Titular film character who lives in a swamp / TUES 10-29-24 / Name shared by two of King Henry VIII's wives / Sitcom extraterrestrial / "Of course!," in Spanish

Theme answers:

• DOZENS OF COUSINS (17A: Whole bunch at a family reunion?) 
• SCORES OF DRAWERS (25A: Large array for a desk?) 
• OODLES OF POODLES (46A: Big group in a dog show?) 
• OCEANS OF POTIONS (61A: Massive collection for an alchemist?)

Word of the Day: PIPPIN (49D: Broadway musical about the son of Charlemagne) —

Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto. The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The 'fourth wall' is broken numerous times during most traditional productions. (Wiki)

Meh. 

I suppose the theme was cute, and the construction seems impressive because the theme answers cross the entire puzzle. But it felt like the rest of the puzzle was sacrificed to make this rhyming scheme work, and I couldn’t muster more than a shrug when I realized what the theme was doing. Usually, if there’s a gimmick like this with the theme answers, without a revealer, there’s a payoff elsewhere, like with long downs or interesting clues or something. Instead, we got a lot of crosswordese and then didn’t get many fun answers. The construction meant the longest non-theme answer was seven letters, and I didn’t particularly love either of those answers. 

My favorite of the non-themers would have to be LIZARD brain (47D: (source of our primal instincts, it's said)), and BLOTTO(6D: Drunk as a skunk) is a good one. On the other hand, I hated PEP BAND (39A: Performing group at a homecoming game) (even if it’s apparently a thing, according to Wikipedia). I didn’t understand the three clues/answers revolving around numbers (14A, 42A, and 18D) and why they were done like that (Spanish, French, and Italian, with seemingly no rhyme or reason as to why). 24D: Rear end, in London's West End is a weirdly specific clue with a rhyme scheme all to tee up the word ARSE. BZZT(3D: [Wrong answer!]) strikes me as a particularly ugly word and not a common way of describing a buzzer. And that’s not to be confused with PSST(60D: Vowelless attention-getter), which also made an appearance. We even had THAT (10A: "I'll drink to ___!") as an answer, which I think sums up the boring fill. 

I swear I’m in a better mood than I seem to be as I describe this puzzle! I mean, my Steelers are 6-2 going into their bye week. I just don’t think the theme was cute or clever enough to justify the rest of the puzzle falling somewhat flat.

Misc.:

• ANNE Boleyn and ANNE of Cleves (12D: Name shared by two of King Henry VIII's wives)— I solved this clue/answer especially quickly because I’ve listened to (and hope to one day see!) the musical “Six,” which is an absolutely incredible telling of history that shows the depth to each of the six women who happened to be married to Henry VIII. (Henry VII was also married to three Catherines — Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr — only one of whom was executed!) 
• MII(35A: Customizable Nintendo avatar) reminds me of the many, many hours I spent playing the Wii growing up. I was especially good at Wii tennis. And then the heading-the-soccer-ball one (once Wii Fit came out). But, then again, there was the time I was trying to smack a ball on a par five while playing Wii golf, and the little wristbands weren’t especially well made at the time, so the controller slipped out of my hand, and I… broke my aunt’s TV. Oooops! 
• I may not have DOZENS OF COUSINS (17A), but my dad is one of eight kids, so I have 15 just on his side of the family. We have a family reunion every other year on the New Jersey shore, and there are so many people we once had to charter a bus to get somewhere. And our family keeps growing, too, as my cousins keep getting married and having kids! 
• I took ECON (48D: Supply-and-demand subj.) in college (as a history major), and basically the only thing I remember was the supply and demand curves we had to draw and analyze. 
•  “Agatha All Along” is my favorite TV SHOW (10D) right now and has a character who’s a SEER (4D: Oracle) — and she’s played by Patti LuPone. (Yes, it’s a tenuous connection, but I wanted to talk about this show.) It’s absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend it! The premise is a coven of witches who have to walk a dangerous road together to each get what they most desire at the end (if they make it). 

Signed, Clare Carroll, a not-so-spooked (right now) Steelers fan

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