Aware of in cool cat slang / MON 1-23-17 / Little shaver to Scot / 50s Ford flops / Many John Wayne film informally / Corkscrew-shaped noodles

Constructor:Bruce Haight

Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium (2:48)

THEME: FAIRY TALE (60A: What the starts of 17-, 26-, 35- and 50-Across are)— those beginnings spell out "RUMP/EL/STILT/SKIN"

Theme answers:

• RUMP ROAST (17A: Slow-cooked beef entree)
• EL DORADO (26A: Fabled city of wealth sought by conquistadors)
• STILT WALKER (35A: One with a leg up in the circus business?)
• SKIN GAME (50A: Gambling scam)

Word of the Day:ETHAN Hawke(32D: Actor Hawke of "Boyhood") —

Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed two feature films, three Off-Broadway plays, and a documentary, and wrote the novels The Hottest State (1996), Ash Wednesday (2002), and Rules for a Knight (2015). // He made his film debut in 1985 with the science fiction feature Explorers, before making a breakthrough appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society. He then appeared in numerous films before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites, for which he received critical praise. In 1995, Hawke first appeared in Richard Linklater's romance trilogy, co-starring opposite Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise, and later in its sequels Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013), all of which met with critical acclaim. // Hawke has been twice nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; his writing contributions to Before Sunset and Before Midnight were recognized, as were his performances in Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014). Hawke was further honored with SAG Award nominations for both films, along with BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for the latter. // His other films include the science fiction drama Gattaca (1997), the contemporary adaptation of Hamlet (2000), the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), and the horror film Sinister (2012). (wikipedia)

This may as well be a themeless, so unremarkable is the theme. There are a few nice answers, most notably in the south (MISCAST alongside ASK AWAY; and I especially like I'M A FAN), but way too much short gunk / crosswordese. And, as I say, a super-blah theme. I wasn't yet out of the NW before I knew the fill would be a problem. It's HEP TO MOO WHAP! I like LASER fine but for some reason LASE in its various verb forms irks and even ires me (if IRES were a thing, which, I maintain, it is not and never will be, sorry crosswords) (yes, I know IRES isn't in this puzzle; it's just that even thinking about it gets me so IRED, I ...). In the end, though, this was more plain old dull than bad. Musty. If your dad was HEP TO EDSELS when you were a WEE LAD, maybe this spoke to you.


Difficulty-wise, it was just a shade easier than average for me. Had some hesitation at the phrase ON MIKE (had the ON, but the second part needed crosses, since AIR came up short) (3D: Like a live radio announcer). Also needed all the crosses for WHAP because WHAP, WTF? (6D: Fly swatter sound) I don't really know the phrase SKIN GAME, but that answer must've just filled itself in via crosses. The biggest trap in the puzzle is probably the CLUMSY / KLUTZY one (38D: All thumbs), which I clumsily and / or klutzily fell into. Luckily for me I saw that that made the ending on the central themer -ALCER, and my spidey sense told me that was unnnnlikely. So change: to KLUTZY, to ZALES, to zip zap zoom ET AL. And done. Wish there were more to say. There is not.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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