Title for Maria Theresa of Austria / TUE 6-13-17 / Terse put-down of Sandra's Gidget performance / Chef known for New New Orleans cuisine / Long-necked wader / Firenze farewell / Maiden name preceder / Quick suggestive message

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Tuesday)

THEME:expanding letters— familiar phrases containing stand-alone letters have those letters spelled out as words, resulting in wackiness

Theme answers:

• BEE STUDENT (18A: Apiarist?)
• TEE BILL (29A: Invoice from a souvenir shop?)
• DEE FLAT (31A: Terse put-down of Sandra's "Gidget" performance?)
• EX FILES (45A: Where to keep divorce papers?)
• CUE BERT (47A: Signal Ernie's buddy to step onstage?)
• GEE STRINGS (59A: "Wow, you have violins!"?)

Word of the Day: LUXOR (16A: City across the Nile from the Valley of the Kings) —

Luxor [...] is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 (2010 estimate), with an area of approximately 416 square kilometres (161 sq mi). // As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the West Bank Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. (wikipedia)

Right over the plate. Cute little theme, nicely executed. Nothing flashy. Tuesday easy. I give it a bee. This constructor is an old pro, and it's always nice to see her byline—I don't always love her puzzles, but when I see her name, I know I am definitely not going to be getting junk.  Puzzle feels hand-made in a good way. Somewhat conservative / old-fashioned in its fill, but polished. Crafted. It's a good look. As usual with easy, early-week puzzles, I was only dimly aware of what the theme was. Because the first few I ran into were all -EE letters, I was surprised / mildly befuddled to come across EX and CUE. This is what happens when you solve fast—the contours of the theme get blurry. I love when the puzzle saves its best themer for last (a very Merl-esque move), and today's did not disappoint. It is rare that the "wacky" clue really lands for me, really makes me laugh, but for some reason the bizarrely ingenuous ["Wow, you have violins!"?] leading to the racy (-sounding) GEE STRINGS really got me. "GEE! STRINGS!" I just love how excited that imaginary kid is (in my head the exclaimer is a kid ... it's just funnier that way). Standing O for that clue. EX FILES and CUE BERT clues also work. The themer clues up top are less interesting. I do think it's kinda bad form to have non-themer Acrosses that are longer than your themer Acrosses (see LOOK HERE, EPISODES), but that's a very minor technical issue.


It is weird how much I get slowed down by very small answers. I've been noticing this happening a lot. Here are all the parts where I "struggled" (I finished in the mid 3s, so I never really struggled):

Wanted BAIT and HOOK before WORM, which, when I got WORM, seemed awfully stupid of me. I mean, "wriggly" is right in the clue, for ****'s sake. Even with the "M" I didn't get MASK for 4D: Lone Ranger accessory. Considered the whole cowboy get-up, but forgot he was a "masked man." Dumb. Didn't know if the [Recycling receptacle] was a CAN or TIN or BIN (again, in retrosepct, this seems obvious, but mid-solve, my brain was not sure). LUXOR was the answer I wanted at first for 16A: City across the Nile from the Valley of the Kings, but I didn't trust it. So I checked crosses. 13D: 17,000-year-old find in France's Lascaux cave is a verrrrrrrry specific clue for something as general as ART. I could see the ART (cave paintings) in question, but ART ... yeah, never woulda thought, w/a clue like that, I'd end up at mere ART. Wanted ROMP for ROUT, which happens precisely Every time I get a clue like 64A: Decisive defeat, in four letters. Ugh. And then there's the worst mistake of all: the one where I wrote in SRS for 44A: Many SAT takers: Abbr., and then couldn't make heads or tails of 44D: Legal authorities (JURISTS). Solving brain says: SAT = SRS, PSAT = JRS. It's a reflex. Never mind that my own daughter is a JR who took the SAT earlier this year. Never mind that *I* took the SAT as a JR. Crossword brain knows what it knows and it knows JRS take *P*SATs. Blargh. Still, I ended up w/ a perfectly Tuesday time. And that final themer ensured that I also ended on a high note.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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