Website for customer reviews / MON 12-1-14 / Spoon-bending Geller / Mineral layer involved in tracking / Sleuth in old crime fiction

Constructor: John Guzzetta

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: blank my blank— "adoring" expressions from people of different professions (if you accept "arsonist" as a profession…)

Theme answers:

• "ROCK MY WORLD" (17A: "You really___!," said the adoring seismologist)
• "SUIT MY FANCY" (11D "You really___!," said the adoring tailor)
• "FLOAT MY BOAT" (51A: "You really___!," said the adoring ship captain)
• "LIGHT MY FIRE" (25D: "You really___!," said the adoring arsonist)

Word of the Day: REDOUBT (10D: Fortress) —

A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a hastily-constructed temporary fortification. The word means "a place of retreat". Redoubts were a component of the military strategies of most European empires during the colonial era, especially in the outer works of Vauban-style fortresses made popular during the 17th century, although the concept of redoubts has existed since medieval times. A redoubt differs from a redan in that the redan is open in the rear, whereas the redoubt was considered an enclosed work. (wikipedia)

Hey, this actually works pretty well. I'd've done Everything I could to get rid of PEE (!?), and I think the "arsonist" clue really ruins the "professional" consistency of the theme clues, but other than that, I think this puzzle works. It's easy, the theme is bouncy, the fill is clean and interesting. ARDOR and "arson(ist)" are etymologically related, but something tells me nobody but I will notice that, so no foul. Most of my trouble came with REDOUBT, both because I never use and never see that term anywhere (thus often completely forgetting that it exists at all), and because I had a typo in the third letter, and thus was looking at a word starting RES- (instead of RED-) for far too long. YELP gets a nice modern clue (18D: Website for customer reviews), though URI is still down there "bending" spoons (seriously, that PEE corner needs a total reboot).  I had SUIT MY TASTE at first, instead of SUIT MY FANCY; went with the "I" spelling of REATA; and couldn't make any sense of the chicken clue, both because I wasn't sure if "Ready" was a verb or an adjective, and because, well, the clue just looked silly somehow—couldn't process it. As a chicken … readies things for market? Seriously, that clue is going along just fine until it hits "chicken," and then the wheels kind of come off (and again, I say, the house at PEE corner must go). But ALL TOLD, this gets a thumbs-up.


[trying to fact-check my claims about ARDOR / "arson," I accidentally looked up "ardor urinae," which is an ardor no one is going to make a movie about any time soon, I tell you what …]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. I *completely* forgot that the first Monday of every month is guest blogger ANNABEL's day … my bad. She graciously agreed to do next Monday instead (12/8).