-throwing occasion

Constructor: Patrick Blindauer & Steve Salitan

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: "Absolutely!" => the clue for six theme answers

• "YOU BETCHA!"
• "BY ALL MEANS!"
• "RIGHT ON, BROTHER!"
• "AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!"
• "DARN TOOTIN'!"
• "SURE THING!"

Word of the Day: John TESH (32D: John who once co-hosted "Entertainment Tonight") —

John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2M listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in USA, Canada, and the UK. 'Intelligence for Your Health' (with Connie Sellecca) was launched in 2010. Tesh has won 6 music Emmys, has 4 gold albums, 2 Grammy nominations, and an Associated Press award for investigative journalism. Tesh has sold over 8 million records. His live concerts have raised more than $20 million for PBS. In 1995 Tesh sold 50% of his record company, GTS, to Polygram for $8 million. Tesh then created Garden City Records, which he still owns today. He is also known as the longtime host of the television program Entertainment Tonight. He has previously worked as a sportscaster for the Olympic Games, a news anchor and, a reporter. [his main genre of music: NEW AGE (50A: Enya's kind of music)] (wikipedia)

• • •

A fine Monday puzzle, with nice theme density. I wanted a "YER" at the beginning of "DARN TOOTIN'," but other than that, all the theme answers felt very natural. Non-theme fill is no great shakes, but given the structure of the grid (very high on 3- and 4-letter words), that's pretty much to be expected. If you want to accommodate that many theme answers *and* make the puzzle an easy early-weeker, then there's no real way around the preponderance of short stuff. Don't have much else to say about this one, which is probably just as well, as I am dead tired after two days in Brooklyn and a bus station / bus ride experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone—hours standing in Port Authority with hundreds of other people waiting for buses that never came, with no official information to be had except by a few people who ventured out and back ... all of whom got conflicting information (no buses upstate at all until tomorrow? all the buses are actually here, they just can't get inside because a half-marathon is obstructing their path? Etc.). Very nice but overworked man at Port Authority nearly got into several altercations trying to keep people from jumping the line. All in all, an adventure I'd just as soon not have had—unlike my American Crossword Puzzle Tournament adventure, which was fabulous. About which, more later (when I wake up and have more energy). The short version: I am the 31st Greatest Crossword Solver in the Universe. Also, I am the 2nd Greatest Crossword Solver in New York State (outside NYC), and I have the *hardware* to prove it. Here's a picture of me shaking Will's hand after hearing my name called by Roz Chast:


I had no expectation of winning anything, so I was laughing out loud as I walked up to get my trophy. Best part was walking up to Will, shaking his hand, and having him ask, "Now ... what did you win?" I then panicked and thought I had walked up there mistakenly (that trophy he's holding was Not for me), but it turns out Ms. Chast had just been reading names faster than the trophy wranglers could set them up, and so ... confusion. My trophy is a bit smaller than the one in the picture, but no less trophyish. Overall, the ACPT was super good fun. Got to see lots of top constructors and lots of blog readers and other really friendly people. Had dinner last night with half of today's constructing team, in fact (the Blindauer half). Ate too much. Drank too much. Played iPhone-APP "Celebrity" too much. But again ... more later, when my wits are more about me.

See final results from the tournament here.



Bullets:

• 1A: The Stones' "Sticky Fingers" and "Tattoo You," e.g. (LPS) — Neither this nor PROBE (2D: Exploratory spacecraft) (nor LOYAL, for that matter) came immediately. Had to pull out and back my way back into that corner.
  
• 27D: Joint woe that afflicted Benjamin Franklin (GOUT) — a little trivia for you on this Monday morning (Sunday evening for me). Clue could just as easily have stopped at [Joint woe], but no—you get a little edification with your GOUT.
  
• 37D: Underground vegetable with edible greens (BEET) — I could've sworn I had some this weekend, but I think I just *talked* about the fact that I had an "heirloom BEET salad" (delicious) the *last* time I was in Brooklyn for ACPT.
  
• 44D: They're worth twice as much as fins (TENNERS) — wanted TEN SPOTS. Wouldn't fit. TENNERS was my next guess—one of two Down answers in this puzzle that run through three different theme answers.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. a huuuuuuge thank-you to treedweller for covering for me on Saturday and Sunday. I had stupidly forgotten to arrange for a substitute, so his last-minute offer to step in and cover for me was an invaluable gift. I love writing the blog, but at ACPT, I want to spend time with people, not my computer.

P.P.S. biggest Fail of ACPT awards ceremony was the non-announcement of D and E division winners.

D Champion was Jeff Stacey (overall finish: 115) (Caleb Madison was 2nd!)
E Champion was Joseph Longa (overall finish: 159) (Marion Strauss, who comments here as @mac, was 11th!).

Company that produced Twister Candy Land / MON 3-14-11 / Hershey's vatful / Antianxiety drug with palindromic name / Area west of Bowery

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: MALT to MULT — a vowel progression puzzle, with theme answers all starting with M-LT and the "-" being a different vowel in each case: A, E, I, O, and U, respectively.

Word of the Day: CIVET (21D: Spotted cat) —

A civet (pronounced /ˈsɪvɨt/) is a small, lithe-bodied, mostly arboreal mammal native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. Civet may also refer to the distinctive musk produced by the animal. (wikipedia ... which says nothing about the civet being a "cat," though it does say CIVETs "have a broadly cat-like general appearance")

• • •

A bouncy little Monday puzzle from the Other Divine Miss M. This one felt slightly thornier than her usually offerings, perhaps because she went with a 76- rather than a more typical (for a Monday) 78-word grid while also throwing down some high-value Scrabble tiles. My time was pretty average for a Monday, but I felt like I was working somewhat harder than I normally have to on a Monday — not a bad thing. There were some weird things about this puzzle. First, it seemed like its theme was sweets—60% of the answers either are or refer to sugary treats. Then there was the fact that two of the M-LT words were very nearly synonyms of one another (MELTING, MOLTEN), with both words having chocolaty contexts. Slight feeling of repetition and redundancy. Lastly, I was mildly UPSET (4D: Overturn) with MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH, since that phrase is taken directly from M&Ms' slogan, and thus (in my mind) should be quoted perfectly, i.e. MELT IN YOUR MOUTH. That is what they do. That is what the ads say they do. Nothing about "ONE'S" in the ads. I'm happy to have constructors fudge the ONE'S/YOUR distinction generally, but in the case of a direct quotation, not so much. Still, this glitch did LITTLE (3D: Wee) to diminish my enjoyment of the puzzle as a whole.

Theme answers:

• 18A: Fountain treat (MALTED MILK) — I don't know that I've heard this phrase. A MALTED MILK shake, I've heard of. "MALTED MILK" appears to be some kind of powder... but maybe in some bygone era this phrase was totally normal for the "fountain treat" in question.
  
• 23A: What M&M's do (MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH)

[What the...?]

• 37A: Company that produced Twister and Candy Land (MILTON BRADLEY)
  
• 50A: Hershey's vatful (MOLTEN CHOCOLATE) — I assume this refers to some imagined vat at their factory... we live very close to Hershey, PA, but have never been.
  
• 56A: The "3" in "6 x 3 = 18" (MULTIPLIER) — ugh, I tripped over the final letter. Somehow couldn't process what the clue was asking for, and the cross just didn't help at first — clue on RES. feels weirdly redundant; RES. is an abbrev. for "home." "Phone number" part just confused me. For a few seconds, anyway.
  

Normally don't have to deal with detritus like CIS, MELO, and ABAA in Andrea's grids, but again, I think the tradeoff — theme density and Scrabbly letters — is worth it.

Bullets:

• 5A: WWW letters (HTML) — one of those either/or clues: is it HTML or HTTP?
  
• 17A: Jamie Foxx's "Yep ___ Me" ("DAT'S") — again, very un-Andreaesque, this kind of non-word. I do like the clue, though. Don't know the song. Let's hear it.

• 55A: Antianxiety drug with a palindromic name (XANAX) — always strikes me as a name better suited to an anti-gas drug. I think I've been conditioned by GAS-X and MAALOX.
  
• 27D: ___ Reader (eclectic bimonthly) (UTNE) — not much you can do with a U--E set-up (which the theme answer arrangement puts in place). ULEE. UTNE. URGE may be your best bet there. But UTNE is a solid, if crosswordy, choice.
  
• 44D: Pre-cable TV adjunct (AERIAL) — "adjunct" threw me slightly, for reasons I don't quite understand. Also, is there any difference in this context between ANTENNA and AERIAL?
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Five-time world champion figure skater Carol / MON 2-28-11 / One of four singing brothers of 1950s / Nonmusical Abba / Fashion style setter Wintour

Constructor: Mike Buckley

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: *A*A — four theme answers begin with "xAxA" word (where x is a variable); also, four different xAxA words can be found in the Across answers in each of the four corners


Word of the Day: Carol HEISS (64A: Five-time world champion figure skater Carol) —

Carol Elizabeth Heiss Jenkins (born January 20, 1940 in New York City) is an American figure skater. She is the 1960 Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, 1956 Olympic silver medalist and five-time World Champion (1956-1960). [...] Following her retirement from figure skating in 1960, Heiss played the female lead in the 1961 film Snow White and the Three Stooges. (wikipedia)

• • •

I am trying to write this while watching — and tweeting non-stop about — the Oscars. Not easy. So this puzzle ... a kicky little number. More Tuesday (or easy Wednesday) for me (time in the high 3s). Very name-heavy, with somewhat toughish cluing throughout (e.g. MALTA clued 28D: Its coat of arms has a cross, but no falcon). There were also at least two answers I've *never* seen before: Cindy HEISS (???) and RATED A (!?!) (5D: First-class). Is that last one a bond thing? I now of nothing that is RATED A (certainly none of the papers I'm grading right now, zing!). Holy crud, Celine Dion is singing Happy Birthday at me. I don't care if it's for The American Cancer Society, it's torture. See this is what happens when I blog with the TV on. Argh. Between the unknown answers and TIES UP for TIE-UPS, I had issues (45D: Gridlocks). I also did a total face-plant while trying to spell ELLLLLIOTTTTT (how many Ls, how many Ts?). Theme density probably had something to do with the somewhat unMondayish fill. But whatever. So it belongs on a different day? So what? It's still good. I do miss RARA, WAWA, and PAPA. Also, NANA seems not to fit that well, as that first "A" is flat, like the vowel sound in "MA'AM," unlike the first "A" in all the other *A*A words.



Theme answers:

• 18A: "Till next time!" ("TATA FOR NOW!")
  
• 26A: "Heavyweight" of 1960s folk/pop (MAMA CASS ELLIOT)
  
• 43A: Group in a hit 2002 film with "divine secrets" (YAYA SISTERHOOD)
  
• 56A: Liquor-soaked cake (BABA AU RHUM)
• also, GAGA, DADA, NANA, and HAHA
  

Catnip is a LURE (39A: What catnip is to a cat)? If I want to LURE my cat anywhere, I just open a can—any can. Catnip = DRUG. I'm not sure I ever knew "ANTZ" was set in Central Park (47A: Animated 1998 film set in Central Park)—maybe I'm confusing it with "A Bug's Life." Why did I think Wintour's first name was EDNA (11D: Fashion style-setter Wintour=>ANNA)? I needed a clue for ELI, and I think I may have found one (25D: Automaker Ransom Eli=>OLDS). Puzzle would have been much tougher if I hadn't had much crossword experience (against my will) with Mr. ED AMES (46D: One of four singing brothers of the 1950s). Crossing HEISS? Yipes. IDED = [Point at 46-Down]. So weird-looking... EBON EBAN! (51D: Nonmusical Abba) The end.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Feature of many Judd Apatow films / MON 2-21-11 / 1971 Gay Talese title derived Ten Commandments / 1950s-60s TV studio / Flavorful citrus parts

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: NWES (64A: Compass points (seen spelled out in 20-, 26-, 43- and 53-Across))— EAST, WEST, SOUTH, and NORTH, respectively, are found embedded in four theme answers


Word of the Day: PHINEAS T. BARNUM (20A: He's famous for the words "There's a sucker born every minute") —

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. (wikipedia)

• • •

Did not care for this one at all. How did I dislike it: let me count the ways:

1. NSEW is a wreck of a revealer, a nonsense letter combo that has no business posing as legitimate fill; further,
2. The directions don't even appear in that order in the grid! I mean maybe, Maybe if NSEW represented the order of appearance of the directions, I would tolerate it. But as you can see, the directions appear not in the order NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST, but EAST, WEST, SOUTH, NORTH; further,
3. Only one theme answer has the ideal structure for a theme of this nature, where the embedded word touches every element of the theme answer—GROSS-OUT HUMOR works, whereas the others leave words hung out in mid-air (BARNUM, UNITED, and FATHER don't have any part of the directions inside them)
4. No one calls him PHINEAS T. BARNUM. He's P.T. BARNUM, or, I suppose, PHINEAS TAYLOR BARNUM. To write out the P. but not the T. feels arbitrary and preposterous.

Non-themewise, the fill is dull and tired. Maybe if I hadn't spent the better part of today trying to fill an easy, Monday-type grid with perfectly smooth fill, I wouldn't have been so annoyed by the fill today, but in an easy Monday puzzle, most of the following should be gone (not all—most): ADESTE, ILS, DIDST (ugh), BLEST (2x ugh), IMNO, CZAR, IAMA, ODER, ORIEL, ATARIS (plural), ERS, NAE, DTS, ORO, ETS. No one of those is very terrible, but it's a lot of unlovely and tired stuff for an easy puzzle. Strangely, this is a 74-worder (low for a Mon.), but it has a boatload of black squares (40), so it looks all chopped up and more like a 78-worder, and certainly. The higher the word count, the easier a puzzle grid is to fill smoothly. I'd have worked harder to fill this more cleanly. I guess with all the black squares, you couldn't really drop the word count on this one any more, though. Theme answers are of an "inconvenient" length (12+), which necessitated or at least encouraged the insertion of those chunks of black that wrap around and hug one end of each theme answer. Whatever—end result is a mess. And conceptually, as I say, I didn't think the mess was nearly worth it. I did like HEY, MAN! (46D: "Yo!"), BUS FARE (42D: Money for a trip across town, say), and especially UNDULANT (11D: Like a wave).

Wife thinks it should have been CAB FARE and not BUS FARE, and my friend Donna doesn't like [Baby's headgear] as a clue for BONNET. "It's disturbing imagery. When I think of "headgear," I think of things that support the head or protect the head or adjust the teeth ... or things for people who fall a lot. Babies just don't do that." Her alternative clue: [Something nobody wears except Laura Ingalls Wilder].

Theme answers:

• 20A: He's famous for the words "There's a sucker born every minute" (PHINEAS T. BARNUM)
  
• 26A: Words of solidarity (UNITED WE STAND)
  
• 43A: Feature of many a Judd Apatow films (GROSS-OUT HUMOR)
  
• 53A: 1971 Gay Talese title derived from one of the Ten Commandmenets ("HONOR THY FATHER")
  

I think GROSS-OUT HUMOR is going to give people mild trouble today—it's not something that leaps to mind when I think of Apatow's movies, though it's perfectly accurate. Also, perhaps people aren't that familiar with the Talese title. I'm sure there are some who didn't know P.T. Barnum's first name was PHINEAS. Hence my rating it on the tough side of average for a Monday.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Reinvest some funds / MON 2-7-11 / It offers flexible support for women / Quantity picked by Peter Piper / Perpetually dirty kid in Peanuts

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: Morning movements (!) — theme answers begin with STIR, WAKE, ROLL OVER, STRETCH, and GET UP, respectively


Word of the Day: PECK (1A: Quantity picked by Peter Piper) —

n.

1. (Abbr. pk.)
   1. A unit of dry volume or capacity in the U.S. Customary System equal to 8 quarts or approximately 537.6 cubic inches.
   2. A unit of dry volume or capacity in the British Imperial System equal to 8 quarts or approximately 554.8 cubic inches.
2. A container holding or measuring a peck.
3. Informal. A large quantity; a lot: a peck of troubles. (answers.com)
   

• • •

I have no idea how difficult this was, as I did it on paper, on the couch, in front of the TV. I do know that I had a few write-overs (PVT for PFC, WOW for YOW, SHAPE for SOLID, etc.) and said "What?" several times. First "What?"=ROLL OVER A CD, one of the ugliest theme answers I've seen in a long time, especially on a Monday, when I expect the theme answers to be silken. About as coherent as EAT A SANDWICH. I had the entire answer in place before I knew what I was looking at. ROLLOVER ... ACcount? ACT? What the? It's godawful. Almost but not quite as bad is STRETCH BRA, which I'd never heard of. Checked with wife—also never heard of it. How is this different from the (far far far more in-the-language) SPORTS BRA? Or the (quite a bit more in-the-language) JOG BRA? I tried to find a definition of STRETCH BRA but couldn't. I assume it stretches ... ? Good theme idea, poor execution.


Theme answers:

• 18A: Cooking in a wok, e.g. (STIR-FRYING)
  
• 24A: University in Winston-Salem, N.C. (WAKE FOREST)
  
• 37A: Reinvest some funds (ROLL OVER A C.D.)
  
• 51A: It offers flexible support for women (STRETCH BRA)
  
• 58A: Pep (GET UP AND GO)
  

Not much else to say about this except that I time-traveled and put KATIE Couric on NBC (4D: Newswoman Couric) (5D: 4-Down's network), largely because of this recently viral video:



Bullets:

• 13D: Perpetually dirty kid in "Peanuts" (PIGPEN) — Comically, impossibly dirty. Would never appear in a contemporary comic; someone would have to call child protective services, stat.
  
• 27D: Dance to Donna Summer's "Last Dance," e.g. (DISCO) — do Not like "DISCO" as a verb (though it's legit ... dated legit, but legit).

• 55A: Lines scanned by a supermarket scanner, in brief (UPC) — glad I never saw this clue, as I'd surely have botched the abbreviation. UPC, CPU, PFC, CFC, CBC, LMNOP ... I can't keep these things straight.
  

Last I checked, Green Bay was up, but barely.

Have a fine Monday.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Hairdo for Snooki of Jersey Shore / MON 1-31-11 / Old-time evangelist Semple McPherson / Bronze animal in New York's financial district

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: Fictional Food Folk (or, Where the Hell is Uncle Ben?) — commercial "icon"s associated with various food brands


Word of the Day: POUF (52A: Hairdo for Snooki of "Jersey Shore") —

n.

1. A woman's hairstyle popular in the 18th century, characterized by high rolled puffs.
2. A part of a garment, such as a dress, that is gathered into a puff.
3. A rounded ottoman.

[French, from Old French, interjection used for a fall, of imitative origin.] (answers.com)

• • •

Nifty, simple theme, though I have some mixed feelings about it. I get that they are all food "icons," but the list seems a little ragged and arbitrary. Some have titles, some don't. Some are human, some aren't ... I guess CAP'N CRUNCH is humanoid, as is JOLLY GREEN GIANT, but I'm pretty the giantness takes him out of our species, as does his vegetable composition. And lord only knows what BETTY CROCKER is, since, unlike the rest of the icons, she is iconic for her name alone, not for her picture. I mean, maybe she has a face, but I've never seen it, whereas I can picture all the other icons instantly. And where is Uncle Ben, or Toucan Sam, or Count Chocula, or Tony the Tiger, etc. If we're limiting it to humans, Tony's at least as human as that damned giant. Plus, as we've established, BETTY CROCKER could be a lizard for all any of us knows. No, wait—she appears to have had a physical, human form in days gone by. I can't find a pic of her more recent than 1986, but my cursory research does verify her (fictional) humanity. Still, I'd have kicked BETTY to the curb and replaced her with COUNT CHOCULA — he gets you a title *and* a truly iconic figure with a familiar physical form. . . but I guess the puzzle already has one "Breakfast cereal icon," so ... hmmm ...

Andrea certainly knows how to put together a Monday grid—smooth and easy all around. Well, almost all around. Something about the POUF / EDUC / BEDELIA section felt slightly chunky by contrast. I'm pretty sure it's all POUF's fault. I've heard the word, but have never seen it, in a puzzle or anywhere else. I really thought it was spelled POOF, as in "it POOFs up on top." It's a perfectly real word (I looked it up, as you can see, above), but it's a real outlier, familiarity-wise, today. Not fond of the three-O'd OOOH, but the rest of the fill seems solid. One strange feature—somehow, in that one tiny section in the east, you've got JAI crossing JAI, ANT crossing ANT, and ITS crossing ITS. A JAITS square with an "N" center. Odd. Still, all in all, a reasonably delightful two minutes and forty-five seconds.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Pancake syrup icon (AUNT JEMIMA)
  
• 23A: Baking icon (BETTY CROCKER)
  
• 35A: Frozen vegetable icon (JOLLY GREEN GIANT)
  
• 47A: Spaghetti-in-a-can icon (CHEF BOYARDEE)
  
• 57A: Breakfast cereal icon (CAP'N CRUNCH)
  

Bullets:

• 12D: Old-time evangelist ___ Semple McPherson (AIMEE) — I know the name, but realize now that I had no idea at all why she was famous. I'm more familiar with AIMEE Mann.

• 54D: Wile E. Coyote's go-to company (ACME) — I have no problem at all with constructors being a little self-referential in their puzzles...
  
• 36D: ___ Linda, Calif. (Nixon's birthplace) (YORBA) — like POUF, this seems non-Mondayish to me. I think I know LOMA LINDA (I went to school near there). YORBA took some crosses. Nixon went to college at Whittier, where there was a fairly sizable earthquake my first semester of college. I was reading Wordsworth's "The Prelude" in bed, preparing for my 8:20 class, when it hit. The memory is still weirdly vivid.
  
• 23D: Bronze animal in New York's financial district (BULL) — had the "BU-," saw the first clue word, "Bronze," and instantly wrote in BUST.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

1975 #1 hit for LaBelle / MON 1-24-11 / Volcano viewable from Tokyo / Dish rated in alarms / Wisconsin city or its college / Pretty Boy of crime

Constructor: Fred Piscop

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: JAR (54D: Where you might find the thematic parts of 17-, 26-, 41- and 54-Across) — theme answers all contain spreads one might find in a JAR: JAM, MARMALADE, PRESERVES, and JELLY


Word of the Day: RIPON (61A: Wisconsin college or its city) —

Ripon is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,828. The City of Ripon's official website claims the city's current population to be 7,701. The city is surrounded by the Town of Ripon. // Ripon, named for the English cathedral city of Ripon, North Yorkshire, was founded in 1849 by David P. Mapes, a former New York steamboat captain. Within two years the city had absorbed the nearby commune of Ceresco, established in 1844 by the Wisconsin Phalanx, a group of settlers inspired by the utopian socialist philosophy of Charles Fourier. Mapes also initiated the formation of Ripon College, originally incorporated as Brockway College in 1851. (wikipedia)

• • •

Not much to this one. Blew right through it in near-record time (held back by stupid mistake; see below), never even noticing the theme, which is about as basic as they come. Don't like the "thematic parts" part of the JAR clue at all. Awkward. That's what happens when your theme words are half at the front, half at the back, I guess. Too bad there's not a ___ JELLY phrase (a non-edible one, that is ... besides K-Y, which wouldn't fly for many reasons...), because then you could just change that first answer to TRAFFIC JAM and you'd be in business. Oh well. I don't have anything to say about this one, beyond the fact that I made a stupid, time-costing mistake and wrote in FIJI for FUJI (1D: Volcano viewable from Tokyo) (I make that mistake a lot, sadly), and that I knew RIPON without having any idea why. It must be in puzzles from time to time. I think I assumed it was Much bigger than it is.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Informal gathering of musicians (JAM SESSION)
  
• 26A: 1975 #1 hit for LaBelle ("LADY MARMALADE")
  
• 41A: Outdoor homes for endangered species, perhaps (GAME PRESERVES)
  
• 54A: Park that's home to Yogi Bear (JELLYSTONE)
  

Favorite part of the grid by far was LUXEMBOURG (26D: Country wedged between France, Belgium, and Germany), which is long and X-otic (especially next to the Frenchy ÉLYSÉE (42D: French president's palace)). I hesitated for a split second on the spelling of FLOYD, thinking perhaps it had two Ls (46A: "Pretty Boy" of crime). Turns out that's LLOYD. Brain isn't always sharpest at high speeds. Best / most interesting clue was 36A: Dish rated in alarms (CHILI). Makes perfect sense, but I still had to stare at it for a second or two, and get some crosses, before I understood what the hell it meant. Everyone knows OTIS of elevator fame, but perhaps slightly fewer know that his first name is Elisha (7D: Elevator pioneer Elisha). Consider yourself edified.


No need for Bullets today. See you tomorrow.

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]