Greek sauce with yogurt and cucumbers / TUE 4-2-19 / Dressed like hundred dollar millionaire / Who says speak hands for me in Julius Caesar

Constructor: Natasha Lyonne and Deb Amlen

Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Tuesday) (4:30)

THEME: BOB / FOSSE (65A: With 66-Across, choreographer whose life is depicted in the starts of 19-, 36- and 50-Across) — first words of the themers form the title "ALL THAT JAZZ":

Theme answers:

• ALL FLASH, NO CASH (19A: Dressed like "a hundred-dollar millionaire")
• THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT (36A: "I think I made a mistake here")
• JAZZ UP THE PLACE (50A: "Add some throw pillows or a pop of color around here, why don't you!")

Word of the Day: BOB / FOSSE (65A) —

Robert Louis Fosse (June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American dancer, musical theatre choreographer, director, and film director.^[2]

He won eight Tony Awards for choreography, more than anyone else, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for his direction of Cabaret. (wikipedia)

Having truly godawful crosswordese at 1A (CASCA) and then an opening themer I've never heard or seen, ever, in nearly half a century of life on this planet, made a pretty bad first impression on me, but then TZATZIKI, YOGA POSE, COPOUTS, and (ironically?) NOT FOR ME won back a lot of good will. And even though the theme concept is pretty thin (it's just a three-word first-words progression, and there are roughly a jillion phrases that begin wth "ALL" or "THAT"), it's hard to be mad when you're remembering BOB / FOSSE, and when the themers themselves are this, uh, jazzy. Congrats to Natasha Lyonne on her debut puzzle.


Five things:

• 20D: Actress Blair of "The Exorcist" (LINDA) — should've been a gimme, but a much more recent 5-letter "Actress Blair" was the only "Actress Blair" my brain would provide me. I seriously believed, for much longer than I should have, that SELMA Blair might've starred in a remake that I missed.
• 16A: Queen's domain (REALM) — again, should've been easy, but I must've gotten the middle letters from the crosses before ever looking at the clue, because my first answer in here was SEALY (!?).  
• 6A: Poehler vortex of funniness? (AMY) — oof, this pun. Didn't care for it. Knope. Not one bit.
• 47D: Slow, in music (ADAGIO) — aargh, some day I will get all my tempi (?) straight. I had ADANTE in here. Is that a thing? [checks] No, no it is not. ANDANTE is a thing. And it means "moderately slow." But ADANTE is just an Italian poet and nothing else.
• 6A: 52D: Facebook founder's nickname (ZUCK) — not a fan of the guy, but am a fan of this nickname as fill. I would say they Scrabble-f***ed the hell out of this SW corner, but when you've got JAZZ down there to begin with, as part of your theme, then even just one "Q" in close proximity is gonna look like Scrabble-f***ing. And I gotta respect a puzzle that goes right up to the pangram but stops just one "X" short. They coulda forced an "X" into this grid (it's possible), but it woulda been ugly. Three cheers for restraint!

I'm still on the tail end of a head cold, so I need to get some sleep. Apologies for the short write-up. Also, a sincere thanks to everyone who sent me condolence messages last week after I announced the death of my good old dog, Dutchess. In the comments section, on social media, and even through the dang US postal service, you people were exceedingly kind, and I appreciate it.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]