Sticky-leaved plant that feeds on insects / TUE 4-3-18 / Gil Blas writer / Mag mogul with mansion / Ben Adhem Leight Hunt poem / War-torn Syrian city

Constructor: Damon Gulczynski

Relative difficulty: Medium (or Brutal, depending on how well you know certain names...)

THEME: THINK QUICKLY (67A: To understand this puzzle's theme, read the ends of the answers to the starred clues and ...)— the ends of the answers to the starred clues sound like the letters, Q, U, I, C, K, L, and Y, respectively:

Theme answers:

• NETFLIX QUEUE (18A: *List for some binge watchers
• "YES, YOU!" (25A: *Response to "Who, me?")
• "MY EYE!" (29A: *"Balderdash!")
• DEAD SEA (40A: *Lowest point on the earth's surface)
• MARY KAY (43A: *Avon competitor)
• KAL EL (53A: *Superman's alien name)
• "BUT WHY?" (57A: *"For what reason, though?")

Word of the Day: LASSE Hallström (75A: "Chocolat" director Hallström)—

Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (Swedish: [ˈla.ˈsɛ ˈhal.ˈstrœm]; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all music videos by pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) (1985) and later for The Cider House Rules (1999). His other celebrated directorial works include What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Chocolat (2000). (wikipedia) [Note: he's married to double crossword threat LENA OLIN]

[d. LASSE Hallström]

I think this is pretty cute, and, thematically, well executed. Streets ahead of lots of weekday themes. It's simple, neat, tight. The revealer actually reveals something. Theme: approved. There's one major OOF here, though, and that's the names. There are going to be boatloads of people who struggle mightily, guess, and possibly even wipe out entirely (on a Tuesday?!) because of the names. I can already see people shouting on Twitter about the HALAS / LASSE cross (say that three times QUICKLY!). They are both absolutely fair game for crosswords, but mayyyybe not crossing one another. But there were lots of other only sorta famous names, like Ned YOST, or TITUS (who was emperor for only two years). And then there were the monsters from the bottom of the crosswordese trunk that you still keep in your attic for some reason: 36A: "Gil Blas" writer (LESAGE) and 51D: "___ Ben Adhem" (Leight Hunt poem) (ABOU). These would be horrifying if I hadn't been doing crosswords for 25+ years (when they roamed the grid freely); as it is, they are merely laughable, in that those clues literally make me laugh out loud, mostly at the idea that the names "Gil Blas" or "Leigh Hunt" would be some kind of *help* at getting an answer. It's like when you look up a word, and the definition contains a word you don't know, which you then have to look up—that's what those clues are like. Gil what? Leigh who? And then there's the SUNDEW, whatever that is (50A: Sticky-leaved plant that feeds on insects). Lots and lots of opportunities to fall on your face because of not-terribly-familiar names, though the HALAS / LASSE cross is the only name pitfall that seems potentially lethal to me.

[d. LASSE Hallström]

The puzzle is over-sized at 16-wide, so if your time was a little on the slow side, that's probably, or at least possibly, the reason. I found it fairly Tuesday-easy overall, and ended with a solidly Tuesday+ time (the "+" is with the adjustment for grid size). Biggest struggles were really mundane things. Could not wrap my head aroundIN THAT (16A: Because). Needed virtually every cross there, and one of those crosses was UNQUOTE, which, while really nice, was also clued kinda hard (7D: Ending "). I briefly thought the clue was incomplete or otherwise messed up. Other strange slow-down occurred at the intersection of GAG (20A: Bit of a comic) and ROGUE (14D: Animal that has strayed from the herd). First problem there was putting in HAM before GAG. But even after I took HAM out, I wasn't sure about either GA- or RO-UE. Was really looking for a more, I don't know, "herd"y word than ROGUE (also ROGUE seems more like an adjective than a noun). And GAG seems more like a [Comic's bit] than a [Bit of a comic] (i.e. that clue is doing some late-week misdirection on a Tuesday). After that, it was only SUNDEW that slowed me down in any way. Again, really enjoyed the theme, but the names were kinda out of control (and I say this as someone who actually knew them all) (except SUNDEW) (whatever that is).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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