Theme song of Milton Berle / SUN 3-11-18 / One-named Swedish singer with grammy-nominated song Dancing on My Own / Hebrew for My God My God / Start of Yale's motto / Alternative to boeuf jambon / 2000s corporate scandal subject / Modest two-piece swimsuit

Constructor: Matthew Sewell

Relative difficulty: Challenging (my time was really high, I don't exactly know why)

THEME:"If Found, Call ..." — a LOST DOG puzzle (1A: Heading on a neighborhood poster). Half the theme answers are imagined LOST DOG poster messages from fictional people, with a hint to where the LOST DOG can be found in brackets at the end. Other half of the theme answers contain the LOST DOG names, i.e. the names of the dogs are embedded inside the answers (in circled squares):

Theme answers:

• DOROTHY GALE (28A: Last seen riding in a basket. If found, call ___ [see 106-Across]) / 106A: Proceed enthusiastically (GO TO TOWN)
• THE DARLINGS (44A: Last seen in the nursery. If found, call ___ [see 84-Across]) / 84A:  Pretend (PUT ON AN ACT)
• LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE (64A: Last seen with a red-haired girl. If found, call ___ [see 119-Across]) / 119A: Algebraic variables (XS AND YS)
• NICK AND NORA (86A: Last seen chasing down clues. If found, call ___ [see 24-Across]) / 24A: "1984" superstate (EAST ASIA)

Word of the Day: BANNS (72D: Marriage announcement) —

noun

1. a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church, announcing an intended marriage and giving the opportunity for objections. (google) ["objections," LOL]

This is definitely one of the cleverer Sunday themes I've seen in a while, but for whatever reason, I could not find the handle. It took me a dog's age to finally understand the theme. I moved through the grid without getting a single theme answer for the longest time. Eventually stumbled into LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE because I got the back end of it, and the clue had "red-haired girl" in it. At that point, I had No Idea that 1A: LOST DOG was theme material. Even after that, I still flailed. Eventually got PUT ON AN ACT, and then XS AND YS, which gave me the connection to LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE, and thank god it did—this is one of the rare times that I actually had to *use* my knowledge of the theme to solve the damned puzzle. I wrote in ODIE and ASTA because I already had their owners somewhere in the grid, so I knew those dogs were "missing." And man did I need that help, because YO-YO DIETER and EAST ASIA were not about to fall on their own. I had so much trouble all around those answers—around YO-YO-DIETER because of so many wrong answers in the crosses, and around EAST ASIA because ... I just couldn't get anything in there. I had TSA in the NE, and (tentatively) SEND on the west side of that NE section, and a whole lotta nothing in between. PEI? LOL, like I know what or where Charlottetown is. ONT seemed so much more likely. [High land] was way too generic for me to get NEPAL, [Snares] too vague for me to get ENTANGLES, and PHAEDRA!? Ha, I have read the damn Racine play (Phèdre) and still had no memory of her being the [Sister of Ariadne]. EMOTE, no shot (51A: Scream or bawl, e.g.). BIG TOE, no shot (34D: Hallux, more familiarly). ELI ELI (!?!?!), no shot (9D: Hebrew for "My God! My God!"). I still don't think I get ELECT (26A: Power up?). Somehow that phrase relates to giving someone power by electing them? Too clever by 3/4. Still, again, theme = good.


Deadly mistakes. NECK TIE for SILK TIE (43D: Dressy accessory). BUSH I for DUBYA (28D: 43)—that damned "U" from UNO'S (36A: Pizzeria chain, casually) was the only letter I had ... but I realize now that GWB is BUSH II, not BUSH I. Ugh. STOP BY for STOP AT (75D: Visit during a trip). Wanted CINEMA for SCREEN (96D: Moviedom). Totally baffled by 87D: Love all around? (NO SCORE). And "A TALE"?? OK, I'm supposed to know that? (79D: Subtitle of Hawthorne's "Fanshawe"). I barely even know what "Fanshawe" is. I have an English Ph.D. If A TALE were at all good fill, this kind of insanely obscure cluing wouldn't bother me quite so much. Not much to like in the puzzle besides the theme, but the theme is undeniably solid. I wish I'd enjoyed myself more, but I at least respect this puzzle's concept, which (again) is much more than I can say for recent Sunday offerings.


My "good thing" recommendation* this week is an app for sports fans called The Athletic. My crossword friend, baseball writer Diane Firstman, turned me onto The Athletic as a place where a sports fan could get insightful articles without all of the clickbait / advertising nonsense that often comes with sports sites on line. The layout / organization of the site is clean and clear, and the writing is strong and informative. You can customize it easily so that it will show you the news you want, by sport, team, or region. It's a very convenient, non-shouty, non-stupid way to get my sports info. This is especially important during baseball season, when I need to stay informed but don't want to enter the dumb, hype-driven, male-dominated egofest that is so much sports reporting (did I mention that two of the primary Detroit Tigers writers for The Athletic are women?). Anyway, there's this beautiful little "A" on my phone and I punch it every time I have a few minutes to spare and don't want to get sucked into social media. It's a subscription app (you get what you pay for!), and so far it has been Beyond worth it. I really read them and they're really good. OK, bye.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

*genuine Rex opinion / not a paid ad

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