Hoops great Baylor / THU 8-15-13 / Typhon was trapped under it in Greek myth / Seals's partner in 1970s music / Burger's successor / Trendy superfood / Bobby in 1971 #1 hit / Final dramatic notes of 1812 Overture

Constructor: Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy



THEME: What the circled letter(s) in this answer represent(s), homophonically — same clue for every theme answer—first word(s) of each theme answer are homophones of a letter / letters circled in last word of theme answers; thus, for example, the circled letter "C" in CORTEZ is the "SEA ["C"] OF CORTEZ"; the circled "I" of TIGER the "EYE OF THE TIGER"; the circled "B" of BONNET the "BEE IN ONE'S BONNET"; and the circled "C" and "U" in COURT the "SEE YOU IN COURT"

Word of the Day: EFFETE (22D: Washed up) —

adj.

1. Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted: the final, effete period of the baroque style.
2. Marked by self-indulgence, triviality, or decadence: an effete group of self-professed intellectuals.
3. Overrefined; effeminate.
4. No longer productive; infertile.

[Latin effētus, worn out, exhausted : ex-, ex- + fētus, bearing young, pregnant.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/effete#ixzz2c05RZz6V

Really enjoyed this one, though it went by terribly fast — right around 4:30 for me. Had a lot of trouble with EFFETE (never would've thought of "Washed up" as a valid definition—I associate it more with a  kind of precious artiness and lack of (stereotypical) manly qualities). Had a lot of trouble with BOSOMED (39D: Big or full follower)—probably the weakest longer answer in the grid. Beyond that, I had a lot of trouble with precisely nothing. PATSY CLINE was a flat-out gimme (3D: "Walkin' After Midnight" singer, 1957) and ACAI BERRY nearly so (30D: Trendy "superfood"). Those are some huge, full-BOSOMED gifts. Had the made-up DEREG for UNPEG (8D: Let float from the dollar, say), and BUD for MUD at first (34A: Joe). Not sure what a "table d'HOTE" is, but the "d'" let me know the first letter was a vowel or "H," so that was helpful. Clue on REHNQUIST was a little tricky, but not knee-buckling (32D: Burger's successor). Forgot what O.E.O. stood for (a terrible answer, in that whole alphabet soup family of answers—but a small one, so forgivable).


Morris Day and The Time - Jungle Loveby DemonPreyer
There are a LOT of names in that little southern section (four by my count), but I knew them all—I can see not knowing Taylor DAYNE (62A: Taylor who sang "Tell It to My Heart") or even ELGIN Baylor (59A: Hoops great Baylor), but the crosses should've all been recognizable. Demerits for the obvious Scrabble-f*cking in the the SW and SE corners (to pick up the "K" and "X"). I can only assume that Jeff made this years ago (a fairly typical wait time), before he knew better than to pursue the false idol that is the pangram. Hard to justify MAWR in such an easily filled section (54A: Bryn ___). I put BRYN in a puzzle once, but it was holding a stack of three 11s in place. MAWR ... isn't. Still, in the end, an entertaining and clever puzzle.

Bullets:

• 29A: Final dramatic notes of the "1812 Overture" (E-FLATS) — thus [blank] FLATS until I got the crosses. One of a number of answers that I'd Much rather see in singular; see also SERUMS, REPOS, IOUS.
• 38A: Typhon was trapped under it, in Greek myth (ETNA) — too me too long to get this. Even with the -NA in place I was still pondering. "LUNA?" No, you idiot. Just, no.
• 50D: Pop's ___ Pop (IGGY) — OK, I see why you went with "Pop's," but that's not terribly accurate or representative. The guy's name is virtually synonymous with punk, but ... I guess cutesy wordplay wins out.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld