Long-term inmate / MON 4-10-17 / King topper / Like some processed apples / Henry L secretary of war during WW II / Designer letters on handbag / Alliance that keeps wary eye on Russia

Constructor:Lonnie Burton

Relative difficulty:Medium (normal Monday) (2:56)

THEME: BOND (007D: What the answers to the starred clues share, in two ways)— the BOND linking all the theme answers is that they all played James BOND on screen:

Theme answers:

• SEAN CONNERY (17A: *1962-67, 1971)
• TIMOTHY DALTON (27A: *1987-89)
• ROGER / MOORE (35A: With 39-Across, *1973-85)
• PIERCE BROSNAN (48A: *1995-2002)
• DANIEL CRAIG (63A: *2006-)

 NOTE (on .puz / e-version): 


Word of the Day:Henry L. STIMSON(26D: Henry L. ___, secretary of war during W.W. II) —

Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He served as Secretary of War (1911–1913) under Republican William Howard Taft, and as Governor-General of the Philippines (1927–1929). As Secretary of State (1929–1933) under Republican President Herbert Hoover, he articulated the Stimson Doctrine which announced American opposition to Japanese expansion in Asia. He again served as Secretary of War (1940–1945) under Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, and was a leading hawk calling for war against Germany. During World War II he took charge of raising and training 13 million soldiers and airmen, supervised the spending of a third of the nation's GDP on the Army and the Air Forces, helped formulate military strategy, and oversaw the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bombs, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (wikipedia)

Well, if you like remembering James Bonds and / or like having the theme answers be very very very easy to get, then here you go. This is a straight trivia puzzle with nothing interesting going on at all *except* the cute idea of having the revealer come at (00)7-Down. Also, the grid is crammed with theme material, which means the fill suffers quite a bit. I kept wanting to tear out and rewrite everything east (and inclusive) of STIMSON—STETSON is so much better—but then I realized that MOORE *has* to be there ... and so we endure everything that that entails. Here's the thing, though ... OK, full disclosure re: this puzzle. I never read the "constructor's notes" at the NYT puzzle site. Ever. Like, ever. I find them ridiculous and self-serving. But, today, this one time, I'm gonna link to them, because you really should read them. If you don't want to click through and read them, the short version is: the constructor is in prison in the state of Washington, and has been for 26 years. Having taught in a maximum security prison in New York, I know how hard it is for prisoners to get access to even basic resources, so the fact that today's constructor was able to make a puzzle this competent, entirely by hand, under those conditions, is remarkable. I think that's all I have to say on the matter today.


See you back here tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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