1800s president nicknamed His Accidency / MON 10-8-18 / Rap rock band with 7x platinum album Significant Other

Constructor: Jacob Stulberg

Relative difficulty: Easy / Easy-Medium, harder if you've never heard of LIMP BIZKIT (2:53)

THEME: AIRPORT (38A: Where to find the ends of 17-, 27-, 50- and 65-Across) — just what it says:

Theme answers:

• BATTERY TERMINAL (17A: Anode or cathode)
• GOLDEN GATE (27A: Iconic San Francisco bridge)
• CANNERY ROW (50A: Steinbeck novel set in Monterey)
• TAKING A BACK SEAT (65A: Letting others occupy the spotlight)

Word of the Day: LIMP BIZKIT (29D: Rap rock band with the 7x platinum album "Significant Other") —

Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Their lineup consists of Fred Durst (lead vocals), Sam Rivers (bass, backing vocals), John Otto (drums, percussion), DJ Lethal(turntables), and Wes Borland (guitars, backing vocals). Their music is marked by Durst's angry vocal delivery and Borland's sonic experimentation. Borland's elaborate visual appearance, which includes face and body paint, masks and uniforms, also plays a large role in the band's elaborate live shows. The band has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, have sold 40 million records worldwide and won several other awards. (wikipedia)

The ROW and the SEAT are really part of the airplane, not the AIRPORT. I mean, the plane is there, sometimes, but SEAT is not anywhere on my list of "Top 100 Things You Might Find At An AIRPORT." I do like how the last words track your progress from curbside to your specific place on the plane, but still, AIRPORT doesn't quite work as a revealer. And even if it did, it still kind of Thuds. No wordplay or cleverness, just ... AIRPORT. I think the grid is pretty nice, though. Clean, no wincing. Only trouble I had came in the SW, where I couldn't get [Admission of perjury] (I LIED) right away, and so faced with T-P--- for 48D: Pinnacle, I wrote in TOP--- figuring that would be ... right somehow. Mostly I just flailed around a little, and then regained my footing without too much effort. Also couldn't come up with NO NAME right away, hesitated on everything following TAKING at 65A, and couldn't really believe that SEW was the answer for [Make clothing]. It's right, of course, but there seems a big gap between SEW and [Make clothing]. SEW is pretty humble and generic, and I associate it more with mending.  Lastly, I hesitated a bit at ON THE __, unsure if it was gonna be QT or DL (4D: Discreetly, informally).


Five things:

• 73A: 1800s president nicknamed "His Accidency" (TYLER) — that dude is smack dab in the middle of "presidents I don't know anything about. Clue may as well have just said [One of them there US presidents]
• 63D: Cut (down) (PARE)— weird how something so simple can be mildly confounding. I looked at this, had no idea, and just filled it in from crosses
• 11D: Relative of alcopop (WINE COOLER)— in the 80s, we did not have "alcopop," but we definitely had these things. Very big with the kids who wanted to get drunk but didn't like the taste of booze.
• 55A: Daytime store window sign (OPEN) — pretty presumptuous clue. Some stores are OPEN after sundown
• 34A: Response to "Who wants to go?" ("I WILL") — I prefer this "I WILL":

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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