Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle

Constructor: Jules P. Markey

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (for a rebus)

THEME:COMPRESSED [AIR] (29D: Gas station supply ... or what acan be found eight times in this puzzle) — The letter string "AIR" is "COMPRESSED" (i.e. rebusized) into 8 different boxes in the grid.

Word of the Day: Bagatelle (BAUBLE (1A)) —

noun
noun: bagatelle; plural noun: bagatelles
1.
a thing of little importance; a very easy task.

"dealing with these boats was a mere bagatelle for the world's oldest yacht club"
2.
a game in which small balls are hit and then allowed to roll down a sloping board on which there are holes, each numbered with the score achieved if a ball goes into it, with pins acting as obstructions. (google)

• • •

Wow. It's been a big week for Adele Astaire. Which says everything about the NYTX's cultural center of gravity of late. (73A: Sibling duo in "Lady, Be Good!," 1924)

The theme concept here is solid. Nice revealer that literally explains what's going on the grid. But once you turn up the trick, the puzzle is a slog—a longer-than-average slog, as this grid is 'roided up to 16x15 (likely to accommodate that central themer with the two rebus squares, "UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS", which, at 14 squares long, can't sit squarely in the middle of a standard 15x15 grid). Fill is not horrendous, but it's once again overly familiar, prone to datedness and arcana, full of SCH ENE ERGS-type stuff. ESO NOS. INE crossing the -INE of OVINE. Just lots of little things that add up to a certain joylessness. AIR is sometimes (properly) hidden / buried, sometimes not. I'm looking around for something remarkable or noteworthy. I'd say the most noteworthy thing, besides (but related to) the grid's bigness, is the word count. 83!? That's nutty. Max on a 15x15 is 78. I'll give you a full three extra answers for your additional row, that gives you 81. Max. 83 ... may be part of the reason the puzzle plays so dull. Hard to do much that is interesting when your grid is chopped all to hell and you have mostly 3s, 4s, and 5s to work with. Result: reliance on good ol' reliable tried and true seen-it-seen-it-seen-it stuff.

Anything happening on the clue front? Not really. 17A: Great Plains tunneler is *almost* a good misdirection, in that "Great Plains" is a descriptor I'd associate with people, not animals, but what kind of people tunnel on the plains? No kind, I think, is the kind. There's at least some attempt at cleverness at 27A: They rarely cover more than two feet in one day (PAIR OF SOCKS). I had SHOES, so ... at least my forward progress was stopped for a bit. I weirdly liked the clue for OVINE (32A: Like the breeds Kerry Hill and English Leicester) because I had to think about it. I forget that there are breeds of sheep as there are dogs, cattle, etc. And OVINE usually gets some dumb clue like [Sheepish?]. There's some trivia, if you're in to that. Didn't know OTTO meant "wealthy," didn't know UPTON SINCLAIR wrote anything called "Dragon's Teeth"—seriously, I can name a bunch of his novels ... oh, no, crap. I'm thinking of SINCLAIR LEWIS. OK, no, I know only "The Jungle" by UPTON SINCLAIR. So, "Dragon's Teeth" ... interesting. I wonder if it is about a dragon's teeth. Oh, no, it's about Nazis. Alrighty, then...

A friend of mine just hypothesized on Twitter that one of the crosses in today's puzzle might pose a problem for some solvers: "For tomorrow's NYT crossword: I have a hunch that the cross between 42-Across [DADO] and 23-Down [SNERD] is really gonna stump people." My guess is that he is right, but mainly for under-40s who have no real experience with Mortimer SNERD. Also, DADO is not a common word for most folks (outside the crossword). But the core NYT solving demographic will have no problem: even if they don't know DADO, SNERD will come marching creepily forth, as dummies will. Maybe we can try to make *this* meaning of SNERD happen...

Hey, did you see the great crossword retort to Slate's attack on the NYT's "Mini" crossword yesterday? Joel Fagliano, who makes the Minis, responded to the Slate article "The New York Times'Mini' Crossword Is an Utter Disgrace to the NYT Crossword Brand" with this neat little custom-made puzzle. See if you can see the hidden message:

The author of the Slate piece, Ruth Graham, to her enormous credit, immediately recognized the brilliance of Joel's reply, tweeting this:

... and then writing this appreciation of Joel's Mini-puzzle rebuttal. I love that both Ruth and Joel are so passionate about puzzles that they took the time to get mad, and get even, respectively. The whole back-and-forth made me irrationally happy. Now I'm gonna do the Mini regularly just to find the hidden messages. Don't Disappoint Me, Joel!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS If you are a fan of Hayley Gold's webcomic about the NYT Crossword Puzzle, "Across & Down," you should know that she is considering stopping, since she will no longer be able to get the puzzles early. She is listening to feedback and suggestions about what she should do going forward. Here's her initial plea for advice, and here's her first post thereafter. Oh, and here's her webcomic (the latest one's about today's puzzle!), which, if you don't know about it yet, you might enjoy.

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Constructor: David Steinberg

Relative difficulty: Eeeeeeeasy

THEME:none

Word of the Day: QUEEN ANNE (34A: English monarch after whom a brickwork building style is named) —

Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death. (wikipedia)

• • •

This puzzle is noteworthy for its exceptional cleanness and its exceptional easiness. Let's take cleanness first. This puzzle essentially makes my point about *most* NYT crosswords of late, which is to say that this puzzle demonstrates that it is really truly quite possible to polish your grid such that the USS (Unfortunate Short Stuff) stays mostly unnoticed. Also, it's possible for your USS to be completely inoffensive. There's literally nothing in the grid that makes me go "ugh," and only a handful of things I wouldn't be perfectly happy to have in any grid under any circumstances. Like, I don't *love* EDY or SRO or any of the 3s in the SW, and, you know, EKES gonna eke, but everything else, I'll take, anywhere, any time. Now to be fair it is somewhat harder to manage your short stuff in a themed puzzle, where simply by virtue of grid design (i.e. higher word count) there tends to be more of it, and the theme answers put real pressure on surrounding fill (theme answers are fixed, whereas nothing in a themeless is ever fixed—you can rotate out as many different long answers as you want until you get what you like in a themeless; not so much with long theme answers, which are strictly bound by theme criteria). Still, getting a 66-worder to come off this cleanly is a real accomplishment. That center stack is something else. No compromises. This takes care and craftsmanship. David is one of a handful of regular NYT constructors where, when I see his name, I expect to see a puzzle living up to the NYT's own self-description as "the best puzzle in the world."

Now the easiness. This puzzle needed speed bumps, badly. I finished in under 6 minutes, which is fast under any circumstances for me. Today, however, that 6 minutes included not only solving the puzzle, but stopping to take screenshots three different times, and checking my email once. I am almost certain that I would've been under 5 had I been trying, which would've been down near my Friday record. I can't fault the puzzle too much for being too easy, but I'll try to explain where the easiness today comes from, because it's not just the clues. It's also the grid construction. If you get the NW corner (and I did, fairly quickly, from BASE (1A: Place to lead a private life?) and BALLADE (1D: Verse with an envoi) as openers), then the longer Acrosses drop right in and you can just drill the short Downs in order. But the real source of overall easiness is that transition to the middle. You've got APPLE already in place, so dropping CIDER is a no-brainer (5D: Drink sometimes served hot). Then, though perhaps TOM/TSHIRTS might give you some attitude (11A: Daisy's husband in "The Great Gatsby" + 11D: Some cannon projectiles), once you handle that NE corner, you've got the front and back of what turns out (pretty obviously at that point) to be CLAM BROTH (25A: New England stock). And *then* you've got the first letters (i.e. the most crucial letters) of all those Downs in the middle of the grid. And bam bam bam bam everything just falls.

The only time I lost in the middle was with MAGNA, and even there I only lost a few seconds. Once I got DIANA ROSS, nothing in the center stood a chance. Wish I'd encountered more resistance there, if only so I could've appreciated the quality of the construction more. Note the placement of the flashy Scrabbly letters—upper left, at the beginning of answers, is where Js and Qs are most happy:

As you can see there, BRONX CHEER is basically the APPLE CIDER of the bottom half of the grid. Got the first half, drop the second half, enter all-new section with guns blazing. Also, those initial J and Q really made dropping those Downs a cinch. And again, once you figure out the front end of that long Across, it just shoots right to the other side of the grid.

First letters of all the short Downs in the south: locked in. Sitting ducks. Sad to end in the SE, which is the most crowded with Es and Rs and Ss and Ds and your less zippy letters. but prairie companions of GOPHER and COWPOKE are a nice escort into the sunset. Again, would've liked a greater challenge, but was happy I got what I got.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Constructor: Barry C. Silk

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME:none

Word of the Day: KERN (31D: Typeface projection) —

verb
verb: kern; 3rd person present: kerns; past tense: kerned; past participle: kerned; gerund or present participle: kerning; noun: kerning
1.
adjust the spacing between (letters or characters) in a piece of text to be printed.
make (letters) overlap.
2.
design (metal type) with a projecting part beyond the body or shank.
noun
noun: kern; plural noun: kerns
1.
the part of a metal type projecting beyond its body or shank

• • •

A fairly typical Silk puzzle—solid, tough, nostalgic. Not as smooth as yesterday's offering, but pretty clean nonetheless. I only have about four frowny-faces written on my printed out puzzle here, and there's certainly nothing abysmal. Longest Downs are the real highlights here, with JAZZ QUARTET and CHANNEL SURF providing contrasting entertainment options (somewhat highbrow vs. somewhat lowbrow, somewhat old vs. somewhat modern). Unfortunately, what stands out most for me in this puzzle is how aggressively non-contemporary it was. The puzzle is essentially a giant F.U. to anyone under 60. It's relentless, really, in its insistence that the center of the cultural universe is circa 1962. In just that damned NW corner alone (for me, the first corner I solved and the toughest corner by far), you've got a 1962 Burl IVES song (?), a [1960s pop idol], and [J.F.K.'s U.N. ambassador]. I have no idea when that "It's red magic time!" slogan is from, but my gut says '60s. Hang on ... HA, bingo: exactly 1962 for this ad right here:

When do you think Martha RAYE was called "the Female Bob Hope"? Actually, that was probably a couple decades earlier, even. My point is the core NYT solver demographic would be squealing with outrage if that many 21st-century clues were shoved in one corner. And that's just that corner. There's also Benny Goodman and LUISE Rainer and "DONALD Gets Drafted," and words like "once" and "Old-fashioned" and "bygone" all over the place. JOANNE KERN (I made that part up) Rowling is the one real nod to this century, and she started getting famous last century. Again (and again and again) no one has a problem with bygone clues per se. There's just no balance here. It is a professionally constructed puzzle, but everything about it is old and white and meh. Please, puzzlemakers. Mix. Things. Up. At least a little. I beg of THEE.

Here's the solving sequence. Just ... flailing in the NW. I've titled this screenshot: "O, RLY?" because I was not at all sure I had the right stuff in there (turns out I did).

This one I call "'60s Much?"; as you could guess, it's just a screenshot of the completed NW:

I was stuck here for a few seconds, spinning my wheels, until I rolodexed through the words that might follow JAZZ and hit QUINTET! Real answer is QUARTET, but that didn't matter, because Q to the res-Q! ETIQUETTE flashed across the grid and I was in business. Puzzle became "Easy" thereafter:

Once the QUINTET issue got fixed, I ran right up into the middle of the grid, expecting to get stonewalled but never encountering real resistance. I knew the puzzle was gonna go down without too much fight after I tested FLINTLOCK and then nailed down CREE and KERN immediately thereafter. That gave me a base camp from which to attack both the NE and the SE, both of which fell without much of a fight.

Had to change PEACH to PEARL (42D: Fine example), but otherwise, no mistakes. Oh, no, wait. I did have LOITERS for LOUNGES (23A: Chills, so to speak). And I had to wait to see if the designated driver was gonna have TOO MUCH or TOO MANY (37D: One drink, to a designated driver).

Did you know there's a place where you can UNREEL a film while sniffing JUNIPER OIL? It's called a BOATEL and you can get there by following the signs for "Stuff That Sounds Made Up." And with that [Bit of snark], I'm off.

POOF.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Lollapuzzoola 8 puzzles have been made available, for an extremely limited time. Monday. You need to get them by Monday. After that, puzzle rights go back to the constructors themselves. These puzzles are phenomenal. I know, I went to the tournament. I solved them. Please get them and do them and go "wow" and then show your friends. For real.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Joel Fagliano

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME:"Musical Remixes"— Music-related anagrams of five "#1 Billboard artists"; anagrams get wacky "?" clues, while artists all get same clue: [#1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of ***-Across]

Theme answers:

INDIE CLONE (23A: Alternative band that sounds like every other alternative band?) / CELINE DION
USE MY LYRIC (45A: Invitation for musical plagiarism?) / MILEY CYRUS
HI, MAESTRO (66A: Greeting to a conductor?) / AEROSMITH
GENIAL ROCK (87A: Friendly music genre?) / CAROLE KING
NURSE'S SONG (112A: Part of a hospital playlist?) / GUNS 'N' ROSES

Word of the Day: RUCHE (55A: Frilly trim) —

noun
noun: ruche; plural noun: ruches
a frill or pleat of fabric as decoration on a garment or home furnishing. (google)

• • •

This feels like a concept that wasn't allowed to ripen. I love that all the artists are "#1 Billboard artists"—gives the puzzle a nice consistency—just as I love that all the anagrams are themselves music-related in some way. But since they're (highly) inaptograms, i.e. anagrams that are not even vaguely related to the names they are rearrangements of, the whole thing left me with a "so what?" feeling. There's no humor. That lack of connection (in clue or in content) between anagram and base word made this one feel more like a mere exercise in letter rearrangement than a coherent and (more importantly) *funny* theme. There are a couple of smaller issues for me too. First, the title has "Remixes" in it, which a. makes the theme obvious, but b. really Really means that the cluing on the "artists" is dull and redundant. This is what I mean when I say the concept wasn't ripe. There needs to be a hook in the cluing or anagram relationship or something, something to make the puzzle Pop as opposed to just sit there as an interesting curiosity. I also didn't like that the anagrams came first, i.e. were all on the left. If somehow phrases could've been made out of the anagram/artist phrases, GUNS 'N' ROSES' NURSE'S SONG, or CELINE DION: INDIE CLONE, with clever clues, maybe this would've worked better. But here, the theme is spoonfed to you, and while figuring out anagrams is inherently entertaining (uh, if you're me...), the disconnect between artist and anagram left the puzzle without snap. Or pop. Or crackle.

There's some good stuff in here, though. I love the longer Downs that crash through not one not two but three themers, i.e. SPOILER ALERT and LETTER OPENER. The former beats the latter for freshness (and I had an awful time parsing it), but both are nice. I also liked SAG AWARD, as it was tough and unexpected but perfectly legitimate. I also liked that the puzzle was clued pretty toughly. I got stymied several times, most notably in the west, where an error (TRY MY LYRIC) (?!) combined with tough cluing (and some rough fill) to cause a real problem for me. Don't really know the word RUCHE, so that hurt. Thought the [Till bill] was a ONE. Couldn't parse MERCY ME to save my life (puzzle's oddly heavy on quaint expressions like this. See also MY HAT (!?!?) and DOG IT. Putting in ASSAYS where HAS A GO was supposed to, uh, go, that also caused me some problems in the east, but not nearly as many as I had in that whole area in the west from HAM (fine) down to ANNUIT and ESA (ugh, not fine).

If you read yesterday's write-up some time after mid-morning, you know that crossword legend Merl Reagle died yesterday, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. I spent the first part of the day stunned and wallowing, and then my wife dragged me out of the house and we went up to Ithaca to see "Mr. Holmes" and eat tapas and drink sherry. That helped a little. But then I came back to my house and my computer and my crosswording life (here, now, right now, writing this), and I just feel lost again. Merl was my friend, and had been since 2008, when he wrote me the following email out of the blue—an email that is, in many ways ridiculous:

dear rex,

love your blog, as if you couldn't guess!

there are only so many hours in a week, so i don't expect you to ever solve my sunday puzzle, what with the time and effort you obviously take to make your blog so frigging entertaining! -- but on the occasional sunday when you have an extra minute, i'm hoping you might at least solve it. no need to write about it, but i'm always trying to convince new yorkers that there are some other weekly puzzles in america that might be worth solving! (i'm in the new york observer every week, so at least i do appear in new york.)

but mainly, i wanted to let you know how to remember that "riata" is a lasso -- "la riata" is where we get the word "lariat."

all the best,

merl

www.sundaycrosswords.com

Leaving aside the fact that he seems to have been unable to find the [Shift] key, let's consider how ludicrous it is that this man, who is one of the best known and certainly most beloved crossword makers in the country, wrote me, a total nobody who, if he was known at all, was known primarily for being a crankpot with computer access, and *he* asked *me* if I wouldn't mind solving *his* puzzles. Perhaps I'd be interested. It was as if Cézanne had written me and said, "Hey, you know, I think you might enjoy my paintings." You think?

So I wrote back sycophantically, making it very clear who was whose fan, and thereafter he became my regular correspondent and probably my most trusted crossword adviser. Anyone who knew him knows this: the guy lived and breathed crosswords, and wordplay in general. There was no pretension. No showing off. He couldn't help it. It was his way of being in the world, and it was joyous. It was contagious. It was inspirational. At least a half a dozen times just this year (according to my Inbox) one of us wrote the other some grumpy note of commiseration about some issue in some puzzle or other (Merl particularly hated half-baked themes—he had a great quote on how patient he was developing themes: "Sometimes an idea will wait 20 years to become a puzzle"). If I was ever really unsure of my reaction to something in a puzzle, I'd shoot Merl a note to ask for a ruling. From a purely egotistical standpoint, it was a huge (and until now, private) thrill to know that this guy respected what I was doing, that this guy wanted to talk to me, that this guy would take my calls. If you want to know where my confidence in writing about crosswords comes from, well, part of it probably comes from a mother who adored me, and part of it is a put-on to mask a fairly massive insecurity, but the Rest of it comes from knowing that Merl, the guy I respected and admired most in the world of crosswords, had my back. That he believed in what I was doing and deigned to have conversations with me as if we were something like peers. And now *that* guy is dead—that guy who made incredible, hilarious, carefully crafted, often wonderfully ridiculous Sunday-sized puzzles every week for years and years and years. Who gave joy to millions. I don't know anyone who disliked him. Scratch that—I don't know anyone who knew him who didn't actively admire him. Most of us loved him to bits. I'll do his memory more justice next week, when I can think straight. Right now, I'm in a selfish pit of mourning. As a crossword writer person, it's like the floor has dropped out from underneath me. As a human being person, it's like I got sucker-punched. Hard. My deepest sympathies go out to his wife and family.

Here are some nice things that have been written about him in just the past 24 hours.

Will Shortz's very moving remembrance of his friendship with Merl
A personal tribute from Deb Amlen (the crossword blogger at "Wordplay")
Amy Reynaldo's touching words at "Diary of a Crossword Fiend" (like me, she includes a Merl email; she saved and cherished correspondence with him as well)
Merl's obituary in the Washington Post
Merl's obituary in the Arizona Daily Star (Merl graduated from U. of A)
Merl's obituary in The Tampa Bay Times (Merl lived in Tampa)
If you have AcrossLite (or any other solving software that can handle .puz files), here's a puzzle that Brendan Emmett Quigley made yesterday

Again, I'll compile more thoughts and pictures and stuff into something more coherent next week. In the mean time, go do / buy his puzzles. Outlandish puns, soaring (and often stacked!) theme answers, pitch perfect clues, etc. You will occasionally see some, uh, let's say "not great" fill, but Merl had special license. He was always working on a higher plane than the rest of us.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Medium-ish (maybe *slightly* harder than avg *for a Monday*)

THEME:IT'S UP TO YOU (28D: "I'll defer on this one" ... or a hint for what's found in 3-, 9-, 21- and 24-Down) — circled (or perhaps shaded) squares in theme answers (all Downs) read USTI, which is "IT'S" running UP TO the letter "U"

Theme answers:

EXHAUSTIVE (3D: Leaving no stone unturned)
PETER USTINOV (21D: Actor with Oscars for "Spartacus" and "Topkapi")
CAUSTIC (24D: Acid, as criticism)
CHIEF JUSTICE (9D: John Roberts, for one)

Word of the Day: ROMANESQUE (57A: Architectural style of medieval Europe) —

adjective
adjective: Romanesque
1.
of or relating to a style of architecture that prevailed in Europe circa 900–1200, although sometimes dated back to the end of the Roman Empire (5th century).
noun
noun: Romanesque
1.
Romanesque architecture. (google)

• • •

This is a loopy idea that somehow I'm OK with. It took me a few beats to figure out what was up (so to speak!). I was wondering why the circles, read upwards, said "ITSU" and not "ITSUP," while simultaneously wondering why "UP" would going "up" since, presumably, "UP" was already being represented in the grid by the fact that the letter string was traveling "up." But then my cornball wordplay detector kicked in, and I got that the "U" was a pun on "YOU." Really should've noticed that "?" at the end of the revealer clue. Anyway, once I figured it out, I thought about it a second, and shrugged, and said "sure, why not?" It's Monday—better loopy and clean than boring and stale (which is always an early-week possibility). I came in with a pretty normal Monday time, but I can see PETER USTINOV giving some (esp. younger solvers) trouble, and I can see someone making the mistake of putting in EXHAUSTING instead of EXHAUSTIVE (I can see it because I did it). Also, I was a medievalist once and ROMANESQUE was not a gimme for me, so that could take some work. Monday work. So, "work." You know what I mean.

Would be better if "USTI" spanned two-word phrases/names, but that would be virtually impossible, I think, so these are all non-spanners, which is its own kind of consistency. There were a couple of interesting "Whaaa?" moments, the first being THE DOLE (56A: Government assistance), first because "look out, it's a definite article!" and second because I don't live in the UK. Do people say THE DOLE here, non-twee-ish-ly? It's a fine phrase, but not a US phrase, in my experience. The other "Whaaa?" answer was JUICE for 27A: Apple product. That clue has been used hundreds of times, almost always in computer-related contexts. I had SANE for CALM (29D: Unruffled) and had real trouble coming up with the icky ENGR (13D: One who pulls a train whistle: Abbr.), which I always think of in terms of building, not train-driving, possibly because I'm not a kid any more and honestly when's the last time you actually *saw* your train's ENGR?

OK, that's all.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Constructor: John E. Bennett

Relative difficulty: Tuesdayish

THEME:JUST HAVING A BALL (36A: Living it up ... or a hint to the six groups of circled letters) — circled squares spell out words that can precede BALL in a familiar phase / word

Theme answers:

SOUR
HAIR
FOOT
BASE
MEAT
POOL

Word of the Day: PARONOMASIA (56A: Art of punning) —

noun, Rhetoric
1.
theuseofawordindifferentsensesortheuseofwordssimilarinsoundtoachieveaspecificeffect,ashumororadualmeaning;punning.
2.
apun. (dictionary.com)

• • •

This should've been rejected on the basis of the revealer alone. The equivalent of [Living it up] is HAVING A BALL. The JUST is absurdly gratuitous. It doesn't fit the clue. It's a qualifier that is nowhere indicated in the clue, and it is *only* here because this grid would've been way way harder to pull off if the appropriate, JUST-less phrase, had been simply centered in the grid (for reasons having to do with where black squares would've had to go). At least I assume this is the reason. Because otherwise Why On God's Green Earth is your revealer not the obvious, indisputable best choice: HAVING A BALL? If you can't do something right, don't do it at all. To be clear, and to repeat. This should've been sent back with a note indicating that it's a no-go without the proper central answer / revealer. I mean, the puzzle is just D.O.A. as is.

[Chromeo > CHROMO (???)]

But the fill is a problem too. Weak all over, except for one preposterous moment where it's not weak but also not even close to Tuesday-level. PARONOMASIA is some kind of weird showing off that is totally out of tune with the general caliber / tenor / fill quality of this this puzzle. I hope to god that there isn't some implication that the connection between the revealer and the little word "balls" is an example of this phenomenon, because a. that stretches credulity, and b. that means FOOL'S ERRAND would also be thematic ... hmmm. Wait ... nah. Could the puzzle be so meta, so self-aware, that it actually knows it's got major issues, and is trying to tell us as much? That would be some pretty Next Level stuff. Also, EELWORM, wtf? That is desperation fill. You can't make up for a snoozefest with random jolts of obscurity like EELWORM and PARONOMASIA. Well, you can, but it's pretty sadistic. See also "OH FOO" (wtf x 1000).

Ultimately, this looks like a potentially promising idea that got wrecked on execution. I JUST can't get over the JUST.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Ian Livengood

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: HUMP DAY (53A: Middle of the week ... or an appropriate title for this puzzle) — circled squares make form of a "hump" in the grid (four times) and spell out CAMEL

Word of the Day: John OSBORNE (58A: Playwright John who wrote "Look Back in Anger") —

John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, known for his excoriating prose and intense critical stance towards established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre. // In a productive life of more than 40 years, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film and TV. His personal life was extravagant and iconoclastic. He was notorious for the ornate violence of his language, not only on behalf of the political causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and children. Osborne was one of the first writers to address Britain's purpose in the post-imperial age. He was the first to question the point of the monarchy on a prominent public stage. During his peak (1956–1966), he helped make contempt an acceptable and now even cliched onstage emotion, argued for the cleansing wisdom of bad behaviour and bad taste, and combined unsparing truthfulness with devastating wit. (wikipedia)

• • •

By far my favorite part of this solve was getting to 26D: They're blown for good luck and then looking at my grid and realizing I had this:

I haven't literally LOL'd mid-solve in a long time. That was fun. But the puzzle itself, let's see... I'm not sure I fully understand it. That is, I feel like I must be missing something. I know Wednesday (today) is commonly known as HUMP DAY, and I know camels have humps, and I see the word "camel" in the form of a hump four times in the grid. So there's some layers here. But the revealer feels a bit anemic, in that the "day" part isn't really relevant to all the camel business. And there are four humps ... just because. Arbitrary number. That's how many would fit, I guess. And there is no other thematic material, so ... it's kind of like a themeless, only with not terribly interesting longer answers. This is an interesting but kind of conceptually ragged puzzle. Fill is also slightly less great than I've come to expect from Ian. But those "camels" cannot have been easy to build a grid around. Not cleanly. And really it's just a few answers that feel off (EBONS, most notably).

Fill is oddest / worst / weirdest in and around the revealer. POL POT, ugh, man, I'd do Anything I could to avoid that guy. HITLER is banned from crossword grid, but *this* guy's OK? I guess POL POT's only responsible for the deaths of 1-3 million people, so maybe he is "better than HITLER," but still, yikes. Not loving OSBORNE (?) or WESTJET (??) either. Middling / obscurish proper nouns taking up a lot of real estate, while also creating the conditions for crud fill like OUSE and ANE. Also I stared at LIMBS as the answer for 47D: Post-storm detritus and thought "damn, that's pretty gruesome." Then I realized the limbs were from TREEs. At least I hope they are.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Constructor: Joon Pahk

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME:names that begin with two initials that descend sequentially ... that are reversely sequential ... you know what I'm saying ...—Puzzle note reads:

Theme answers:

CB RADIO (8A: Box with handles?)
HG WELLS (17A: "The Invisible Man" author) (just too easy)
DC UNITED (22A: Washington M.L.S. team)
BA BARACRUS (uh ... ?) (35A: "The A-Team" character played by Mr. T)
UT DALLAS (49A: Educational institution near Plano, informally)
PO BOXES (60A: Some return addresses)
TS ELIOT(64A: "Four Quartets" poet) (again, just too easy)

Word of the Day: E.D. Hirsch—

Eric Donald Hirsch, Jr. (/hɜrʃ/; born March 22, 1928) is an American educator and academic literary critic. He is professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia. He is best known for writing Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (1987), and is the founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation. (wikipedia)

• • •

E.D. Hirsch is way, way more "common" in my world than B.A. BARACUS (what the actual #$&^?), so that was weird. Also, there's also an E.D. Hill who is an anchor for CNN. Wikipedia tells me she went to UT AUSTIN, which I have to believe was the preferred entry at 49A, but was just too difficult to accommodate while keeping the fill reasonably clean. Aaaaanyway, leaving E.D. Hirsch aside (seriously, "Cultural Literacy" was a big deal book when I was in college), this crossword is more a very interesting curiosity than it is a satisfying / entertaining puzzle. Fill is reasonably clean, but almost completely unremarkable. Joon is an exacting craftsman, but there's nothing here outside the theme that's going to turn your head, and the theme answers themselves really aren't inherently interesting—they just have that initial initial thing going on (yes, I meant to write that word twice). The deep irony is that the most interesting thing in the grid By Far is B.A. BARACUS, which I've never heard of, and which strikes me as, among the theme answers (and, again, By Far), the least in keeping with the Note's stated guidelines, i.e the least "common" (honestly, I thought that answer was one name: BABARACUS (like Barbarossa or Barbarella), or else two names: BABA RACUS) (thank god all the crossings were fair and unambiguous).

Don't have much else to say about this. INKLESS is my least favorite thing going on in the grid, in that I don't buy it as a real thing one might say. Relatedly, the INKLESS region took me the most time, partly because I thought the clue on INKLESS (13D: Empty, as a fountain pen) was a verb, partly because I've never heard of Stephen DECATUR, War of 1812 naval hero. In inferred his name from ... well, from Georgia, I guess. Other than that, only good ol' B.A. gave me any trouble. On to tomorrow...

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Samuel A. Donaldson

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME:none

Word of the Day: Wanda SYKES (39A: Star of the sitcom "Wanda at Large") —

Wanda Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America.^[2] She is well known for her role as Barbara Baran on The New Adventures of Old Christine and for her appearances on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. // In November 2009, The Wanda Sykes Show, her own late-night talkshow, premiered on Fox, airing Saturday nights, until it was cancelled in April 2010.^[3]^[4] Sykes has also had a successful career in film, appearing in Monster-in-Law, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Evan Almighty, and License to Wed, and voiced characters in Over the Hedge, Barnyard, Brother Bear 2, Rio, and Ice Age: Continental Drift. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a nice, solid Friday. I'm in the middle of a constructing binge after a several-year hiatus, so I am on Red Alert for unclean fill, and there's not too much of it here. In a high word-count themeless, there shouldn't be. If this were my puzzle, this is the stuff that would gnaw at my conscience: ANOS (I will never ever ever use this ... and I clue ANO as a partial, so bad is my aversion to the whole tilde issue here), ISAO, VAS, PSS. There's other stuff I don't love, but can tolerate (AGORAE for its crosswordesiness and dumb plural, "LUANN" because I don't even know who reads that ...). But honestly it's hard to find weak spots in this grid, and some of the good stuff is Really good. First and last Acrosses are both killer. Sam is a law professor, so LAWYER UP is a little bit of self-referentiality, but not so that it's irksome. "WAIT, WHAT?" is just perfectly colloquial. I love when constructors snatch common spoken expressions out of the air and put them in the grid. On my printed out grid, I've also got stars next to MASS EXODUS (12D: Lots of outgoing people) and FREAK OUT ON (which also has nice misdirection in the clue—looks like an adjective phrase, acts like a verb phrase: 26D: Subject to a hissy fit).

I gotta get some sleep. Been staring at grids on a screen too long. Not much interesting happened during the actual solve. It's a pretty segmented grid, so I just followed it like a maze from the "start' in the NW, down to the SW, up through the center to the NE, and then down to the "finish" in the SE. Once I got going, there were no real hold-ups. I felt guilty about how much I relied on ENBERG to get started (5D: Sportscaster Dick). And I felt ashamed and slightly dirty that the first answer I threw down there was VITALE (shudder).

OK, I need to sleep. Good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. this:

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Constructor: Evan Birnholz

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME:none

Word of the Day: David CAMERON (40D: Brown's follower) —

David William Donald Cameron (/ˈkæmᵊrən/; born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who has served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2010, as Leader of the Conservative Party since 2005 and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney since 2001. (wikipedia)

• • •

This played hard, then easy, then hard, then easy. So "Medium." Couldn't get started, then couldn't understand how I had failed to get started, as I knocked off well over half the puzzle without much effort. Then got badly stuck in the SE. Then figured out what the hell [Brown's follower] meant and went on to finish the puzzle somewhere in the SW, possibly at the "Y" in YLEVEL (59A: Surveying device with letter-shaped rests). Overall it seems pretty decent. It's not a showy grid—looks oddly like a weekday/themed grid in its segmentation. There are no stacks of longer answers—in fact, it doesn't contain any answer more than 10 letters long. But there's a bunch of good stuff in there: OXFORD COMMA (20A: Much-debated grammar subject) and "LAY IT ON ME" and SCARE QUOTES being my favorites. SEX APPEAL's not bad either. Next to no junk. Nice. I found it a little annoying at first (and this may explain the difficulty / frustration I had getting started) because there seems to be sooooo many &%^$ing "?" clues. When I finished the puzzle, I counted—there are only seven (7) "?" clues total. It's just that five (5) (!) of those originate in the NW quadrant, where my solving experience also originated. Anyway, once I figured out XBOXONE, I took off, and the whole "?" issue ceased to matter.

Not sure how I feel about crossing ICBM and IBAR at the "I." I think I'm against it. Something about having to say the "I" out loud (as a letter) in both seems ... like duplication, even though one "I" is an abbr. and the other is just the letter qua letter, the shape of the letter being the issue. I definitely object to the dupe at XBOX *ONE* and SIDE *ONE*. So, to be clear, the "I" thing would never bother me if those "I" s weren't in the same box. Like, if IBAR were way on the other side of the grid from ICBM, I wouldn't even have notice, let alone cared. But the crossing ... not sure why it bugs me, but it does. I don't consider that a dupe, though. A dupe is a duplicate word in the grid. Here's the thing I realized about dupes—if they are fewer than three letters long, I don't care (again, unless they're intersecting). Like, you could have four "ON"s in the grid, and I'm not sure I'd notice. I certainly wouldn't notice two. But once you get into longer words (3+), then I think you shouldn't dupe them. It's just an elegance issue. No one is harmed by the two ONEs. But ideally, you don't do that.

Bullets:

30D: Color (TINCT)— Had TIN-. Guessed TINCT. Worried it could be TINGE. This doubt caused some of the ensuing problems in the SE.
48A: "La Dolce Vita" setting (ROME)— this caused some more of the problems in the SE. I plunked down ROMA with no hesitation. The title of the movie is in Italian, ROMA is the Italian spelling, parallelism takes over ... ROMA. But no. I also convinced myself that ESTOERA was a word (39D: Things rarely seen), so I didn't get that, or TEXAN (44A: President #36, #41 or #43) for a little while there. That section fell because I finally realized the way "diet" was being used in 41D: Mideast diet (KNESSET).
5D: Unpleasant things to pass around (COLDS)— I had GERMS. So ... I was close.
23A: Battle of Isengard participant (ENT)— never saw this clue, which is how it should be with short / over-common fill. That stuff should be inconspicuous to the point of invisibility. It should also be scarce, especially in a themeless, which, as I've said, it is today.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Lee Taylor

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME:"Conflicting Advice"— adages that are clued via adages that say the opposite, i.e. ["this adage, but ..."] and then the answer is THIS OTHER ADAGE THAT CONTRADICTS THE ADAGE IN THE CLUE. Yes, I swear this is the theme.

Theme answers:

OPPOSITES ATTRACT (3D: "Birds of a feather flock together, but ...")
FOOLS SELDOM DIFFER (6D: "Great minds think alike, but ...")
TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN (34D: "Slow and steady wins the race, but ...")
IGNORANCE IS BLISS (38D: "Knowledge is power, but ...")
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP (24A: "He who hesitates is lost, but ...")
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN (111A: "You can't judge a book by its cover, but ...")

Word of the Day: LOLO Soetoro, stepfather of Barack Obama (51A) —

Lolo Soetoro, also known as Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo or Mangundikardjo (EYD: Lolo Sutoro) (Javanese: [ˈlɒlɒ suːˈtɒrɒː]; January 2, 1935 − March 2, 1987), was the Indonesian step-father of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States . // In his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father, Obama described Soetoro as well-mannered, even-tempered, and easy with people; he wrote of the struggles he felt Soetoro had to deal with after his return to Indonesia from Hawaii. He described his stepfather as following "a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths." In a 2007 article, Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Kim Barker reported that Soetoro "was much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim, according to former friends and neighbors." (wikipedia)

• • •

This just doesn't work. Not at the theme level, and definitely not at the fill level. It is mildly interesting that there exist this many adages that conflict one another, and that you can arrange them symmetrically in the grid, but I'm not sure the existence of such is a strong enough base on which to build and Entire Sunday Crossword Puzzle. They layout of the themers is probably the most interesting thing about this puzzle—highly unusual majority-Down set-up reverses the standard way of doing things, which I'm all for. Mix it up. But there's just nothing in the grid to overcome the dullness of the theme. No interest. No fun. No humor.

And this is a grid that has clearly been hand-filled without the apparent aid of any software—I am very supportive of the idea of novices hand-filling grids to get a sense of how they work, how they don't work, what the challenges are in filling them, etc., but that's for the learning stage. Not the prime-time stage. Grids *need* to be much, much more polished than this, and the cold truth is that the only people who can completely hand-fill grids to modern standards, with no digital assistance, are super-experienced pros. People who have 15+ years experience doing this stuff. People who learned to make puzzles in the pre-software era and then *upped their game* when the digital age forced their hands. (Most constructors I know work without computer assistance initially, but then rely on software to help them see the variety of what's possible, fill-wise, much faster and more completely than the human brain can; if you're at all confused about this process, I highly recommend Matt Gaffney's book Gridlock). This grid has been segmented like crazy in a way that increases drastically the amount of short stuff, and then the grid is loaded with "I've seen it before so it must be acceptable"-type fill. ADREM and ABO and ARA and SST and two -AE ending words and on and on. Only TOSHES is truly ridiculous, but the cumulative weight of uninteresting fill really causes this thing to drag. Here's the point at which I sighed because I realized I still had a long way to go and just didn't care any more:

Oooh, look, you can see the error that would eventually come back to haunt me. Had CHEF 44D: One on staff? because Barack Obama's stepfather was a giant ???? to me (and because, honestly, LOHO seemed like something that this puzzle would have in it ... I mean, it's got TOSHES, for &$%'s sake!). Also, there is a famous LOLO, which I figured would've been used if the answer was actually going to be LOLO:

But to be clear, I checked out on this puzzle Well before the end (when I realized I had an error). The DIPSO ARCED APORT because the AMAH would FAIN something something ADREM. It's brutal. My favorite part was right here, at 41A: Half-and-half, maybe—because I couldn't fathom any answer except one answer, which was the wrong answer, but it made me laugh anyway:

I mean ... a BUTT is kind of "Half-and-half," especially if you tack "maybe" on the end there. Like, there's one half ... and then there's the other half ... leading to the complete BUTT. Made sense to me. One last thing: If I check Yelp, I'm Yelping? Do I have that right? Just *checking* means I'm Yelping? That seems off. Yelp me out here. (40D: Checked online reviews of, modern-style => YELPED)

I'll be on the radio today (WMNF, Tampa), on the show "Life Elsewhere," talking about the late and also great Merl Reagle. You can catch it live at noon here, or in an archived version, which I'll post whenever it becomes available.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Michael Dewey

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: diving stuff, I guess— three idioms related to diving

Theme answers:

DIVE IN HEAD FIRST (17A: Attack an endeavor vigorously)
TAKE THE PLUNGE (37A: Get hitched)
GO OFF THE DEEP END (58A: Lose one's mind)

Word of the Day: Allen IVERSON (20A: Allen whose #3 was retired by the 76ers) —

Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for four different teams (Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies) during 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iverson was an eleven-time NBA All-Star, won the All-Star game MVP award in 2001 and 2005, and was the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2001. (wikipedia)

• • •

There's nothing here. There are only three themers, they barely hold together, the fill is from ... well not MEDIEVAL times, but olde tymes for sure. It's a mystery how something this ordinary and unplayful and unambitious is being run in the "greatest puzzle on earth" or whatever it's calling itself this week. The whole thing today is thin to the point of transparency. Pointless. Filler. I don't think there's even anything to say about this puzzle. I asked for help on Twitter and one of my Followers said "I guess the public pool is closing for the winter and the constructor is really sad about it?" Sure. Why not? Who knows? The longer answers are fine, so there's that. But yeesh. It took all my will to go on after I hit this bit, ten seconds in:

A HOER and his OLEOS are soon parted. I need a drink. Good day.

Hey, if you want to remember greatness, listen to me talk about Merl Reagle on the radio. Segment's about 20 min. long, and starts right at the top of the show, around the 1:20 mark.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Michael Torch

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Vowel sound progression—last syllables go through 5 vowel sounds, from long A sound (allegedly) to long U sound

Theme answers:

RIVER SEINE
CRASH SCENE
"LORD, GIVE ME A SIGN"
CUT AND SEWN
COMING SOON

Word of the Day: Cardinal Edward M. EGAN (53D: Former New York archbishop) —

Edward Michael Egan (April 2, 1932 – March 5, 2015) was an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000, and as Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001. (wikipedia)

• • •

These puzzle continue to skew old, staid, and safe. This concept is fine—sound progression is a time-tested theme. I've seen many of these before. This one seems reasonably original.Well, there's one problem. Kind of a biggie: uh, that river? It's not pronounced SAYn. It's more SENN. So, short e, not long a. But maybe it's some Americanism I don't know about. Even so, both RIVER SEINE and CUT AND SEWN both feel like stretches to me. What other SEINE is there? The SANDWICH SEINE? The DIVE BAR SEINE? I get that there is a convention (an olde one) of saying things like "The River Nile"—maybe it's a poetic convention? But it feels stilted. CUT AND SEWN, on the other hand, just doesn't stand alone well, though perhaps this is some inside baseball (or inside tailoring) term that I just don't know. Possible. Anyway, themewise, we move through the long vowel sounds in that last syllable. That's all. Fill is a bit cleaner than yesterday, but still ruthlessly uncontemporary, as is the cluing. Again, this puzzle could've come straight out of '80s, '70s, '60s, no problem. I knew it was not going to be my cup of tea with the first answer I put in the grid:

Is that an *inherently* bad answer? Well, no. But at 1-Across, I knew. I've done enough of these. I knew. It was a harbinger. A telling sign of what the puzzle's cultural center of gravity would be. I feel like the NYT has just decided that making inoffensive, familiar fare for Boomers and their parents is the way they're gonna go. FALA-lalala, HAHA ECRU. This is mightily disappointing, as well as mighty confusing. But maybe as a business model, this makes great sense. For now.

[The only thing that came up when I searched ["LORD GIVE ME A SIGN"] was this song. Literally all hits on the first page related to this song]

Here's an epic puzzle tribute to the late Merl Reagle, by non-prolific crossword artisan Kevin Der. It's got several layers, and is really beautiful, in more ways than one. Check it out.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Kevin Christian and Bradley Wilber

Relative difficulty: Easy (well ... for me ...)

THEME: NORSE GODS (58A: They're hidden in 17-, 25-, 36- and 47-Across) —

Theme answers:

PANTY RAID (17A: College prank popular in the '50s)
MOOD INDIGO (25A: Classic Duke Ellington tune)
TRUTH OR DARE (36A: Slumber party game)
HELLO KITTY (47A: Japanese toon with a red bow)

Word of the Day:"TELL MAMA"(36D: 1968 Etta James album) —

Tell Mama is the eighth studio album by American singer Etta James. The album was released August 21, 1968 on Cadet Records and was produced by Rick Hall. Tell Mama was James's first album since 1963 to enter the Billboard 200 albums chart and contained her first Top 10 and 20 hits since 1964. It was also her second release for the Cadet record label. (wikipedia)

• • •

So ... this is gonna get a little (read: a lot) Inside Crosswords for a bit, but I think you'll appreciate it. At least I hope so. OK, so perhaps you've heard me talk about how I learned a ton about making crosswords from a single rejection letter I got back in '08 from Patrick Berry, when he edited the Chronicle of Higher Education crossword. That rejection is a touchstone moment in my crossword life—made me realize what a thoughtful and helpful editor Berry was, and made me realize what my standards ought to be for theme excellence. Honestly, the best rejection experience I ever, uh, experienced. Well, I just dug up that rejection letter. I'm going to reproduce for you now the entirety of my Patrick Berry correspondence from seven years ago. See if you notice anything ... familiar. (The first message is my puzzle pitch, the second is his response)

Hi Patrick,

"Divine Intervention"

TRUTHORDARE (11) - *1991 documentary about Madonna's "Blond Ambition" tour
MOODINDIGO (12) - *Duke Ellington composition originally titled "Dreamy Blues"
HELLOKITTY (12) - *Iconic feline character seen on many pink products
BETTYRUBBLE (11) - *Bedrock brunette
AESIR (5) - They reside in Valhalla ... and in the answers to the starred clues of this puzzle [circled squares could be used as well]

Thanks for your consideration,
Michael Sharp [5/18/08]

Hi Michael,

This is a nice idea, but unfortunately we've already run a puzzle very similar to it ("Leading Ladies," 02/01/08 -- the hidden words were all goddesses' names). So I'm afraid I'll have to pass.

If you decide to send it elsewhere, I might recommend replacing the first entry...I think hidden-word themes are always stronger if every word in the theme entry is involved in the concealment, which isn't true of DARE in entry #1. DRAFT HORSES or LOST HORIZON would be possible replacements.

Thanks for your interest in submitting to the Chronicle, and I hope you'll try me again.

Regards,
Patrick [5/26/08]

So ... yeah. That happened. There's more. I also have an email from Joon Pahk, from August of '08, telling me that he, too, had submitted this theme to Patrick at the Chronicle, and that he, too, had gotten a rejection letter. Joon, however, persevered, and found a home for his puzzle with Peter Gordon at the then not-defunct, indisputably great (crossword-wise) New York Sun (RIP—man that puzzle was good; see Joon's puzzle of 8/27/08 here). Then—THEN—I learned just today (just now) that this theme eventually *did* run in the Chronicle after all, five years later (Oct. 2013), when the Chronicle puzzle was no longer edited by Patrick Berry, but by Jeffrey Harris. That hidden Norse Gods crossword was by Zhouqin ("C.C.") Burnikel (which you can see here; seems lovely). Oh, and it's probably worth noting, just to bring this whole weird saga full circle, that the *current* editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education crossword puzzle is ... [drum roll] ... today's co-constructor: Brad Wilber.

So I have a very strong, weird, personal relationship to this theme. Also, this is the fourth incarnation of this theme That I Know Of (three of which were actually published: Joon's, CC's, and now Brad and Kevin's). And Brad (co-constructor of today's puzzle) is my friend, so I have a strong, weird, personal relationship to him too. Weirder, I had lost all my old email correspondence back in '12 when I had a hard drive meltdown ... until about a month ago, when a family member restored all the data, which allowed me to go back down crossword memory lane, which allowed me to find the old correspondence with Patrick Berry and Joon, which Joon and I were *just* talking about last week ... and now this puzzle comes out. It's just an avalanche of coincidence and nostalgia for me right now. I just wrote Brad and told him all this. I showed him my old grid (also recovered in the hard drive data restoration). He said nice things, because he is Brad. Here, you can judge for yourself. This is my version of this theme from way way back:

[Note ACME at 1-Across—that's a nod to Andrea Carla Michaels, whose hilarious story about Will Shortz not knowing what HELLO KITTY was led directly to my making this puzzle.]

[Not sure why I thought I could put TYRE in a puzzle where TYR is one of the hidden gods ... that corner needs redoing anyway ... gah, why am I still mentally re-working a puzzle that I'll never publish that's already been done three times!!!]

Annnnnnyway, this is all to say that this theme has been done, though not quite like this. Brad and Kevin's puzzle is 74 words, which makes for some pretty wide open corners. Still, the fill is reasonably clean. I was mildly wincing at ITT and INATIE, figuring I might be in for a crosswordese/iffy fill-fest. But no. Once you get out of the NW (past SOU) the fill evens out considerably. Since it's not an Olympic year, I had trouble with SHANI. I also don't really know what a HEELTAP is. That is, if I saw that word, I would assume it referred to one's tapping of one's heel, not a material object. And I didn't know "TELL MAMA" was an Etta James album. But I picked all this stuff up easily nonetheless.

So thanks, Brad and Kevin, for the surreal solving experience, and the chance to go down my own personal Crossword Memory Lane.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Merl Reagle (1950-2015)

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME:"The Gods Must be Crazy"— a puzzle from the 1991 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?) American Crossword Puzzle Tournament where ordinary words are imagined as Greek gods through the magic of REPRONUNCIATION (39A: Key to understanding the theme of this puzzle)

Theme answers:

MANACLES (14A: Greek god of bondage?)
ERUDITE (15A: Greek goddess of learning?)
TELEPHONE (16A: Greek goddess of communication?)
GAMETES (27A: Greek god of fertility?)
ENVELOPE (31A: Greek goddess of messages?) (hardest laugh—my wife's name is "Penelope")
ANTIBIAS (48A: Greek god of equal opportunity?)
AMPERES (53A: Greek god of electricity?)
FOLLICLES (64A: Greek god of healthy hair?)
SPAREUS (67A: Greek god of mercy?)
LIMEADES(69A: Greek god of tangy drinks?)

Word of the Day: COURT TV (1D: Cable channel that broadcasts trials) —

truTV is an American cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. // The network was originally founded as Court TV, a network that focused on crime-themed programs, such as documentary series, legal dramas, and coverage of prominent criminal cases. With its 2008 re-launch as TruTV, the network revamped its lineup with a focus on reality shows and "caught on camera" programs, which the network marketed as "actuality" television. In October 2014, the TruTV's lineup was re-oriented with a focus on comedy-based reality programs. As of February 2015, approximately 89.7 million American households (77% of households with television) receive truTV. (wikipedia)

• • •

I've written about Merl. I've done interviews about Merl. I've said all I can say at this point. I'm just going to let this puzzle sit here and speak for itself.

On second thought, just a few things.

1. This puzzle is 24 years old
2. This puzzle has enough theme answers to field a football team
3. I legitimately laughed, over and over

Recognize greatness.

Or don't.

Your call.

See you tomorrow.

[1992. Close.]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: David C. Duncan Dekker

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: none— I don't thing those 3 Qs on a diagonal count...

Word of the Day: QUIFF (28A: Man's do with upswept hair in the front) —

noun
Chiefly British
A tuft of hair, especially a forelock.
Origin of quiff
Origin unknown.
noun
A woman regarded as promiscuous.
Origin of quiff
Origin unknown.(Amer. Heritage Dict.)

• • •

I'd say AVERAGE is about right. There are lots of X J Q-type letters, but they aren't doing much of anything interesting. That Q-run is mildly cool, and I kind of like how KAMIKAZE komes krashing down there in the NE. "WHY YES!" gives the grid a little life down below. But three out of the four corners (all except the NE) are pretty dull. They are adequate. They are reasonably clean. They exist. Don't tend to love when grids have sections, like the NW and SE, that are sooooo cut off from the rest of the grid. Those sections end up playing like mini-puzzles, which would be OK if there were some inherent interest. But those sections aren't that lively. The real danger with such isolated sections is that they can kill you in a truly difficult puzzle—nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. But today's cut-off corners weren't that tough. Did take some effort to get at the NW, but that was offset by how easy the SE was—that corner couldn't have taken me more than 30 seconds.

I had a couple of miscues. First when I put in QUAKES at 24A: Trembles. Took one look at 8D: Muslim magistrate, realized it couldn't end in -RKF (what could?), and took out QUAKES. Guessed SHARIF and then put in QUAILS. Then moved down the grid a bit and put in QUAKES where it belonged (28D: Country rockers?) (that's a decent "?" clue for QUAKES). I also had a mistake at 35D: Slight sights. Turns out there are (at least) two answers that can fit in there *and* that start GLIM-

I went with GLIMMERS. It was actually the first thing I dropped into that section. The above-pictured grid captures the moment just after I realized my mistake. The ATP (48A: Court sport org.) is the Association of Tennis Professionals, btw. Lastly, just one quibble with the clue on ZIMA (38D: Once-popular alcopop). I think they meant "Once-available" or "once-marketed,"'cause ZIMA was never "popular." (Except, it seems, for a hot second in 1994 when Coors threw a ton of marketing money at it). Popular drinks, uh, survive. To be fair, though, ZIMA did hang in there for an awfully long time. According to Modern Drunkard Magazine: "Despite almost universal derision by the public in general and the drinking press in particular (see Real Drunks Don’t Drink Zima MDM Nov. ‘96), Zima managed to gimp along for an astonishing 15 years." Did you know Miller's answer to ZIMA was QUBE!? How did I miss that? Why is QUBE never in puzzles? I'm so disappointed in all crossword constructors right now. (Actually, I'm not–I can't even find a picture of QUBE on the whole of the Internet, which maybe says something about QUBE's crossword viability. But it turns out there are a bunch of other products out there trying to make QUBE happen, so there's always hope).

MASON JARs, on the other hand—MASON JARs are popular. Chances are you have had an (actual, non-ZIMA-related) alcoholic beverage in one in recent years. A touch of folksiness for hip urban faux-back-to-the-landers. Artisanal free-range MASON JARs for all!

Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Byron Walden

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME:none

Word of the Day: ORGEATS (7D: Almond syrups used in cocktails) —

n.
A sweetsyrupflavoredwithalmondsandorangeblossoms,used in cocktailsandfood.
[French,fromOldFrench,syrupmadefrombarley, fromOldProvençalorjat, fromordj,orge, barley, fromLatinhordeum.] (thefreedictionary.com)

• • •

Yikes. This started easy and then ... I just fell into a pit. I was stuck, everywhere, for a long time. Looking back (and this is unfortunate), the difference between this puzzle's being pretty doable and this puzzle's being merciless was ORGEATS. Never heard of it, and, now that I have, no amount of pleading is going to make me think it's "good." I think it's "acceptable" in a very tough, low word-count puzzle such as this. But to have the dealbreaker be an obscure word like that, one that is likely in the grid only because it's the only word that could make the grid hold together—that's a bit of buzzkill. No one ever though "Oh, it's ORGEATS!" Only "Oh ... it's ORGEATS ... what's ORGEATS?" Unless you knew it, in which case I'm guessing you knew it immediately and didn't have to puzzle over it. My point (in the end) is that had I known that answer, the whole solve would've been very different. Much, much easier, I think. It would've dominoed me down into the SE, and I would've come up and around into the SE and would've eventually pinched the puzzle to a close somewhere around HAHA. As it was. I went from here:

to here:

in no time, but then that was pretty much it for many, many minutes. Many. I got AGR- at 11D: Farm-related prefix. Then I got URGENT (16A: Pressing). *Then* I got STEEL (yay) MILLS (boo). That second word became many things before it became YARDS. Here is a screenshot entitled "millionyearslater." As you can see, at this point, it's STEEL SHOPS (!?):

As you can also see, I imagined there was a "best seller on exercise and diet" entitled FIT TO FAT. Somehow never occurred to me that my version of the title had reversed the direction of typical diet book claims. "Tired of being in shape? Wish you were much, much heavier? Well get *on* that couch and change your life with my revolutionary diet book, FIT TO FAT!" Sigh. But before that, even getting the SE was a bear. Couldn't anagram RY COODER (wanted ROY somebody). Couldn't figure out the crocodile place (that is an insane / hard / arbitrary clue for ORINOCO) (39D: Home to 15-foot-long crocodiles). The only thing I could do, eventually, was guess most of ONONDAGA (I am never sure about which vowels go where), because they're an [Upstate New York tribe] and I'm an Upstate New York person. Oh, and I had NOG. NOG was easy. In the beginning, there was NOG, and I had it. And it didn't matter much. Eventually I scratched my way out. I settled on the -NYM suffix, then tested TREMORS and was able to get (finally) SMOG TEST and RY COODER. Then I built to what you see above. Then I sat some more. Why did I think TEA came from the Virgin Islands? I don't know.

[Whoa, flashback to peak-MTV-watching early teens ...]

The rest of the puzzle was solved via alphabet-running, starting with the square before -HOS in 44A: Certain hash ingredients. Luckily, I didn't have far to run, as "A" gave me IDAHOS and that gave me a Huge boost of momentum: SW done in a matter of seconds. Then it was up and smack into the ORGEATS wall. Wanted BAPTISTERY, but wasn't sure that was a thing. Ran alphabet again at -IRE, until I hit "D" for DIRE, which gave me IDEAL MAN, Open MRI, all of it. Turned corner with KUMBAYA(9D: Treacly spirit of unity) and not long after that ended up at the STEEL SHOPS / PUT TO A STOP / FIT TO Fat mess. In retrospect, the whole thing feels like an Easy-Medium Saturday, with this terrible eternal wandering in darkness part shoved in the middle. Again, I blame ORGEATS. "Where the orgy at?" Is that how you pronounce it? I don't care. I hope I never see it again as long as I live.

[GO SOLO]

Oh, and I think the grid is really quite good for 66 words. ORGEATS is really the only thing I hate, and it just *happened* to be the solve-destroying answer. Sucks for me.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME:"Double Digits"— 9 boxes have two-digit numbers in them

Theme answers:

'ADAM 12' / '12 ANGRY MEN'
'CAR 54' / TOP 40 / '54-40 OR FIGHT!'
APRIL 15 / 15 MINUTES
THE B-52S / 52 PICK-UP
CENTURY 21 / '21 GRAMS'
'13 GOING ON 30' / PG-13 / '30 ROCK'
THE LOWER 48 / '48 HRS.'

Word of the Day:"54º 40' OR FIGHT"(28A: Rallying cry during the Polk administration) —

The southern boundary of the United States with Mexico was not the only western territory under dispute. The Oregon Territory spanned the modern states of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as the western coast of Canada up to the border of Russian Alaska. Both Great Britain and America claimed the territory. The Treaty of 1818 called for joint occupation of Oregon — a solution that was only temporary. Led by missionaries, American settlers began to outnumber British settlers by the late 1830s. But Britain was not Mexico. Its powerful navy was still the largest in the world. Twice before had Americans taken up arms against their former colonizers at great expense to each side. Prudence would suggest a negotiated settlement, but the spirit of manifest destiny dominated American thought. Yet another great showdown loomed. Oregon fever swept the nation in the 1840s. Thousands of settlers, lured by the lush Willamette Valley headed west on the Oregon Trail. Families in caravans of 20 or 30 braved the elements to reach the distant land. Poor eastern families could not generally make the trip, as outfitting such an expedition was quite expensive. The Conestoga wagon, oxen and supplies comprised most of the cost. The families fought Native Americans at times, but often they received guidance from the western tribes. It took six months of travel at the speed of fifteen miles per day to reach their destination. In the east, the subject of Oregon was less personal and more political. In 1844 the Democrats nominated James K. Polk, an unknown candidate from Tennessee. It appeared as though the Whig Party candidate, Henry Clay, would win in a landslide. Very few Americans had ever heard the name Polk, but Clay's illustrious career was widely known. However, Polk was an excellent strategist. He tapped into the public mood and realized that manifest destiny was the very issue that could lead him to victory. Polk called for expansion that included Texas, California, and the entire Oregon territory. The northern boundary of Oregon was the latitude line of 54 degrees, 40 minutes. "Fifty-four forty or fight!" was the popular slogan that led Polk to victory against all odds. (ushistory.org)

• • •

I enjoyed this. It was definitely on the easy side, and there wasn't any twisty wordplay or humor involved, but the numbers were fun to uncover, and the double punch in both "54-40 OR FIGHT" and "13 GOING ON 30" was unexpected and delightful. In the former case, impressive, actually. I was surprised he could get adjacent "double digits" to work like that. Not much to say about it. The theme leans toward proper nouns and titles, perhaps unsurprisingly. I count seven movie/TV show titles among the theme answers. "CAR 54" was the only one that seemed like a stretch, both in terms of its familiarity (it's old, and most under-50s will barely have heard of it, if they've heard of it at all), and in terms of the whole "informally" part of the clue (actual name of the show was "CAR 54, Where Are You?"). It's one thing to expect me to remember / know a half-century-old show, it's another to expect me to accept it slangily. But that was really the only part of the theme that was even vaguely weak. Everything else, solid; grid, solid. Totally acceptable and pleasant Sunday fare.

There were only a few memorable / noteworthy moments during this solve. Really had trouble parsing ILL AT EASE. Honest to god, I got the first five letters and considered that ILLATERAL might be a word describing something that is [On edge]. Yipes. I can never spell NEESON on first pass, so that second "E" slot was blank for a bit. Loved the clue on NOSE JOBS (39A: Changes to the bill?). Only two complete WTFs for me today: CASSIE (72A: Zach's old flame in "A Chorus Line") and AVIANCA (35D: Colombia's national airline), though the latter I've almost certainly seen before. I'm not sure I even really know what "A Chorus Line" is. I know "One" is the finale. Is that right? "One ... singular sensation ... every little etc." But "Zach" and "CASSIE" are just names to me. No significance.

The SW was, far and away, the hardest part of the grid, starting with CITY GIRL, the first part of which I needed virtually all the crosses for, and those weren't that easy to come by. Wasn't sure AMY was Little Dorrit's first name. Had HOT but not ASTRIDE. Had GOWNS before COWLS, so that hurt (99D: Religious outfits). Could not figure out exactly what kind of GIRL I was supposed to believe Eloise was. With G-T-GIRL in place, she really seemed like a GOTH GIRL there for a bit. And then the whole SW corner was tough, with FARMS hidden behind a vague clue (89A: Growing businesses), and ORB looking like ARC for a bit 105A: Ornament shape (I now see that it's "ornament," not "ornamental," as I'd originally thought). MEANS had a singular clue but looked plural in the grid, so that was disorienting. Don't think of a bee as a SOCIAL (though obviously that's one meaning). I knew Beau Brummell was a clothes horse, but did not know ASCOTS were a signature look. Still, I wouldn't call that section 'hard.' Just tougher than the rest.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Soooooo...today isn't a grumpy Rex Monday. But it isn't a high school student Monday either. Or even a soon-to-be-college student Monday. Hmmmm, guess means this writeup is being done by a.........

ANNABEL HERE!!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE COLLEGE????? AND I LOVE WELLESLEY????? AND I LOVE GOING TO COLLEGE AT WELLESLEY???? AND I LOVE MY CLASSES AND MY PROFESSORS AND oh right you guys probably want to see the puzzle

Constructor: Paula Gamache

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME:"IN THE HOLE"— Theme clues are all golf-themed.

Theme answers:

DRIVEWAYS (17A: They lead to garages)
PITCHFORK (30A: Tool for moving hay)
CHIPBOARD (37A: Pressed, recycled paper used for notepad backing)
PUTT PUTTS (48A: Slow motorboats, informally)
IN THE HOLE (62A: Having debts...or where to find a ball after 17-, 30-, 37- and 48's starts?)

Word of the Day: CLARA (61A: Pioneering nurse Barton) —

Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was a pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She worked as a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, and as a teacher and patent clerk. Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work at a time when relatively few women worked outside the home. She had a relationship with John J. Elwell, but never married.

When Barton returned to the United States, she inaugurated a movement to gain recognition for the International Committee of the Red Cross by the United States government.^[15] In 1873, she began work on this project. In 1878, she met with President Rutherford B. Hayes, who expressed the opinion of most Americans at that time which was the U.S. would never again face a calamity like the Civil War. Barton finally succeeded during the administration of President Chester Arthur, using the argument that the new American Red Cross could respond to crises other than war such as natural disasters like earthquakes, forest fires, and hurricanes.

(Wikipedia)

• • •

This was a really nice little Monday! I know easy puzzles can be annoying for veteran puzzlers, but I can see this being great for someone just starting out. Plenty of obvious clues, but some harder ones too - as you can see, I had no idea what ISL or SELA were, and that clue about jigsaw puzzles had me stuck for a while thinking the word was END or something. (Not all jigsaw puzzles even have a SKY in them...what about puzzles about cats?)

OK, no offense but the theme's boring (watching golf is just standing around - come to think of it, playing golf is too) so let's talk about something more interesting - my first two weeks of COLLEGE!!!!! (Geez, I'm OLD.) So I'm probably joining Hillel (my mother will be so proud), as well as hopefully helping out here and there with TECH for an upcoming show (A Taste Of Honey; if you live in the Boston area you should totes come see it). But dude, this school rocks. My personal favorite building is the Science Center, this huge weird awesome building featuring a ton of taxidermied animals, and we also have this huge tower where people play songs on the bells every day. Also, in my res hall, every Sunday is Sundae Sunday. That is, ice cream sundae Sunday. #freshman15 much?

Bullets:

9D: Voice higher than tenor (ALTO) — First of all, I'm getting reeeeal tired of this word, it's definitely been in at least three first Mondays this year. But second of all, I auditioned for an a cappella group! Only it wasn't at all like the Pitch Perfect auditions where you just have to show up, be Anna Kendrick, and sing the cups song...you have to be good at complex sing-y stuff like pitch matching and tonal memory. Which, uh, I'm not, yet (I think my tonal memory lasts about three notes). Oh well, there's always next year!

33D: "Little __ of Horrors" (SHOP) — As I'm sure has become apparent by now, I'm a sucker for musical theater clues. FEED ME, SEYMOUR!

68A: Prefix with -naut (ASTRO) — When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut, but I wanted to make sure I only went on day trips to space so I could tuck my kids in at night. No comment.
44A: Waters parted in Exodus (REDSEA) — Okay, okay, sorry for such a song-heavy writeup, but THERE CAN BE MIIIIIIIIIRACLLLLLLLES

Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired college girl.

Oh, and by the way: http://www.wellesley.edu/

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Constructor: Jacob Stulberg

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME:PG THIRTEEN (60A: Somewhat family-friendly ... or a title for this puzzle, as suggested by the completed grid?) —two-letter string "PG" appears thirteen times in the grid

Word of the Day: APGAR (70A: ___ score (neonatal measure)) —

Virginia Apgar invented the Apgar score in 1952 as a method to quickly summarize the health of newborn children. Apgar was an anesthesiologist who developed the score in order to ascertain the effects of obstetric anesthesia on babies. // The Apgar scale is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two, then summing up the five values thus obtained. The resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10. The five criteria are summarized using words chosen to form a backronym (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration). From each column in the table below, the infant is given a score of 0, 1 or 2. The scores are added up and the total is their Apgar score. (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow. This one. Uh ... OK, so the long Downs are actually pretty nice. But the rest, hoo boy. I mean, there's no way to say this except to just say it: the fill is really, really, really bad. Objectively. Like a war crime coupled with a natural disaster coupled with tofurky. I have one screenshot from early on entitled "Not Promising":

[I thought maybe if I followed ANWAR across the grid to his last name, the fill might get better over there ... but no. Oh, no.]

You can smell Terrible early, and this smelled terrible. But, improbably, it immediately got worse. The very next answer I filled in was AAR ... and then ... well, a minute or so later I literally exclaimed "WHAT IS HAPPENING?," which then became the title of the next screenshot:

[I need a PRIE-dieu to beg god "No, god please, no"]

I claim that that northern section, where CMII sits on ASSN and crosses MSGR *and* ISAO *and* INSUM, is the worst northern section ever found in any mainstream puzzle anywhere. Ever. Consider that a dare. The density of junk there is black-hole-ish. That section is nearly but not quite equaled by its counterpart in the south (SOUTH!—one of the puzzle's rare reasonable words), where IPSO and STLEO double-team ERSE OTOS in one of the most repulsive crosswordese orgies ever seen by human eyeballs. And that's just two small sections of this thing. I count a full two dozen (!) answers that I would put in the "avoid if at all possible" category. Stuff you want to keep to a bare minimum. Maybe you can accept six or so of these kinds of answers per puzzle. But... 6 < 24. 6 x 4 = 24. But on the plus side, it's got a terrorist? Man ... man oh man. Is this really what gives you pleasure, mainstream crossword-solving audience? Is this it? Wading through a crosswordese oil spill to find 13 PGs, most of which are huddled together in fear and/or shame? I just can't believe it. Or, I can, but then I drink to forget.

Happy Tuesday.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Great Plains tunneler / THU 8-20-15 / Siblinig duo in Lady Be Good 1924 / 1970s TV series set at 165 Eaton Place / German boy's name meaning wealthy / Edgar Bergen's dummy of old radio / Like breeds Kerry Hill English Leicester /

Eponym in frozen food aisle / FRI 8-21-15 / Paid purchaser perhaps / Most-cooked part of prime rib roast / Jerry of Dirty Dancing / Home to Sultan Qaboos University / Perfumery measure

It's Red Magic Time sloganeer once / SAT 8-22-15 / Comedian once called Female Bob Hope / Little Bitty Tear singer 1962 / Female helicopter pilot from Hasbro / Sitcom teacher of Vinnie Boom Boom / To whom prospero says Thou liest malignant thing / Paper with Mansion section for short

City between Turin Genoa / SUN 8-23-15 / Virginia's Hill Academy alma mater of 20+ NBA players / Unseen winning card in poker lingo / Epitome of desolateness / Saint with alphabet named after him / Pepper Iron Man's love interest

Detroit debut of 1903 / MON 8-24-15 / Wrinkly-faced Chinese dog / Directive to Kate in Cole Porter musical / Preceder of Brown Robinson in 1960s #1 hits / Shape-shifting Norse trickster

Old color print informally / TUE 8-25-15 / Granny's darn it / Old Mach 2 fliers for short / High-ceilinged courtyards / Demolish British style

Onetime Coors alcopop / WED 8-26-15 / Sculptor who pioneered Dadaism / Canadian airline with directional name / Israeli novelist Perfect Peace / Hoops legend with statue in Philadelphia / Religion founded in 19th-century Persia / Image in Timberland logo / Black hues in Shakespeare /

Stephen War of 1812 naval hero / THU 8-27-15 / Land bordering Francia / Birthplace of Paddington bear / Educational institution near Plano informally / A Team character played by Mr T

Comic strip character surnamed DeGroot / FRI 8-28-31 / Barely communicates on smartphone / Actress Carano of Fast Furious 6 / Maniac Mansion console / 1987 B'way smash / Captain Clutch of baseball /

Perianth component / SAT 8-29-15 / Microsoft release of 2013 / Big producer of novelty records informally / My Darling Clementine locale / Surveying device with letter-shaped rests / Longtime Washington Post theater critic Richard / Spice mixture in Indian restaurant

Steer closer to wind / SUN 8-30-15 / Figure in Jewish folklore / Emoji holder / Comedian Daniel musician Peter / Michael Sheen's character in Twilight / Checked online reviews of modern-style / Ambient music innovator Brian / Emulate Isocrates

Allen whose #3 was retired by 76ers / MON 8-31-15 / Heroine of Purim

Former New York archbishop / TUE 9-1-15 / Madrid's Sofia Museum / Phrase over movie poster / Like clothing customized from raw fabric / Like name Leningrad

Bumpers of Arkansas / THU 9-3-15 / Title villain for Star Trek film / Lt commander of 60s tv / Sicilian's millions / America's only bachelor president

Muslim magistrate / FRI 9-4-15 / Important Peruvian crop / Green Hornet trumpeter / Major in 1973 David Bowie hit / Once-popular alcopop

Almond syrups used in cocktails / SAT 9-5-15 / 1978 covert bailey best seller on exercise diet / treacly spirit of unity / aria from Faure's requiem / remarkably humanlike fingerprints / Hidalgo honorific / Classic novel whose title means wanderer / Old Pittsburgh work areas

Ward of "The Fugitive" / MON 9-7-2015 / Often-difficult part of a jigsaw puzzle / Arthur of tennis / Pre-GPS guide from a travel org

Turbaned believer / TUE 9-8-15 / Figure on soldier's poster in WW II / Bygone video game inits / Fifth-century pope known as great / Swiss river to Rhine