NCIS actor Joe / FRI 8-8-14 / Anderson of Nurses / It was you, operatically / Lovingly, on a music score / Rostock bar stock

Constructor: Bruce Haight

Relative difficulty: Piscine


THEME: Goldfish— Three little goldfish swimming northwest.

Word of the Day: MAIDEN (7D: First ) —

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, east London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The band's discography has grown to thirty-seven albums, including fifteen studio albums, eleven live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations.

Pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s. After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums. Despite little radio or television support, Iron Maiden are considered one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, with The New York Times reporting in 2010 that they have sold over 85 million records worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002. As of October 2013, the band have played over 2000 live shows throughout their career.

Hello, crossword fans. Doug here, filling in at the last minute. One of Rex's subs bailed out, so I got the assignment. Lucky me. Right now, I'm sitting in a room in Manhattan with PuzzleGirl, gearing up for Lollapuzzoola on Saturday! She says "Hi" to everybody. Have you signed up for Lollapuzzoola yet? If not, stop reading the blog and get on it. I'll be here when you get back.

Interesting mini-theme in this one, with the fishy squares relating to the two 15-letter entries, SOMETHING'S FISHY & ON THE WATERFRONT. I'm semi-comatose after a big dinner at Shake Shack, so let's jump right to bullets.

Bullets:

• ALL THAT (37A: Excellent, in slang)— I had the H from ROHE and typed in BITCHIN. BITCHIN is a more bitchin' answer than ALL THAT, don't you think? 
• FOP (60D: Metrosexual sort)— Fun word.
• LOOK-SEE (62A: Gander)— PuzzleGirl liked this one. I do too. (How's that for incisive commentary?)
• LEAN-TOS (39D: Rough housing)— That's a nice tricky clue.
• OSCARS (28D: They're clutched during some speeches)— Clue of the Day. Loved it.

As I look back at the grid, I see a lot of subpar short stuff: AS AN, OSIS, EROO, ROHE, EIS, ALIA, NOI, ESOS, HOS. The fish were fun, but the plankton-level fill needs work.

Signed, Doug Peterson, Sleepyhead of CrossWorld