Constructor: Peter Gordon
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
![]()
THEME:"New Look"— Two "I"s are added to the last word (or word part) in familiar phrases; the gimmick is explained by the punning phrase, a "FRESH PAIR OF EYES" (116A: New look provider ... or a homophonic hint to this puzzle's theme):
Theme answers:
![]()
Is the "New York Jets Ring of Honor" supposed to be a meaningful entity? What the hell is that? AL TOON is a three-time Pro Bowler, that's good enough. Saying he's in the "New York Jets Ring of Honor" is just an awkward way of shouting "he's absolutely not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame!" There is absolutely no crossword reason for using "New York Jets Ring of Honor" except, perhaps, to signal that AL TOON was a Jet. "I fell into a burning ring of honor!" That's all I can hear in my head. Also, Ring of Honor has big "weird ritual" vibes, like maybe the induction ceremony involves human sacrifice at the mouth of a volcano. In short: I have no idea who AL TOON is (wasn't even sure if that was one name or two), and the clue didn't help. There's an American artist, John Altoon, who was married to actress Fay Spain, whom I know from supporting roles in a couple of Mamie van Doren films, the poster for one of which hangs framed in my living room. Fay Spain did her first screen test with James Garner, whose 1997 HBO hostage film "Dead Silence" I watched earlier today. Wikipedia is really full of the most incredible rabbit holes. Annnnnnyway, this theme was fine. You add two "I"s to answers, thus giving those answers a FRESH PAIR OF EYES, with a homophonic pun on "eyes," yes, I see, very nice. It's vintage Sunday wackiness, and as vintage Sunday wackiness goes, it's pretty clever. The resulting themers are mostly suitably nuts. I didn't love this, but I definitely liked it more than I've been liking most Sunday puzzles this monthyear decade.
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- THOROUGH FAIRIES (from "thoroughfares") (23A: Meticulous magical beings?)
- PANAMA-HAITI (from "Panama hat") (32A: Like some cross-Caribbean flights?)
- DOUBLE DIARIES (from "double dares") (50A: Journals of a certain stunt performer?)
- SHOULDER HAIRINESS (from "shoulder harness") (68A: Possible reason for refusing to wear a tank top?)
- BOOKS ON TAIPEI (from "books on tape") (85A: Means of learning about Chiang Kai-shek?)
- POLKA IDIOTS (from "polka dots") (99A: Inept dancers at Oktoberfest?)
Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First Team All-Big Ten pick at the University of Wisconsin, Toon set several school football records for the Wisconsin Badgers. The three-time Pro Bowl selectee played his entire NFL career with the Jets (1985-1992), leading his team and the league in receptions during the late 1980s. He is considered to be among the Jets' all-time greatest wide receivers and overall players in franchise history. (wikipedia)
• • •
The BEEFIER clue is insane (Like the Rock vis-à-vis any of the Stones). Why, why would you do that? I know you really (really!) wanted to do some kind of Rock / Stones mash-up, but a BEEFIER clue seems an odd venue in which to showcase that bit of wit. Do people really watch "Two Broke Girls"? Actually, bigger question, is that still on the air? I feel like if something gets on CBS and does OK it just runs forever and ever and ever by inertia and no one really notices. Or, millions of people notice, but somehow, culturally, no noise is made, despite the falling trees (er, episodes). CSI is also in this puzzle, in case you're wondering who's paying for promotional puzzle consideration (probably not, but it's a good conspiracy theory). "Two Broke Girls" ran for six seasons, I am told (again, by Wikipedia). The point is, I know BETH Behrs about as well as I know AL TOON (if BETH Behrs is famous, then maybe you should be seeing about getting her *last* name into the puzzle—*that* would be original). Yesterday I thought the NRA was the IRA and today I thought the NBA was the NRA (79D: Org. that bestows the Community Assist Award). I also thought DAHS were DOTS because a. who the hell knows Morse Code, seriously, and b. DAHS is the dah-umbest looking non-word, I just can't accept it despite knowing it (exclusively from crosswords) for decades. Btw, Morse Code is made up of "dots and dashes" which are also known as "dits and DAHS" (because "dots and dashes" was such a mouthful?). Other things I didn't know: that people ate CAMEL (115A: Dish at a traditional Bedouin wedding), or that Missy Elliott was ever in an R&B group before her solo success—these last two ignorances made the SW corner a little harrowing, but only a little.
Despite being an ENG professor, I did not suspect ENG at all as the answer to 81D: Liberal arts sch. major. What an oddly phrased clue. First, "sch.", yuck. Second, you can major in ENG practically anywhere. I did, in fact, go to a liberal arts college, but they have that major at big universities, it turns out. You could just say [Liberal arts deg.] or [... maj.] or whatever abbr. you need to clue the abbr. that is ENG. Hey, we all know ENG is short for ENGlish, right? Just checking I assume we're all on the same page, but you never know. Speaking of explanations, "doodles" are (I'm assuming) labradoodles, though I think of those as bigger dogs, not LAPDOGS (8A: Small doodles, perhaps). Maybe there are mini versions. Oops, nope, looks like *any* dog crossed with a poodle immediately becomes some kind of "-doodle" (or a "-poo"). Woof. Stop doodling dogs! Just adopt a mutt. Or get a PULI, they at least look awesome (32D: Hungarian herding breed). A STETSON is (I guess) made of felt, which is what that clue's all about (124A: Felt on the head?). The 'Hoos are UVA (a back formation of the school's yell—so dumb, esp. when you are already the Cavaliers, just be the Cavs, so much less Seussian than the 'Hoos). The TERPS are of course the Maryland Terpsichores. That's enough trivia for today.