Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Bob IGER (11A: Disney exec Bob) —
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A fine Friday effort. I had no idea there was a PINK VIAGRA (17A: Sex drive enhancer introduced in 2015), but everything else was reasonably familiar, and the grid was solid, balanced, and entertaining. LINKEDIN PROFILE (3D: It might list your accomplishments) is an original answer, but somehow also a depressing one. I associate LinkedIn with people who want to connect with me and I don't know why. With desperate self-promotion and "networking." With sadness. I'm sure it's nice, but the LINKEDIN PROFILE is a dystopian thing to me. There were no answers I Loved and there were no real trouble spots, so it's hard to know what exactly to write about. The main thing I learned is that ILER and IGER are both crosswordese and apparently I don't know the difference. Actually, as I wrote in ILER, I sorta knew that was the "Sopranos" actor, but honestly I completely forgot IGER existed, so I just waited for GET AN A FOR EFFORT to take care of things. Oh, and I learned that [Evidence of disuse] fits not one not two but three different answers that fit the pattern _UST. Weird (24D).
Bullets:
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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: Bob IGER (11A: Disney exec Bob) —
Robert Allen Iger (/ˈaɪɡər/; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. Before Disney, Iger served as the president of ABC Television from 1994 to 1995 and the president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. from 1995 until Disney's acquisition of the company in 1996. He was named president and COO of Disney in 2000, and later succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, after a successful effort by Roy E. Disney to shake up the management of the company. (wikipedia)
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Bullets:
- 27D: Wonderful, in old slang (ACES)— I use this expression all the time. Finally, I am old. Will the crossword start to feel like a comfy cardigan now? I can't wait.
- 1D: Samuel of English history (PEPYS)— had trouble with this one despite the fact that I *teach* PEPYS every year. I am an English *literature* teacher. Therein lay the problem, I think. I know I rag on cross-referenced clues all the time, but I have no idea how you can have PEPYS in the same grid as DIARY ENTRY and *not* link them. PEPYS's incredibly important diary is the only reason anyone knows him at all.
- 21A: Steal (PIRATE)— had the "PI-", went with PILFER
- 49D: TV clown name (KRUSTY)— was looking for a live-action clown like BOZO or BOBO or something like that; so yet again, as with PEPYS, I get held up on an answer that is *very* familiar to me.
- 53A: French Christian (DIOR)— nice (non-DIRTY) TRICK clue. I had the "DI-" and wanted ... something related to DIEU.
- 1A: Line judge? (PALM READER)— this is the best clue of the day, appropriately positioned in the 1-Across position. That's what you do with your best stuff: showcase it!
- 51D: Quidditch position (SEEKER)— I wrote in KEEPER. Please tell me that is also correct.
- 18A: Heaps (ATON)— always fun to play the "ATON v. ALOT" game. At least this time, this annoying little phrase had an opposing counterpart in AFEW (54A: Not many)
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