Constructor: Sam Ezersky
Relative difficulty: Medium (11-something)
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THEME:"You're Telling Me!"— Phrases starting with "You're," all of which are reimagined in some punny way:
Theme answers:
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Leaving aside how very, very loose the theme concept is, there's one lethal problem with this theme, which is that virtually none of themers really land. I think MISSING THE POINT comes close, but everything is awkward or stilted or forced. I don't even know what the pun is supposed to be with IN FOR IT NOW. You fill "in" for someone when you are a temp, but ... yeesh, the "it" is really making this one not work. Cosmeticians might use blush, but they don't make people blush (unless, I guess, they are creating custom, bespoke cosmetics with, like, a mortar & pestle or something). Why is a rude driver *DARN* TOOTIN'?? I get that a "rude driver" might honk their horn, but the "Darn" makes no sense. You would never say "your gourd"—as if the produce vendor only ever carried just one. The "aspiring entrepreneur" one takes up so much real estate and is just limp. None of these have spice or character or zing. It's just old, cornball punning. With the set of alleged addressees / professions not nearly tight enough, and the humor absolutely missing left and right, there's nothing left here. HANGRY, that's a good answer (73A: Itching to eat and irritable about it, in slang). That's nice. But wow, otherwise, a whole lot of nothing here today. Miss on Sunday, and you miss very big.
Relative difficulty: Medium (11-something)
Theme answers:
- "... MAKING ME BLUSH" (24A: To a cosmetician: "You're...")
- "... OUT OF YOUR GOURD" (30A: To a produce vendor near closing time: "You're...")
- "... MISSING THE POINT" (47A: To a bad free throw shooter: "You're...")
- "... IN FOR IT NOW" (63A: To a temp worker: "You're...")
- "... DARN TOOTIN'" (65A: To a rude driver: "You're...")
- "... ONLY AS GOOD AS THE / COMPANY YOU KEEP" (76A: With 98-Across, to an aspiring entrepreneur: "You're...")
- "... SOMETHING ELSE" (104A: To anyone who wasn't addressed above: "You're...")
Robert Holbrook Smith (August 8, 1879 – November 16, 1950), also known as Dr. Bob, was an American physician and surgeon who founded Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson (more commonly known as Bill W.), and a nurse, Sister Ignatia. (wikipedia)
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I struggled with a lot of the fill. Most of the struggle was (surprise) proper nouns, specifically HSIA (so many dynasties...), and SHAN-YU (I saw "Mulan" but no way in hell could I remember that), and "OUR SONG" (not so familiar with the '00s Swift oeuvre) (71A: Taylor Swift's first #1 country hit, 2007). The worst, though, was STARR, like ... what? How is anyone outside of a very small part of Texas supposed to know this [Texas county on the Mexico border]??? There are at least four famous STARRs I can think of, but we get a ... county? Of no note? Bizarre. The entire *county* has 61K people. The county seat is ... Rio Grande City? My own dumb, small-ass county, which you definitely can't name, has over 200K people in it. This is the worst kind of cluing. Zero chance for an aha or any kind of good feeling. All crosses, and then a shrug. Solely here to provide a speed bump, as far as I can tell. No idea why anyone would make that editing call. Clue in MUMBAI tells me nothing about the place; just a piece of trivia I've already forgotten (26A: Home to Antilla, the world's most valuable private residence (27 floors, $2.2 billion)). I had no idea the "L" in "The L WORD" could be anything *but* "lesbian," so I really struggled with that answer (61D: What might be "love" or "lesbian" in a TV show title). Had ELDER before ENEMY (6D: "Never interrupt your ___ when he's making a mistake" (old aphorism)). Weirdly had no idea that the Titanic had MASTs (!?!?!) (47D: One of two on the Titanic). If there was some notably good fill here to write about, I would, but there really isn't, so good day!
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld