Robe-wearing trainer of cinema / FRI 3-17-17 / Command for turning sharply right / Supermarket chain until 2015 / Recreational soccer to Brits / Fort Civil War landmark near Savannah / Thomas who headed 9/11 commission

Constructor:Jacob Stulberg

Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium

THEME: IN AN "E" (49D: Foolish ... or, when read as three words, how this puzzle's other four "foolish" answers are arranged)— three other answers are each clued [Foolish]; they form a large "E" in the middle of the grid

S I L L Y
E
N
S
E M P T Y
L
E
S
S A P P Y

Word of the Day:Thomas KEAN(54A: Thomas who headed the 9/11 Commission) —

Thomas Howard "Tom" Kean Sr. (/ˈkeɪn/; born April 21, 1935) is an American Republican Partypolitician, who served as the 48thGovernor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the 9/11 Commission, which was responsible for investigating the causes of the September 11, 2001 attacks and providing recommendations to prevent future terrorist attacks. He was appointed to this post by U.S. President George W. Bush. Upon the completion of his second term as governor, he served as the president of Drew University for 15 years, until his retirement in 2005. (wikipedia)

It has its charm, but I really wish it had run on a Thursday. Not really a fan of these half-themes, these coy themes, these "can I be a themeless and a themed puzzle too, please?" themes. In-betweeners. This one feels too thin for a themed puzzle and not wide-open and daring enough to be a themeless. Gets caught in a kind of no man's land. And yet I admire the "E" trick, if only because it somehow works—that is a perfect "E," and the [Foolish] clue works well enough for all of those answers. It's like a mini-theme stuck in between two slices of themeless bread (specifically, the two pairs of 15s in the E and the W). Somehow the 15s all seem both original and boring. Not sure why that is. At least ATTENDANCE SHEET got a somewhat clever clue (2D: Skipping record?).


Never heard of Fort MCALLISTER (37A: Fort ___ (Civil War landmark near Savannah)) or Thomas KEAN (54A: Thomas who headed the 9/11 Commission) or GLEN Rock, N.J. (60A: ___ Rock, N.J.), which meant that at times I really felt like I was struggling. But I came in under 6, which is on the fast side for me, for a Friday ... but then this isn't really a *Friday*, as we've established, so I don't know how to rate its difficulty accurately ... except to say it took me 5-something minutes. That's fastish for both Thursday and Friday. Beyond the proper noun problems, I had trouble coming up with "HELL-O!" (needed almost every cross) (1D: When its second syllable is drawn out, "Are you out of your mind?!"), as well as the SLY part of ON THE SLY (wanted D.L. or Q.T., which obviously didn't fit) (23A: Sub rosa). No other high- or lowlights. Gonna go back to watching my NCAA brackets getting blown up. Pretty boring day so far. Mostly chalk. (*This* meaning of chalk, which I don't think I've ever seen as a CHALK clue ... but then, how often do you see CHALK in the grid?)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day, from snowy Binghamton...

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