Lenin's successor / MON 10-26-15 / Kid long-running 1950s western / Home with entrance flap / Furry creature from Endor / Dries up and shrinks with age

Constructor: Bruce Haight

Relative difficulty: Easy (2:42, and this thing is 16-wide...)


THEME:SAN FRANCISCO (67A: So-called "Paris of the West") — stuff in or associated with S.F.

Theme answers:

• CITY BY THE BAY (18A: Nickname of 67-Across)
• ALCATRAZ (26A: Island near 67-Across)
• GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (42A: 67-Across landmark)
• CABLE CAR  (52A: Conveyance in 67-Across)

Word of the Day: KEAN University (32D: University in Union, N.J.) —

Kean University/ˈkeɪn/ is a coeducational, public university located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, United States. Kean University serves its students in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions and is best known for its programs in the humanities and social sciences and in education, graduating the most teachers in the state of New Jersey annually. Kean is also noted for the physical therapy program which it holds in conjunction with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. (wikipedia)

Another day, another puzzle about which I have nothing substantive to say. I have never liked this constructor's puzzles, so I was braced for wincing, but the wincing actually didn't come. The fill is ordinary, old-fashioned, but nothing here made me go "Oh god no." I consider this progress. The theme, however ... it jaw-droppingly remedial. Basic. This isn't a theme. It's certainly not a theme worthy of "the best puzzle in the world." It's a "$100,000 Pyramid" category, at best. Stuff in S.F. ... that's it!? This is placemat crossword fodder. Like, I would eat crab near Fisherman's Wharf and solve this puzzle on a little paper placemat. There is nothing to it. It's a remedial trivia crossword. The crossword has been self-consciously musty of late. Defiantly fuddy-duddy. Most people are going to solve this and find it unremarkable and forget it. But it's shocking, honestly, that a concept this unimaginative made the grade. Again, hurray for fill that isn't like a groin-kick, but theme-wise ... I'm aghast and agape and all the other a-words except Appreciative. The best part about this puzzle was that I torched it. Filled in most of the themers w/o even looking at the clues. 2:42 is a very good time for me on a normal 15x15. For a 15x16, it's unreal. I am The Flash. For a Day.


Bullets:

• 4D: Excite (KEY UP)— just pointing out the UP dupe at ASK UP. I think dupes are more obvious and irksome when they show up in the same phrase position in their answers.
• 44D: "Toughen up!" ("BE A MAN!")— this clue really should have some additional bit, like "... to a bullying sexist asshole."
• 23A: On its way (SENT)— my MacBook Air does this weird thing sometimes where, when I disconnect from speakers ... it seems to have stored up a bunch of alert sounds, and then unleashes them all at once, in quick succession. Mostly SENT e-mail whooshes. It's disconcerting.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]