Designer Marc / TUE 5-28-13 / Growing Pains co-star Alan / Roman encyclopedist who died after Vesuvius / Big name in power tools / G in EGBDF / Biblical book once combined with Nehemiah / Like apparel donned in deck halls / Nahuatl speaker /

Constructor: Dan Feyer

Relative difficulty: Medium (maybe slightly more difficult than the normal Tuesday)



THEME: Recycling Binge — -GE is added to ends of familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, which are clued "?"-style

Word of the Day: Alan THICKE (46D: "Growing Pains" co-star Alan) —

Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffery; March 1, 1947) is a Canadian actor, comedian, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the patriarch on the ABC television series Growing Pains. (wikipedia)

Hey, look, it's 4-time American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Champion Dan Feyer, a man who can solve brutal puzzle in times that most people would (literally) not believe, and he's made a very solvable (not to mention delightful) Tuesday puzzle. Simple gimmick leads to genuinely amusing and clever theme answers, all in a grid that is both clean and interesting. I didn't have any problems solving it, but as soon as my wife said "well I'm going to have to make an educated guess at one square," I knew exactly what square she was talking about: THICKE / ECKO. She wanted to put "C" there, and I was like "What? Why would you do that?" and she said "OK, then it's 'K', I don't know ... you know how it is with *names* ..." And I do. Alan THICKE hasn't really been heard from since "Growing Pains," but in the '80s he was pretty famous both for that show and his failed late-night talk show. My favorite part of the solve today was hitting the *second* "Growing Pains" clue (47D: "Growing Pains" family name = SEAVER). I loved that show as a kid, both because it was pretty funny and because I had a thing for Joanna Kearns. Yes, as a teenager, my tastes ran more to sitcom moms than supermodels. In my defense, she was hot. Meanwhile, Alan THICKE's son is now a successful R&B singer.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Garbage scow that docked with Mir? (SPACE BARGE)
• 20A: Swapping out Sheen for Rose? (CHARLIE CHANGE)
• 35A: Boy Scout's reward for karate expertise? (BREAKING BADGE)
• 54A: Caveman's injury after discovering fire? (ORIGINAL SINGE)
• 59A: Feeling when one's voodoo doll is poked? (EVIL TWINGE)

Had to think here and there about a few answers. Stumped by 14A: Extra Dry brand (ARRID) because I figured it had to be a beer (or BREWSKI). "Starting with A ... ASAHI?" No. Not even close. I don't think of HEPCATs wearing ZOOT suits (21D: Cool one, once + 16A: Kind of suit worn by a 21-Down). I associate the suits more with a black/latino subculture in the '40s, whereas I associate HEPCATs with beatniks of the '50s. I'm sure there's some overlap, but that clue didn't quite work for me. ECKO (62A: Designer Marc) and SKIL (6A: Big name in power tools) are potentially tough, as brand names go—I don't think of them as very mainstream; I mean, not OREO-mainstream, anyway. Took me forever to parseI BLEW IT (34D: "My goof!"). Took me a second to remember there had once been a Chuck ROBB (23D: Former Virginia senator Chuck).

That is all.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld