Constructor: Joe DiPietro
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:31)
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THEME:"Well, Well, Well, if it isn't ..." — familiar phrases that have been parsed to seem like they are people's nicknames:
Theme answers:
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Full disclosure: I drank at Joe DiPietro's bar last month. And we had a long talk (over the considerable noise). And I liked him a lot. Still, I was fully prepared to find Sunday kind of old-fashioned and tedious, yet again. But I gotta say ... this one worked for me. As I have said many (many) times, if you are going to go wacky or corny or punny or whatever, Go Big. Don't send in tepid little safe answers, a har here, a tehee there. No, bring in GROUND NUT MEG and BURY-THE-HAT CHET, for chrissake, and let them take over the dance floor, wreck the place, and then burn it to the ground. These nicknames are ornate in their dumbness, which makes them great. Well if it isn't HEART BRO KEN! I want Ken to be real. I want to hang out with WHAT-A-DIS GRACE. I have no idea who this NAISH guy is, and RATED A sounds dumb, and U THANT is old-school crosswordese, but do I care? I do not. I'm going out for a drink with SHORT-SIGH TED because he's fun to be around and even though he's got problems (like all of us), he's not all long-winded and dramatic about them. Not like that DON guy, yeesh. Seriously, how can you not love the idea of a guy who just goes around praising forts all the time. Apache, Knox, Collins ... we get it, DALE.
I love that "Bones" was a show that someone apparently watched. I have seen exactly zero episodes, and can't imagine watching one, but somehow just knowing it existed and had fans is comforting. This is all to say that I did Not know TAMARA, but I pieced her together (the way the stars of "Bones" were always "piecing" bodies together ... or so I imagine) (130A: Actress Taylor of "Bones"). Longer Downs on this one are also, like the themers themselves, entertaining. Never heard DRUNKATHON, but I believe it exists, and anyway it's inferrable (2D: Prolonged period of excessive imbibing). "COME TO PAPA" is an expression that kinda creeps me out, but I also kinda like that it's next to THE RIDDLER, who is clued as ... a papa (79D: Father of Enigma in DC Comics). Honestly, this puzzle had me at DOCK ELLIS (83D: Pitcher who famously claimed he was on LSD while throwing a no-hitter (1970)). There's a doc(k) about him on Netflix and if you don't know the story of his acid-trip no-hitter, you should definitely watch it. Or just watch this.
Not too thrilled to see NRA in here again, though at least this time they didn't try to cute-it-up with some dumbass "magazine" pun or whatever. I can just pretend that the [Big D.C. lobby] is the National Restaurant Association, so that's what I'm gonna do. Have a nice day.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:31)
Theme answers:
- BURY-THE-HAT CHET (23A: ... the guy who vows to take his Stetson to the grave)
- HEART BRO KEN (33A: ... the fraternity guy who wants to be a cardiologist)
- SHORT-SIGH TED (51A: ... the guy who barely shows he's exasperated)
- POP-IN JAY (56A: ... the guy who always shows up unannounced)
- WHAT-A-DIS GRACE (70A: ... the gal who delivered the greatest put-down ever)
- DRONE DON (86A: ... the guy who takes aerial photos for the military)
- GROUND NUT MEG (91A: ... the gal who loses it when pass plays are called)
- ROLLERS KATE (108A: ... the gal who spends all day at the hairdresser)
- FORT LAUDER DALE (121A: ... the guy who can't stop bragging about Bragg)
J. Carrol Naish (born Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish; January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 credits during the Golden Age of Hollywood.Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), the latter of which also earned him a Golden Globe. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. (wikipedia)
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I love that "Bones" was a show that someone apparently watched. I have seen exactly zero episodes, and can't imagine watching one, but somehow just knowing it existed and had fans is comforting. This is all to say that I did Not know TAMARA, but I pieced her together (the way the stars of "Bones" were always "piecing" bodies together ... or so I imagine) (130A: Actress Taylor of "Bones"). Longer Downs on this one are also, like the themers themselves, entertaining. Never heard DRUNKATHON, but I believe it exists, and anyway it's inferrable (2D: Prolonged period of excessive imbibing). "COME TO PAPA" is an expression that kinda creeps me out, but I also kinda like that it's next to THE RIDDLER, who is clued as ... a papa (79D: Father of Enigma in DC Comics). Honestly, this puzzle had me at DOCK ELLIS (83D: Pitcher who famously claimed he was on LSD while throwing a no-hitter (1970)). There's a doc(k) about him on Netflix and if you don't know the story of his acid-trip no-hitter, you should definitely watch it. Or just watch this.
Not too thrilled to see NRA in here again, though at least this time they didn't try to cute-it-up with some dumbass "magazine" pun or whatever. I can just pretend that the [Big D.C. lobby] is the National Restaurant Association, so that's what I'm gonna do. Have a nice day.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]