Constructor: Erik Agard
Relative difficulty: Medium (Easy, w/ hardness around the proper nouns, maybe)
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THEME:"HOLLYWOOD / SHUFFLE" (57A: With 61-Across, 1987 Robert Townsend satire ... or a hint to deciphering four clues in this puzzle) — actors' names are clued via a "shuffling" (i.e. anagram) of their names:
Theme answers:
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This is a funny puzzle, because at its core, the theme is almost ridiculously basic. It's just an anagram puzzle. Clues are anagrams of answers. Who the hell cares? Well, if you can nail the revealer, such that you can adequately answer the question "Who the hell cares?" (or at least "Why?"), and if your anagram clues are interesting / ridiculous enough, and your grid is clean enough, then yeah, your ultra-basic concept can actually fly. I was in college when "HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE" came out and remember it well; plus, I watched almost every major motion picture from 1987 back in 2012 (I do weird, year-long things like that sometimes), so the movie is relatively fresh in my memory. There will be many solvers who have never heard of it, just as there will be many who either haven't heard of or, for the life of them, can't remember how to spell ANSEL ELGORT (the star of "Baby Driver" (2017)). I hate-loved seeing his name because I am among those who know who he is but will never, ever remember his name. He was in some teen thing that my daughter knows about ("The Fault in Our Stars," the Divergent series), and so I love torturing her by absolutely butchering his name. Athol Endswort? Engelbert Ampersand? But the truth is, I honestly *can't* remember what it is, and Eggbeard Athelstan sounds just as plausible as ANSEL ELGORT to me.
I am generally opposed to mining a show like "Game of Thrones" for every name its got because it's a cheap way to get bad fill into the grid. Also, I don't watch "Game of Thrones," and resent being asked to know stuff about it time and time again (can I get some clues about "Better Call Saul" or "Atlanta" or "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," please?). Anyway, ELIA (2D: ___ Martell, "Game of Thrones" princess) was a mystery, as was TAYE DIGGS for a while (until I realized what was going on). So starting out was slightly rough, but the fill around those answers was all very easy, so off I went. Only two real struggles. First, I wrote in RAMS and ARAPAHO ... then second-guessed everything when I couldn't figure out how 7D: Total arithmetically could fit the -R- pattern. SUM or ADD, I thought (it's ARE). Then I didn't know 6A: Month before Shawwal and of course there was the still enigmatic [Germany] (MEG RYAN), so I froze a little. Also wanted the Elisabeth on the Rolling Stone cover to be SHUE (my go-to "s"-spelling Elisabeth after Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (look her up!)) (21A: Actress Elisabeth who's been on the cover of Rolling Stone, ironically ... is a great clue). Also don't really understand NON- as a prefix for "denial" (?). So slower up there than I would've liked, and slow again in the SW, where I couldn't see OFFER (50D: Word that becomes its own synonym if you add "pr" to the front) or WHIT (55D: Tiny amount) and guessed SUN for LYE (62D: Burn cause). Two Acrosses down there were cross-referenced, adding to the slowness. But as I say, this was mostly easy everywhere else.
P.S. AM RADIO (63A: Band not known for music?) was definitely known for music at one point, so that clue was weird
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Relative difficulty: Medium (Easy, w/ hardness around the proper nouns, maybe)
THEME:"HOLLYWOOD / SHUFFLE" (57A: With 61-Across, 1987 Robert Townsend satire ... or a hint to deciphering four clues in this puzzle) — actors' names are clued via a "shuffling" (i.e. anagram) of their names:
Theme answers:
- MEG RYAN (18A: Germany)
- TAYE DIGGS (19A: Steady gig)
- ANSEL ELGORT (33A: Ernest Gallo)
- MARISA TOMEI (43A: "It's-a me, Mario!") (wow, slow clap for that one)
Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not “black enough” for certain roles. (wikipedia)
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I am generally opposed to mining a show like "Game of Thrones" for every name its got because it's a cheap way to get bad fill into the grid. Also, I don't watch "Game of Thrones," and resent being asked to know stuff about it time and time again (can I get some clues about "Better Call Saul" or "Atlanta" or "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," please?). Anyway, ELIA (2D: ___ Martell, "Game of Thrones" princess) was a mystery, as was TAYE DIGGS for a while (until I realized what was going on). So starting out was slightly rough, but the fill around those answers was all very easy, so off I went. Only two real struggles. First, I wrote in RAMS and ARAPAHO ... then second-guessed everything when I couldn't figure out how 7D: Total arithmetically could fit the -R- pattern. SUM or ADD, I thought (it's ARE). Then I didn't know 6A: Month before Shawwal and of course there was the still enigmatic [Germany] (MEG RYAN), so I froze a little. Also wanted the Elisabeth on the Rolling Stone cover to be SHUE (my go-to "s"-spelling Elisabeth after Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (look her up!)) (21A: Actress Elisabeth who's been on the cover of Rolling Stone, ironically ... is a great clue). Also don't really understand NON- as a prefix for "denial" (?). So slower up there than I would've liked, and slow again in the SW, where I couldn't see OFFER (50D: Word that becomes its own synonym if you add "pr" to the front) or WHIT (55D: Tiny amount) and guessed SUN for LYE (62D: Burn cause). Two Acrosses down there were cross-referenced, adding to the slowness. But as I say, this was mostly easy everywhere else.
P.S. AM RADIO (63A: Band not known for music?) was definitely known for music at one point, so that clue was weird
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]