Constructor: Joe Krozel
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: JAPANESE (57A: Language that gave us the words heard phonetically in the answers to the starred clues) —
Theme answers:
I like this one OK. The pronunciations don't work quite right on two of them; or, I should say, the accents/stresses seem off. "PSEU'-do coup," as opposed to su-DO'- ku; "A'-ri got TOW'" as opposed to "ari-GA'-to." Then there's the odd syntax. Clue on CARRY OKIE includes the indefinite article "a" while the answer doesn't (awkward, seemingly unparallel), and there's a similar problem with the strange phrasing of ARI GOT TOW (something it's impossible to imagine anyone's saying under any circumstances at any time). And yet there's something weird and slightly charming about the theme, and while the fill isn't great, neither is it terrible. I didn't know SOBBY was a word, but that's the answer that (to my ear) works best.
Three OHs—UH OH, OH ME, OH BROTHER. That's laying it on a bit thick, and that's not even counting the PHARAOHS (which would make a really great name for a cereal—green pyramids! blue asps!). "OR A close second" doesn't mean a thing to me. When do you say that? I do like the energy of "IT'S A TRAP!" and "I'M THERE!" Didn't hit any real snags in this one. Seems like a puzzle that's not likely to give most solvers any significant trouble. Had ODEON for ODEUM but Jon HAMM helped me fix that one. TNT for TNN (10D: Old cable inits.)—pretty forgivable (though I guess TNT is current, not "old"). Not much else to say. Light, mostly enjoyable fare.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- WAS SOBBY (18A: *Blubbered?)
- ARI GOT TOW (25A: *What happened after Mr. Onassis contacted A.A.A.?)
- PSEUDO COUP (35A: *Imaginary overthrow of the government?)
- CARRY OKIE (47A: *Give a Dust Bowl migrant a ride?)
Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. […] Although Nolan's acting was often praised by critics, he was, for the most part, relegated to B pictures. Despite this, Nolan costarred with a number of well-known actresses, among them Mae West, Dorothy McGuire, and former Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout. Under contract to Paramount and 20th Century Fox studios, he assayed starring roles in the late 30s and early-to-mid 40s and appeared as the title character in the Michael Shayne detective series. Raymond Chandler's novel The High Window was adapted from aPhilip Marlowe adventure for the seventh film in the Michael Shayne series, Time to Kill (1942). The film was remade five years later as The Brasher Doubloon, truer to Chandler's original story, with George Montgomery as Marlowe.The majority of Nolan's films comprised light entertainment with an emphasis on action. His most famous films include: Atlantic Adventure, costarring Nancy Carroll; Ebb Tide; Wells Fargo; Every Day's A Holiday, starring Mae West; Bataan; and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with Dorothy McGuire and James Dunn. He also gave a strong performance in the 1957 filmPeyton Place with Lana Turner.Nolan subsequently contributed many solid and key character parts in numerous other films. One of these films, The House on 92nd Street, was a startling revelation to audiences in 1945. It was a conflation of several true incidents of attempted sabotage by the Nazi regime - incidents which the FBI was able to thwart during World War II - and many scenes were filmed on location in New York City, an unusual occurrence at the time. Nolan portrayed FBI agent Briggs, and actual FBI employees interacted with Nolan throughout the film. He reprised the role in a subsequent 1948 movie, The Street with No Name. (wikipedia)
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I like this one OK. The pronunciations don't work quite right on two of them; or, I should say, the accents/stresses seem off. "PSEU'-do coup," as opposed to su-DO'- ku; "A'-ri got TOW'" as opposed to "ari-GA'-to." Then there's the odd syntax. Clue on CARRY OKIE includes the indefinite article "a" while the answer doesn't (awkward, seemingly unparallel), and there's a similar problem with the strange phrasing of ARI GOT TOW (something it's impossible to imagine anyone's saying under any circumstances at any time). And yet there's something weird and slightly charming about the theme, and while the fill isn't great, neither is it terrible. I didn't know SOBBY was a word, but that's the answer that (to my ear) works best.
Three OHs—UH OH, OH ME, OH BROTHER. That's laying it on a bit thick, and that's not even counting the PHARAOHS (which would make a really great name for a cereal—green pyramids! blue asps!). "OR A close second" doesn't mean a thing to me. When do you say that? I do like the energy of "IT'S A TRAP!" and "I'M THERE!" Didn't hit any real snags in this one. Seems like a puzzle that's not likely to give most solvers any significant trouble. Had ODEON for ODEUM but Jon HAMM helped me fix that one. TNT for TNN (10D: Old cable inits.)—pretty forgivable (though I guess TNT is current, not "old"). Not much else to say. Light, mostly enjoyable fare.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld