Pen name for Angela Lansbury's character on "Murder, She Wrote" / TUE 2-4-14 / One-named singer with 2006 hit Too Little Too Late / Viscount's superior / Joe Namath Mark Gastineau

Constructor: David Steinberg

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium


THEME: J. be smoove — theme answers are people with two first initials, the first of which is "J."

• JK ROWLING (17A: Author of the best selling book series in history)
• JP MORGAN (20A: Founder of U.S. Steel)
• JS BACH (9D: "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer)
• JD SALINGER (11D: Reclusive best-selling novelist)
• JB FLETCHER (27D: Pen name for Angela Lansbury's character on "Murder, She Wrote")
• JJ PUTZ (47D: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher who was a 2007 All-Star with Seattle)
• JM BARRIE (57A: "Peter Pan" author)
• JC DITHERS (62A: Dagwood Bumstead's boss)

Word of the Day: JJ PUTZ —

Joseph Jason "J. J." Putz (/ˈpʊts/; born February 22, 1977) is an American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. […] In 2007, Putz continued to improve his game. He made his first All-Star appearance, where he was given a save opportunity. He converted 40 saves in 42 save opportunities with a 1.38 ERA, .698 WHIP, 82 strikeouts and 13 walks in 71.2 innings. On July 6, 2007, he was named the June 2007 winner of the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award," recognizing the top relief pitcher for the month and on September 25, 2007, Putz was named as one of 10 finalist for the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award." On July 14, 2007, Putz broke Eddie Guardado's Mariners' consecutive saves record. The streak ended at 30 consecutive saves. In 2007, he also became the first Mariner ever to win the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award. […] Putz stands 6’5” tall and weighs 250 lb. Affectionately nicknamed "The Big Guy," by Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims. Putz shared a dorm with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady while at the University of Michigan. (wikipedia)

Weird is good. I like weird. This is a little weird. There's not much rhyme or reason for this one—just J. [initial] [name], over and over. There's one thing this theme ensures, and that's a hell of a lot of Js. You don't usually see this many Js in *any* puzzle, let alone an early-week/easy puzzle. And yet here we are. I enjoyed solving this, despite wincing here and there at the fill (OOOH, OOOLA!), and looking sideways here and there at some theme answers (Mr. Dithers has two first initials? People know that?). Actually, the themers are mostly solid. I'd say the real outliers are the fictional J. folk: J.B. FLETCHER, who will be the least familiar of all of the themers, probably; and J.C. DITHERS. I never really read "Blondie." I did not know Mr. Dithers was a J.C., although I *did* know that Mr. Dithers's wife's name is CORA (thank you, crosswords).


EX-JET is tenuous / made-up (want proof—just imagine EXSEAHAWK in your grid), but kinda sorta timely, given Joe Namath's (in)famous coin toss appearance at this past weekend's Super Bowl. Also, I've definitely seen EX-MET before, so there's precedent, however horrible. HAJJ looks wrong to me—want it to end -DJ, not -JJ. Is that an alternate spelling? Yes. Yes it is. Glad I cleared that up. There are some ridiculous plurals in here (ZOES? ACHOOS!?), but still, as I say, I give this one a pass, as it was entertaining and not disastrous (that's currently my bar for Tuesdays).


See you tomorrow,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld