Gudrun's victim in Norse myth / SAT 8-12-17 / Cambridge student informally / Applesauce topped nosh / Vintage military plane / Candle scent popular at Christmas / Some ancient Cretan statues

Constructor: Kameron Austin Collins

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Greaves (26D: Greaves, e.g.) —

A greave (from the Old Frenchgreve"shin, shin armour" from the Arabic jaurab, meaning stocking) is a piece of armour that protects the leg. (wikipedia)

Hell of a one-two punch this week with the Friday and Saturday themelesses. Both of them first rate. This one was definitely tougher, though only about as much as you'd expect a Saturday to be tougher than a Friday. Again, the 1-Across rule was in effect, as I threw down CANTAB immediately (it's about the stupidest word for any collegian that I can think of, and I know it only from crosswords). Puzzle opens up nicely when you can plunk down 1-Across with no problem. Danced around some tough cluing—verb in adjective's clothing at 2D: Not fancy at all (ABHOR), ambiguous adjective at 1D: Dateable one (CATCH)—until finally COMMITMENTPHOBE became clear and I was into the heart of the grid. There were an odd lot of gimmes up top—CANTAB DAMONE ETSY RIPPER COINSTAR—so it's a good thing there was a real wrench in the works that made me have to stop and earn my progress. That wrench: TOPONYM (16A: Champagne is one). Was thinking beverage and also region, but that is an unusual word, and even having TOPO- didn't help (TOP what? TOP what!?). How did I remember LILIAN Jackson Braun's name?? Probably just from seeing it on the spines of books in the crime/mystery section. She must be fairly prolific. I feel like her books often take up a fair chunk of shelf real estate. Anyway, she helped today. Thanks, LILIAN.


What is a BAYBERRY? (10D: Candle scent popular at Christmas). Seriously. That crossing TOPONYM was rough. Also rough: the SW corner. That was where I finished, and for a while it looked like I wasn't going to. First problem down there was that I went with NEUROELASTICITY as opposed to BRAIN PLASTICITY (clue has "neuro-" in it, so that's my bad) (41A: Ability to learn and adapt neurologically). After that was sorted, I had to confront the fact that I didn't really know what "greaves" were. In my head they were like some kind of reed or other basket fiber (osier?), and maybe you used them to bind ... thing?? No idea what I was thinking of. Let's just say that I was so in the weeds that even when I had it down to L-G ARMOR I went wither LOG ARMOR. I also had SOILED (duh) instead of ROILED (46A: Muddied). So both WARBIRD and WENT were problems. Finally realized LOG ARMOR was ****ing stupid, and fixed it. The rest is history.


Bullets:

• ATLI (5D: Gudrun's victim, in Norse myth)— vintage crosswordese. Normally highly unwelcome (like its cousin, ATRI). But I can handle a stray bit of antique oof when the overall product is this smooth and pleasing. 
• WYNNE (40D: Arthur ___, inventor of the crossword puzzle)— Have you read "FUN" yet? It's a novel and a comic and a history of the crossword all in one. WYNNE figures prominently.
• RANSOM OLDS (36A: Founder of two automobile companies)— RANSOM OLDS is the TRINI LOPEZ of this puzzle. Full name action!
• "SAYS ME!" (49A: Bully's reply)— I had "MAKE ME!" Felt right.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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