Constructor: C.W. StewartRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME: QUITE A FEW (
59A: Many ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23-, 34-, 40- and 46-Across) — final words in the theme answers can mean "
QUITE A FEW":
- BOX SCORES (17A: Printed results of baseball games)
- PARKING LOTS (23A: Tailgate party places)
- WORKLOADS (34A: Sets of tasks, as at an office)
- JUNK HEAPS (40A: Old jalopies)
- BEER BARRELS (46A: Big containers in a tavern)
Word of the Day: ELUL (
14A: Jewish month after Av) —
Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל, Standard Elul Tiberian ʾĔlûl) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. (wikipedia)
• • •
A theme you look back on and notice only once you're done. Holds up nicely, though I don't like the revealer much at all. It's drab, despite the "Q"; just a definition of "Many." I really like revealers to have some kind of sparkle or punch, not be simply literal. The theme density is impressive, but it necessitates chopping the grid up like crazy, such that most of the answers we're left with are short and rather crosswordesey. There were some nice moments, though, such as the
HIBACHI / SUSHI intersection (
41D: Japanese grill + 64A: Japanese restaurant staple), which nicely picked up the Japanese theme started by
FUJI (
31D: Japan's tallest peak). Despite the fact that
WORKLOADS stands out as the only phrase that is not a two-word phrase, the theme execution on this is nice—all answers are made up of two words (even if "workload" is a compound), and they are all clued in ways unrelated to "many"-ness. Rest of the grid is boilerplate, but at thematically, at least, I think it's solid.
Earlier today, I watched "They Drive By Night" (1940), starring George
RAFT (
11D: Castaway's makeshift vessel), Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart. It was not filmed
IN HD (
66A: How many TV programs are aired nowadays). I recommend it, though it's an odd amalgam of little-guy-makes-good and film noir. Lupino is fantastic as the bony, vicious femme fatale—probably the only character in cinematic history to commit murder by simply walking away from a garage... (there's technology involved—director Raoul Walsh was kinda tech-obsessed, if this movie and 1949's "White Heat" are any indication ... but I digress).
Only slow-down occurred when I dumped DOUGH in the slot where
BATCH was supposed to go (
61A: Cookie trayful). I had to go back and fix two mistakes I made in my dash through this (easy) puzzle. Had LAXOR (?) instead of
LUXOR (3D: Pyramid-shaped hotel in Vegas), probably because I couldn't remember the name of the hotel at first, and then because ELAL didn't make me blink during a rough eye-scan. Also I had RATTLE instead of
RATTLY because ... well, come on.
RATTLY? (
45D: Sounding like a jalopy) I'm sure my brain (rightly) balked at the idea of
RATTLY's being a word. But DENE is undeniably not a word, so I really should be more careful.
Gotta go. Happy Labor Day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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