Filmdom's Chucky, for one / SAT 2-6-16 / Its icon contains pair of quavers / 2004 film with tagline One man saw it coming / Swiss treaty city / Duran Duran frontman Simon / So-called commander of faithful / Redolent ring

Constructor:David Steinberg

Relative difficulty:Medium


THEME:none 

Word of the Day:LOCARNO(36D: Swiss treaty city) —

The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, on 5–16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World WarWestern EuropeanAllied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, and return normalizing relations with defeated Germany (which was, by this time, the Weimar Republic). Ratifications for the Locarno treaties were exchanged in Geneva on 14 September 1926, and on the same day they became effective. The treaties were also registered in the League of NationsTreaty Series on the same day. // Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by Locarno treaties, and eastern borders of Germany with Poland, which were open for revision, thus leading to Germany's renewed claims to the German-populated Free City of Danzig and mixed ethnic Polish territories approved by the League of Nations including the Polish Corridor, and Upper Silesia. (wikipedia)

A very Saturday Saturday. I had to struggle a good deal, but not in ways that I ended up resenting (the way I will when the fill is hyper-obscure or downright awful, or the cluing is suspect or downright awful, etc.). This one's got a nice variety of answers, from a broad cross-section of knowledge bases, and it feels very modern, which I always like (OK I don't *like* SELFIE STICKs, but I like that this puzzle *sees* them, knows they're there, and, I assume, sneers at them the same way I do). LONGING EYES felt wibbly-wobbly (WAWA-wobbly) to me. That is borderline Green Paint—[adjective] + EYES. Is there a famous instance of that exact phrase? BEDROOM EYES, I've definitely heard of. Also BLUE, LYIN', SNAKE, ITCHY WATERY, BEADY, CROSS, and BETTE DAVIS. When I google ["LONGING EYES"] roughly half the hits are for some hymn: "Jesus, Thy Church with Longing Eyes" by William H. Bathurst, 1796-1877." I doubt those were the kind of eyes the clue was going for. Anyway, that one prompted a squint-eyed suspicious glare from me. But all the other longer stuff seemed nice. I do hate DO TO A TEEEEEEEE (both that spelling and that phrase in general) and crossing it with HES? (8D: Drones and such). Ick. But there just aren't many moments like that. Mostly it's all ROSE CEREMONYs and MOONROOFs.


I had DISTRESS instead of ACID WASH right out of the gate (1A: Make look old, in a way). Same material (denim!), different words. I guess you can DISTRESS lots of stuff, but you probably don't ACID WASH anything but denim, right? Early '90s denim? So I was wrong there, but knew I was wrong when no Downs worked. Then I hit onto what is probably the weirdest opening solving pattern I've ever had on a Saturday. If I'd known RABIN Square (9D: ___ Square, center of Tel Aviv), I'd've had an impressively symmetrical, grid-spanning creature of some sort written into my grid:


It's like a one-armed guy waving hello. After this opening play, I figured the puzzle would be Easy. If I could cross the grid with virtually no effort, what could stop me!? (Plenty, it turns out). I know LUCERNE, but not LOCARNO, and they're both in Switzerland, and so,  yeah, with C and R in there, I went with LUCERNE, and that screwed things up. Otherwise, it was just tough. Normal tough. Saturday tough, with a few nice gimmes thrown in for me (Pau GASOL, ROSANNE Cash, Simon LEBON). If I have a relative named BOWSER, I am unaware of it (18A: Relative of Rex). BOWSER, call me.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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