Former Houston hockey team / TUE 10-6-20 / Green-skinned variety of pear / Element extracted from kelp

Constructor: Alan Massengill and Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy (very, 2:50)

THEME: Frazzle dazzle— just put an "F" in front of phrases where the first word starts with "R," then clue it wackily, tada:

Theme answers:

• FRIGHTFUL OWNER (19A: Scary landlord?)
• FRACK AND RUIN (24A: Anti-fuel extraction slogan?)
• FRANK AMATEUR (48A: One who freely admits not being any good?)
• FRISKY BUSINESS (55A: What Fancy Feast and Meow Mix compete in?)

Word of the Day: ANJOU pear (64A: Green-skinned variety of pear) —

The D'Anjou pear, sometimes referred to as the Beurré d'Anjou or simply Anjou, is a short-necked cultivar of European pear. The variety was originally named 'Nec Plus Meuris' in Europe and the name 'Anjou' or 'd'Anjou' was erroneously applied to the variety when introduced to America and England. It is thought to have originated in the mid-19th century, in Belgium or France. // The two cultivars that comprise d'Anjou pears are the 'Green Anjou' pear and the 'Red Anjou' pear. The 'Green Anjou' pear has a pale green skin that does not change color as the pear ripens, unlike most other cultivars of green pears, which turn yellow as they ripen. The 'Red Anjou' pear originated as a naturally occurring bud sport found on 'Green Anjou' trees. 'Red Anjou' pears are very similar to the original Anjou other than color. (wikipedia)

There's really not much to say about this one. It feels extremely last-century, in every way. There's a corny one-note theme, with answers that aren't terribly funny, and a grid overloaded with overfamiliar fill of the mostly 4- and 5-letter variety. If you like the theme, you like the theme, I guess, that's a matter of taste, but the grid is truly bottom 10% when it comes to fill. A grid this undemanding, theme-wise, should not have so much tedious old common fill and absolutely nothing snazzy or even interesting going on. "YES WE DO" is, by a mile, the best non-theme answer in the grid (8D: Possible response to "You take credit cards?"), and, well ... that is saying something. This feels like it was written for a lesser paper. It would truly be right at home in any far less prestigious outlet. It's dime a dozen. It works fine, for what it is, but there's just nothing special about what it is. It's filler. It's bygone. I don't get it. And ICERS UIES AEROS SSGTS SSS is a lot to take in a puzzle that isn't offering you anything by way of compensation. So many listless four-letter answers. When your theme has no heft, your grid Needs to be interesting. And today, it definitely is not.