Grain disease / TUE 10-10-17 / 1967 Montreal event / Fur trader John Jacob / Superhero group including Beast Cyclops

Constructor: Mark MacLachlan

Relative difficulty: Normal


THEME:ATNO (67A: What "This" refers to, in this puzzle's theme: Abbr.)— theme answers begin "This," where "This" refers to the number of the clue, and the answer is the ELEMENT (a NOBLE GAS in each case) that has that clue number's AT. NO. (i.e. atomic number):

Theme answers:

• NEON (10A: This, on the periodic table)
• ARGON (18A: This, on the periodic table)
• KRYPTON (36A: This, on the periodic table)
• XENON (54A: This, on the periodic table
• HELIUM (2D: This, on the periodic table) 

Word of the Day: ERGOT (15A: Grain disease) —

Ergot (pron. /ˈɜːrɡət/UR-gət) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps. // The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure (called ergot sclerotium). (wikipedia)

This one gets points for having a really weird theme-answer layout, as well as, like, three revealers (!). Not necessary, not entertaining, but different, and different is ... well, it's not always good, but it's better than tediously familiar. I don't really get why I should care that they are all NOBLE GASes. I guess that gives the theme a certain unity, but so what? You're doing it just to ... do it? No play on "noble" or anything? And the whole "This" way of cluing (at least in the dowloadable .puz version) is really awkward. Apparently the method of indicating "this" varies across platforms, w/ some getting "arrows" (?). I didn't get arrows. And about AT. NO. ... see, here's the thing about AT. NO. ... AT NO time is that a good answer. Making it your third (!?) revealer doesn't elevate it from its permanent status as cruddy crosswordese no one wants to see unless absolutely necessary" (see also LT. YR.).  There's the "This" trick and little else. It's just straightforward trivia for periodic table nerds. Fill is pretty weak up top (REVE ILES ERGOT REARM AGGRESS MTN), less horrible below.


Weird to clue AUTO as [Modern prefix with complete or correct]. It is not a modern prefix. The terms "autocomplete" and "autocorrect" are modern, but that prefix ain't never gonna be modern, in any context, ever. It's an old prefix. Putting it in front of something new doesn't make it "modern." I have never seen ERGOT outside of crosswords. It is a word that destroyed me very early on in my crossword blogging career, and I have never forgiven it (see also ASOK, oy). And now I find out there's such a thing as "ergotism"!? I don't even want to click through to find out what it is. Sounds horrible. Although ... from a crossword perspective ... it is interestingly just one added letter away from "egotism." All hail the genius who can make an interesting theme out of that fact. Not much else to say about this one. Good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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