Titular queen of Castile in a Handel opera / THU 5-19-16 / terminer criminal court / punny quip about perp's predicament / Turing test participant / Pollock painting unit / Bygone name in Chinese politics / Modern prefix with gender / One-named Grammy winner for American Boy 2008 / Daughter of Sweeney Todd in Sondheim musical / Nautical command

Constructor:Morton J. Mendelson

Relative difficulty:Challenging (between the ... interesting ... fill and the made-up punny quip, I just couldn't find the handle)


THEME:a punny quip about a perp's predicament— THE PRIME SUSPECT / KNEW HE WAS COOKED / AFTER HE / WAS GRILLED BY THE / POLICE DETECTIVE

Word of the Day:ALMIRA(51A: Titular queen of Castile in a Handel opera) —

Almira, Königin von Castilien ("Almira, Queen of Castile", HWV 1; full title: Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Almira, Königin von Castilien) is George Frideric Handel's first opera, composed when he was 19 years old. It was first performed in Hamburg in January 1705. [...] Almira is the sole example among Handel's many operas with no role for a castrato. (wikipedia)

I can't write about this in any way that I feel good about, so I'm going to keep it very brief. This type of puzzle is not for me, but you knew that. This specific incarnation of this type of puzzle is not for me, but you knew that as well. Punny quips (esp. those with cutesy alliterative clues) aren't my bag. Never have been. Never will be. I couldn't tell you who cooks the best liver because I don't eat that stuff. This is how I feel about punny quip puzzles. I have to wonder (out loud, partly because it's kind of my job) how made-up a punny quip can be. This one feels Highly made-up. PRIME appears to be there just to make the letter count in the answer come out right, and ... I'm no joke-teller, but isn't it somewhat poor form to have your laugh word, your "punch line," come in the *middle* of your joke. Everything after GRILLED is just filler ... filler that goes on forever. Seriously, the entire last part of this quip is arbitrary and anticlimactic. "... KNEW HE WAS COOKED AFTER HE WAS GRILLED..." stop. That's it. Get it!? Yeah, you get it. But ... the "grill" part really really really needs to come at the *end* for this to be a proper joke. Maybe end the quip with "... when the detective started grilling him"? Something like that. But instead the punny quip just steps on the "joke" and then keeps on walking. It's like a malfunctioning joke-bot wrote this. Crap! I said I would keep it brief. Not for me. Moving on.


The fill. Also not for me. Please don't make me relive it. ATRI OYER ALMIRA PEE. That is all. Seriously, I have to stop. There is nothing for me here. No, wait, one last thing. I'll confess I'm not up to date on all the different astrophysics prizes there are out there (????) but if you give me 33A: Bruno ___ Prize (astrophysics award), the answer better damn well be MARS.


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. a couple of people (in emails) have floated the idea that "PRIME" is some kind of substantive adjective for meat (e.g. prime steak, prime rib). I don't know the stand-alone usage of "PRIME," but maybe this interpretation adds to the punniness? You be the judge.

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