Constructor:Byron Walden
Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium
![]()
THEME:"Having Nothing On"— Nothing (O) + ON are added to phrases, making funny new phrases ending with -OON.
Word of the Day:CRONUTS(7D: Hybrid bakery treats) —
Laura here, guest-hosting for Rex; the Joan Rivers to his Johnny Carson, if you will. (Rex isn't sick or having computer problems tonight, but he does deserve an occasional break.) This was a fine Sunday to be the designated hitter for -- a simple theme, cleanly executed. I took my time starting out, then got a foothold with MY GAL SALOON right off the bat, and then pretty much cruised through the rest of grid by putting OON in the last three squares of every theme entry. The only Down theme entry, MONSTER'S BALLOON (28D: Something seen at Frankenstein's birthday party?) elegantly crosses all eight of the Across themers right through the center of the grid. One quibble with the clue, however: with the typical tired pedantry of CrossWorld, I'll point out that Frankenstein is the name of the monster's creator, not of the creature himself. I doubt that Dr. Frankenstein would have been pleased to have a MONSTER'S BALLOON at his birthday party, given that in pretty much every version of the story (with the noted exceptions of Young Frankenstein, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Franken-Berry cereal), Dr. F's relationship with his creation doesn't work out so well.
![]()
Some nice longer fill inhabits the grid as well; I had thought at first that HOBBIT HOLE (22A: Home for Bilbo Baggins) was a themer, and that there would be something to do with synonyms for zero (HOLE?). Almost tried to make BLUE LAGOON fit instead of BLUE LEANING (62D: Apt to go Democratic). And I'm always thrown a little when longer fill entries (i.e. 14D and 62D) are the same length (11 letters) as some of the themers (i.e. 28A and 100A). There was plenty of your standard fill with OTB AIDE OCHO OREO AGAR PSAT ESAU ACNE LEI ANTI ERTE but it held things together well enough.
Bullets -- three proper names for whom I needed all the crosses:
[Follow Laura on Twitter]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium
THEME:"Having Nothing On"— Nothing (O) + ON are added to phrases, making funny new phrases ending with -OON.
Word of the Day:CRONUTS(7D: Hybrid bakery treats) —
Cronut is a croissant-doughnutpastry invented by New York City pastry chef Dominique Ansel and trademarkedby Dominique Ansel Bakery.The pastry resembles a doughnut and is made from croissant-like dough which is filled with flavored cream and fried in oil. The flavor of the pastry differs every month. Official Cronut pastries are currently offered only at the Dominique Ansel bakeries in New York City, Tokyo, and London. [Wikipedia]
• • •
Theme answers:- 28A: The ladies-only Western-themed bar I own? -- MY GAL SALOON
- 30A: Inspector Clouseau or Borat? -- MOVIE BUFFOON
- 39A: Decoration in a deli case? -- SAUSAGE FESTOON
- 57A: Product of a stable of comic strip artists? -- HORSEDRAWN CARTOON
- 65A: Scaled-down woodwind? -- SMALLMOUTH BASSOON
- 85A: Audibly upset Belgian francophone? -- WAILING WALLOON
- 97A: Satirical depiction of the story of Noah? -- FLOOD LAMPOON
- 100A: Most important mounted cavalryman? -- MAIN DRAGOON
- 28D: Something seen at Frankenstein's birthday party? -- MONSTER'S BALLOON
Laura here, guest-hosting for Rex; the Joan Rivers to his Johnny Carson, if you will. (Rex isn't sick or having computer problems tonight, but he does deserve an occasional break.) This was a fine Sunday to be the designated hitter for -- a simple theme, cleanly executed. I took my time starting out, then got a foothold with MY GAL SALOON right off the bat, and then pretty much cruised through the rest of grid by putting OON in the last three squares of every theme entry. The only Down theme entry, MONSTER'S BALLOON (28D: Something seen at Frankenstein's birthday party?) elegantly crosses all eight of the Across themers right through the center of the grid. One quibble with the clue, however: with the typical tired pedantry of CrossWorld, I'll point out that Frankenstein is the name of the monster's creator, not of the creature himself. I doubt that Dr. Frankenstein would have been pleased to have a MONSTER'S BALLOON at his birthday party, given that in pretty much every version of the story (with the noted exceptions of Young Frankenstein, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Franken-Berry cereal), Dr. F's relationship with his creation doesn't work out so well.
Bullets -- three proper names for whom I needed all the crosses:
- 45A: Tony who managed two World Series championships for the Cardinals(LARUSSA)— I would be one of the last (and by "last" I mean in the sense of "most recent" not "unlikely") people to comment on the SAUSAGE FEST-ness of crossword constructing, but this is the sort of thing that makes me go, yeah, this is not the sort of thing I am likely to know. (Have at me, commenters.)
- 105A: Jean who played Aunt Martha in "Arsenic and Old Lace" (ADAIR)— I just watched this a few weeks ago. It has Cary Grant in it. Still couldn't remember.
- 93D: Frances who played TV's Aunt Bee (BAVIER)— She's from The Andy Griffith Show, right? And she's crossing 111A: OPIE, clued as Big name among radio shock jocks (i.e. Opie and Anthony) rather than as "93D's TV nephew" or something. Missed opportunity. I've always thought that Aunt Bee should've been a character in some animated kids' movie, like A Bug's Life or Antz or Bee Movie. Missed opportunity!
[Follow Laura on Twitter]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]