Tragic clown in "Pagliacci" / MON 6-5-17 / Common Market letters / Casual calls / Brief brawl / Oil cartel

Hi guys!!! It's Annabel Monday!!! *funny trumpet noises*

Constructor: Paul Coulter (with, perhaps, some uncredited "inspiration" from Elizabeth C. Gorski)

Relative difficulty: Medium



THEME: BAD THING TO BLOW— Theme answers include two Os, contained within two circles, which look like tires, and TIRE is the answer to 67A. It...doesn't make much sense, but hey, it is what it is.


Theme answers:

• HOT OIL (19A: Deep-frying need)
• NO FOOL (35A: A sensible sort)
• TOE SHOE (49A: Ballet footwear)
• BONO (65A: U2's lead singer)
• TIRE (67A: Bad thing to blow ... or what each of the circled letters in this puzzle represents)

Word of the Day: CANIO (32D: Tragic clown in "Pagliacci") —

Pagliacci (Italian pronunciation: [paʎˈʎattʃi]; literal translation, Clowns)^{[note 1]} is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the only Leoncavallo opera that is still widely performed.^[1] Opera companies have frequently staged Pagliacci with Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, a double bill known colloquially as 'Cav and Pag'. [Blogger's note: Cavio is the main character.] 

So I started this summer internship in DC (more details to come next month!!!). I love it so, so much, but I've been commuting from Annapolis and I am so, so tired. Add onto that the fact that I had dinner with family in Baltimore, and I am, right now, so, so, so, so tired. So tired, in fact, that I actually had to ask my mom for help with this puzzle. And then Rex. I usually try to do absolutely everything myself but I feel like I'm going to fall asleep before I finish this sen

....Anyways. WADES looks like HADES when it's right across from ARES, and WEE GEE reminds me of those weird Mario cartoons. (Why were those a thing, anyway? It works much better as a video game.) Honestly, a lot of the clues/answers felt like cop-outs in general; really, ESS, and SILENT I? Sigh. Oh well. I suppose it is kind of cool to think about the hissing ESS of HOT OIL in a pan.

I do not have anything to say about the theme other than rehashing how TIREd I am. Sigh.


Bullets:

• DAB (23A: Apply gently, as cream) — This is also a pretty popular dance move with the kids now, so I hear. It basically looks like a sneeze.
• TOE SHOE (49A: Ballet footwear) — What a doozy. When I think ballet footwear, I think "ballet shoes," or "flats". I was so annoyed when FLATS didn't fit! Was there anyone whose mind just went straight to TOE SHOE?
• AIDA (17D: Elton John/Tim Rice Broadway musical) — When I was a kid, I saw a CD containing the soundtrack to this show and for some reason got it confused with ABBA (similar amount of letters and they both start with A, I guess?). Imagine my surprise expecting to hear "Dancing Queen" and getting "Elaborate Lives" or something. It did end up being the first musical I ever saw onstage, though. :)
• COOT (55D: Geezer)— "It's not me, you old coot!"

WELLNOW, it's time for me to be going to bed. zzzzzzz

Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired college student.

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