Retired hoopster Odom / FRI 11-10-17 / Human member of old TV trio / Bit of attire for bellhop

Constructor: Patrick Berry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME:none 

Word of the Day: MESS JACKET (10D: Bit of attire for a bellhop) —

The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens. The jackets have shawl or peak lapels. Used in military mess dress, during the 1930s it became a popular alternative to the white dinner jacket in hot and tropical weather for black tie occasions. It also was prominently used, in single-breasted form, as part of the uniform for underclassmen at Eton College, leading to the alternate name Eton jacket. A female version of it, called a spencer, was popular during the Regency period. (wikipedia)

Vintage Berry. Extremely careful, clean, smooth. There's virtually nothing to CARP about here. The answers weren't what you'd call scintillating, but man is it nice to see an exquisitely crafted grid. I found it mostly phenomenally easy, but the metric ton of "?" clues and the fact that I know nothing about sailing (HALF-MAST) or, apparently, bellhop attire (MESS JACKET) meant that I wasn't going to break any records today. Still, absolutely no significant trouble spots. In retrospect, DE LA RENTA ended up being a Huge giveaway at 15A: Dominican fashion designer's last name ... because of the way the clue was tied to 16A: ... and first name (OSCAR). I started (naturally) in the NW, so when I saw [... and first name], I had to look at the previous Across, which took me to another section entirely. At that moment, I had enough info to write in his full name. Again, normal (i.e. efficient) solvers Do Not read the Acrosses in order, so the little [... ...] effect in the sequential Acrosses just doesn't land the way it's supposed to, ugh. But today at least I got a free pass into the NE corner, so that was nice. That corner still ended up being the hardest part of the puzzle for me, but I appreciated the assist that the ellipse-linked clues provided.


I think I knew Jason ALDEAN's name before the Las Vegas shooting, but I *definitely* know it now (7D: Jason with the #1 country hit "Dirt Road Anthem"). Terrible way to have your name cross over. Took me a while to get HELLBOY because despite being very familiar with it as a title (I've spent my fair share of time in comic book stores...), I've never read it. Or seen the movie. So "superhero"?—I don't think I knew that he fit into that category (6D: Superhero with hooves and a tail). Had HAD A FIT before HAD A COW, and spelled JIBE wrong, ugh (23A: Match up, as accounts). I resent that both JIBE and GIBE are real words. We should look into fixing that. Confusing. This (from Merriam-Webster) isn't helping!


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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