Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: MISPELLED (60A: Like the six longest answers in this puzzle) — commonly misspelled words are, in fact, misspelled in this grid.
Word of the Day: Dana ELCAR (19A: Dana of "MacGyver") —
Dana Elcar (October 10, 1927 – June 6, 2005) was an American television and movie character actor. Although he appeared in about 40 films, his most memorable role was on the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, an administrator working for the Phoenix Foundation. Elcar had appeared in the pilot episode of MacGyver as Andy Colson (a completely different character), but was later cast as Peter Thornton, making his first regular appearance in the 11th episode of the first season. (wikipedia)
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Why ERICSON is not part of the theme, I don't know (23D: Explorer born around A.D. 970)—it's the only word in this grid I routinely misspell (or misremember how to spell; I don't have occasion (one "s") to use it in my everyday writing very often). I want there to be two Ss, or maybe an E as the last vowel. ERICSEN ... no, I can't see myself making that error. ERICSSON? Is that something?
Neville tells me he wrote this puzzle three years ago. Such is the fate of many an NYT submission: an acceptance (ideally), followed by an indeterminate time in puzzle purgatory (I've got one at something like two years and counting). Neville is a much savvier constructor now. He seems a bit anxious about how the puzzle will be received. I think it's a cute idea. I don't misspell these words (except perhaps GENEOLOGY), but with the exception of OCCASSION (really?! rhymes with "passion"?), I can imagine that these words are, in fact, frequently misspelled. I remember forcing myself to remember how MILLENNIUM is spelled (sometime around Y2K). The spellings of the others either seem intuitive or have somehow just stuck. The grid seems reasonably well filled, though ELCAR (19A: Dana of "MacGyver") over LELAND (21A: Henry who founded Cadillac) (? and ?, respectively) was a bit harrowing, and I came to a complete halt at the very end, in the tiny western section. Two wrong answers (DDE and STE instead of IKE and MME) (25D: Five-star W.W. II hero, informally + 27D: Fr. title) really screwed me, as did absurd cluing on SIX and KIMONO. SIX is a [Big roll] only if you are a rolling a single, six-sided die, and why would you do that? SIX is just not "big." TWELVE, I'd buy as "big." Not SIX. And leaving off "of clothing" in 30A: Article with an ushiromigoro is just perverse. "Article takes me to a written work or to grammar. Or to the Articles of Confederation, I guess. Anyway, with IKE, SIX, and MME misbehaving, and the "Article" shenanigans, I lost a good 30 seconds. Puzzle still came in a solid Easy.
Theme answers:
- 17A: Study of trees? (GENEOLOGY)
- 22A: Tenacity (PERSEVERENCE)
- 50A: Survey staple (QUESTIONAIRE)
- 10D: Long time (MILLENIUM)
- 31D: Event (OCCASSION)
Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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