Old newspaper columnist Joseph / THU 9-10-15 / Leafy plant also known as mountain spinach / 1996-97 Deep Blue opponent / Worker for Deloitte / Butt of many 1970s automotive jokes / First of two columns in fashion magazine / Banned plant growth regulator / High-end bag maker / Conversation interrupter in car maybe

Constructor: Tracy Gray

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging


THEME:SPILL THE BEANS (53A: Blab ... or a literal hint to completing five answers in this puzzle) — five Across answers turn down at their last word, which is also a kind of bean, so the "bean" part of the answer (which is also clued separately as a non-bean Down) is kind of "spilling" down the grid...

Theme answers:

• SECOND/STRING
• OLD/NAVY
• FORD/PINTO
• OH/SNAP 

Word of the Day: ORACH (26D: Leafy plant also called mountain spinach) —

noun

noun: orach

1. a plant of the goosefoot family with leaves that are sometimes covered in a white mealy substance. Several kinds are edible and can be used as a substitute for spinach or sorrel. (mmmm... white mealy substance. Tell me more ...) (google.com)

This puzzle has several confusing or otherwise odd features. I love the concept, and the revealer, but there are some details of the theme execution that I have questions about. First, and least importantly, the revealer clue is oddly self-referential, in that it says it's a hint to "five answers in this puzzle." Usually whatever number of answers is indicated in a revealer refers exclusively to answers elsewhere in the grid. But the "five answers" here included the revealer itself. This meant that I spent a little while after I was finished trying to find the elusive Fifth Bean. It turned out to be not a particular bean but just the word BEANS in the revealer answer. So, odd. Second, and more importantly, SNAP bean is not a thing I've ever heard of. The other beans roll right off the tongue. Navy bean, string bean, pinto bean. But snap bean? No. I've heard of "snap peas" or "sugar snap peas" (I think ... I'm not confusing that with the cereal Sugar Snaps, am I?). But "snap bean." No. Turns out it's a regionalism. It's a term allegedly common to "the western and northeastern United States." Disturbingly for me, with an 8-year break in the '90s, the western and northeastern United States are the only places I've ever lived, and yet, as I say, never heard "snap bean." Seems like an odd man out.


But now we get to the Third, and biggest issue I have with the theme, and it's specific to "snap bean." Wikipedia tells me that "snap beans" are also known as "green beans," which are also known as [dum dum DUM] "*string* beans." So there are four alleged "beans" in the grid, except two of them are actually The Same Bean. Can you do that? That seems like a massive foul. There are So Many Other Beans In The World, I can't believe you had to double-dip in the green bean synonym jar like that. What a tragedy.

["The differences between green and string beans are easy to remember because they don't exist"]
Only a few other observations about this puzzle ...

Bullets:

• 1A: Chophouse orders (STEAKS)— had weird amount of trouble getting started in NW because I wanted T-BONES here, and then even when I mentally inserted STEAKS, I couldn't get anything but TARE to work (2D: Weigh station factor), and wasn't sure of that. 
• 31A: Butt of many 1970s automotive jokes (FORD/PINTO)— wrote in EDSEL, thinking "well ... I guess people were still joking about the EDSEL in the '70s...")
• 37D: Chipped-flint tool (EOLITH)— fill in this puzzle is OK, but stuff like this (and ORACH, and ITER) goes on my No-Fly List of crossword fill. Technical and uncommon and only used as a crutch. I'd also put ALAR low on the desirability scale. And RARIN'. And ALSOP, for sure (4D: Old newspaper columnist Joseph).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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