1978 Grammy nominee Chris / FRI 8-24-18 / College town east of Greensboro / Caribbean home of Blackbeard's Castle / Futuristic play of 1921 / Real life villain who was antagonist in Robert Ludlum's Bourne Identity

Constructor: Roland Huget

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (6:58)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: ERLE C. Kenton (48D: Director ___ C. Kenton) —

Erle C. Kenton (August 1, 1896 – January 28, 1980) was an American film director. He directed 131 films between 1916 and 1957. He was born in Norborne, Missouri and died in Glendale, California from Parkinson's disease.

Kenton and Edward Ludwig were the principal directors of the 1958-1960 CBS television series, The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun as Bill Longley, a "Robin Hood of the West", who drifts through the region helping persons in need. (wikipedia)

Wow, I don't dislike Fridays very often, but this one was disappointing. Almost painful. Audible ughs several times before I was even half done. A metric ton of wincing. I think my first wince was getting ECHO for [Repercussion]. That is an awful, awkward stretch. Like, the judge would probably rule in your favor, if you had a good lawyer, but we'd all know that that was some letter-of-the-law crap and the clue is actually terrible. RUR and REA are the kind of crosswordese detritus I can kind of tolerate, but shoving RETE up in that section as well ... it was just too much, especially since those long Acrosses weren't all that great to begin with. I can't see any 15 with ONE'S in it without laughing, and CHARLOTTE AMALIE is just crosswordese on steroids. Oh, and then there's AGREERS. [Deep sigh]. And DITS. I haven't even approached the ickiest part of the grid yet: the far west. So many problematic clues and answers all clustered together. ON EARTH should not be allowed to be a thing. AEREO, not great (though mostly I'm mad at myself for knowing it but not being Quite certain how it was spelled). I still don't get the clue on ARCED (26D: Went like a birdie). I assume that's an avian "birdie," as a golf "birdie" shot would not necessarily be ARCED. And if it's avian, then ... what? Birds fly in arcs now? Just a horrible clue. Then there's SAPOR, site of the error I had that it took me forever to track down (I'd somehow convinced myself that a VACA was a thing, perhaps because SAVOR is so much more of A Word than SAPOR, which is an awful thing no one actually says in the world My God This Puzzle!)


[Like most theater popcorn containers] is just a lie. That clue has no basis in any data or any anything. Only the OVERSIZED containers are OVERSIZED. Over ... what, exactly? How big is just plain old SIZED? The clue on LAD, also amazingly bad (20A: Bucko). Would you call a young boy "Bucko"? I can't hear anyone using LAD as "Bucko" except ... maybe? ... in Britain? Ugh, Why is the cluing in this thing sub-garbage heap!?!?! That "Mad Men" clue is also, literally, a lie. "Mad Men" won Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row. BEST DRAMA is a made-up non-category. Why are you serving me this ERLE, whom no one knows? Why are you serving me not just the normal singular kind but multiple KALES!? I would argue ALL-AMERICAN HERO is not a real thing. It's a vague concept, at best. HERO, real. ALL-AMERICAN, real. AMERICAN HERO, probably real. GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, definitely real. But ALL-AMERICAN HERO, especially as clued (57A: Neil Armstrong or Jesse Owens, say), feels weak. And what the hell was up with that fat joke at Hitchcock's expense?! (50D: Hitchcock double feature?). Worst Friday I've done in ages. I barely EKED this one out. Did I use that right? EKED? I neither know nor care, at this point. Good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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