Statistic method for checking means / SUN 4-22-12 / Adams with 1991 hit Get Here / Faddish 1970s footwear / Conditional construct in programming / Actor Paul of American Graffiti / Ali trainer Dundee / Chile de hot pepper / Frontiersman Boone informally

Constructor: Paula Gamache and Ed Stein

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Letting Go Of" — shockingly, these are familiar phrases missing their "of"s. Hilarity ensues?

Word of the Day: T TEST (33D: Statistics method for checking means) —

A t-test is any statistical hypothesis test in which the test statistic follows a Student's t distribution if the null hypothesis is supported. It is most commonly applied when the test statistic would follow a normal distribution if the value of a scaling term in the test statistic were known. When the scaling term is unknown and is replaced by an estimate based on the data, the test statistic (under certain conditions) follows a Student's t distribution. (wikipedia)

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Weak theme, weak fill, no fun. Always hate junk like LEMAT (36A: Actor Paul of "American Graffiti") and really resent it when it runs into more obscure junk like T TEST (33D: Statistics method for checking means). And ARBOL as your 1-Down!? (1D: Chile de ___ (hot pepper)) Is there really no way you couldn't have drastically cleaned up that entire NW?? It's very rare that I see a grid with Nothing that I like, but this has Nothing that I like. I might like EARTH SHOES (39D: Faddish 1970s footwear) if I knew what they were. At least they're interesting-sounding, unlike the rest of the olden dreck in this grid.

Theme answers:

• 23A: Diet? (BATTLE THE BULGE)
• 31A: Be very successful at fishing? (LAND PLENTY)
• 37A: Do a clerk's work at a morgue? (BOOK THE DEAD) — I'd've gone with something like [Arrange for Jerry's band to play at your party?] or the like.
• 50A: Throw large bank notes around? (CAST THOUSANDS)
• 67A: Take advantage of Good Samaritans? (MILK HUMAN KINDNESS)

• 86A: Forge some personal notes? (DOCTOR LETTERS) — ugh, lame base phrase
• 94A: Outdo one's buddies? (BEST FRIENDS) — UGH, THIS IS A NORMAL PHRASE!!! "Battle the bulge" might, conceivably, make someone, somewhere, laugh, or at least smile; BEST FRIENDS, on the other hand, will not.
• 103A: Be a sadistic masseuse? (POUND FLESH)
• 118A: Send for a special bridal accessory? (ORDER THE GARTER)

Some of these theme answers were mildly tough to get (BOOK THE DEAD), others I filled in without even looking at the clue (ORDER THE GARTER).  There's really not much to say here. I was annoyed at ESKIMO DOGS ("They're called SLED DOGS," I thought) until I realized that an Eskimo dog is a *breed* of dog—a breed sometimes used as sled dogs, I guess (44D: They're mushed). Well, the Canadian Eskimo dog (or "Qimmiq"!!!) is. American Eskimo dog looks far more ... domestic.

Bullets:

• 64D: Adams with the 1991 hit "Get Here" (OLETA) — if there weren't so many ughy names, I wouldn't bother with her; but throw in PEREC (103D: Georges who wrote "Life: A User's Manual") and DAN'L (71D: Frontiersman Boone, informally) and LEMAT and come on.

• 22A: Wife of Alexander the Great (ROXANA) — with one N? Sure, if you say so. Why not? She's fame...ish.
• 82D: Veg-O-Matic maker (RONCO) — kind of odd / cool how this intersects BRONC (81A: It may be broken on a ranch). If you put them together, you have an actual word (and car model, and professional football player).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. It's possible that I'll be on the CBS News tonight during 6pm broadcast, UNLESS golf goes long, in which case, who knows? [UPDATE: just got official word—the piece is, in fact, airing tonight] [UPDATE: just got MORE official word that it is not, in fact, airing tonight] [I give up—just know that some Sunday in the near or distant future, CBS News will air a story about crosswords, featuring me. Maybe by Christmas?]