Longtime mike mike airer / FRI 6-17-16 / Lumia smartphone launcher / God with green skin / Where crossword is korsord

Constructor:Zhouqin Burnikel

Relative difficulty:Easy


THEME:none 

Word of the Day:Project Gutenberg(12D: Project Gutenberg  job) —

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This is a wonderful themeless puzzle. Shimmering and clean. Feels like what you'd get if you crossed a robust word-list with a careful constructor. Careful human control of software can work wonders, especially if you aren't going for some bogus low-word-count record. Sweet and juicy 70-word themelesses! There's not much better. Today's also happened to be very very much in my wheelhouse, from 1A: Longtime "Mike & Mike" airer (ESPN RADIO). In fact, as soon as I'm done with this write-up, I'll head downstairs for coffee and oatmeal and sit on the couch with my dog at feet and watch "Mike & Mike" on ESPN 2 (which was my first guess, but obviously didn't fit). Being a sports fan, you'd think TIM / TEBOW would've popped right into my head (29A: With 10-Across, player that the Broncos replaced with Peyton Manning), and he did, but ... his name didn't. I could see him. I could see his face, and I could've told you about his Heismans and his improbably NFL playoff run a few years ago, etc., but ... TOM / BRADY kept running interference in my brain. Man, even when TIM / TEBOW gets his day in the crossword sun, some other, superior quarterback is there mucking it up. Sorry TIM. You seem nice. And I *did*, eventually, remember your name.


Even though I mostly blew right through this, there were some parts that made me work, or where I just fell over and had to get up and dust myself off. I was dropping Downs pretty easily in the NW, so I got overconfident and dropped in ONE at 9D: Matchless? If you are a sock without a match you are ... ONE ... sock ... I semi-reasoned. Those two wrong letters slowed down my ability to see both STONE COLD (excellent!) and TAKES HOLD. Despite having used Project Gutenberg before and knowing very well what it is, I needed a lot of crosses to get BOOK SCAN. BOOK wasn't too hard, but what came after—less clear. Also wasn't sure if maybe the Royal Opera House was in WEST ... some place. WEST L.A.? WESTEROS? Pretty dumb, in retrospect. But that's me for you. I had "ADD ME to the list" at 49D: "___ the list". Not only did I have it, I didn't even hesitate. Again, two wrong letters caused a temporary traffic jam, but PRIMATE and TORMÉ (48D: The "Velvet" half of jazz's Velvet & Brass") got me out of it, by creating highly improbably letter sequences, which made me pull the "ME" in ADD ME. I know LARD as "fat," and as a verb meaning "stock, as a cupboard," but not as a verb meaning "fatten." But now I see that "lard" does not mean "stock, as a cupboard" at all. My brain somehow confused "lade" (to load a ship) with "larder" (a place where food is stored). Fascinating (to me)! I ended, finally, fittingly, with WRAPS UP (38D: Finishes). Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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