Constructor: Lynn LempelRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME: Foodies — two-word idiomatic expressions for types of people, where the second word is a kind of food
Word of the Day: MATZOH (
29A: Bread eaten during Passover) —
n., pl., -zos, also -zohs (müt'səz, -sōs') or -zot or -zoth (mät-sôt').
A brittle, flat piece of unleavened bread, eaten especially during Passover.
[Yiddish matse, from Hebrew maṣṣâ.]
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/matzo#ixzz1s9MJxvKj
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This grid is great. I don't think the theme is as tight as it could be, but I also don't care. Interesting theme answers, cool long Downs, no real groaners—all the makings of a decent Monday. I object slightly to
HUMAN PRETZEL, since a. it applies to very few people (primarily contortionists; b. it applies to a person only when he/she is *doing* a very particular thing (unlike all the others); c. answer relies on a *literal* connection between food and person in a way that none of the others do; d. it's got HUMAN in it, thus forcing food-human connection in a way that none of the others do. Also the clue on
SWEETIE PIE is terrible. The phrase [Precious sort] implies a *kind* of person who is "precious" in the sense of having affected mannerisms. Something about "sort" just feels wrong. That phrase calls more for [Lovable person]; or else ["Sugar"] or ["Hon"] or ["Darlin'"]. I see now that "sort" is in every theme clue (ugh), so I guess if I really wanted to keep that theme link in the clues (I wouldn't), I'd've gone with [Lovable sort].
Theme answers: - 17A: Sexy sort (STUD MUFFIN)
- 23A: Influential sort (BIG ENCHILADA)
- 39A: Amiable sort (GOOD EGG)
- 50A: Supple sort (HUMAN PRETZEL)
- 59A: Precious sort (SWEETIE PIE)
This took me slightly longer than my average Monday, but only slightly, and that slowness was largely self-inflicted. I hedged at
MATZOH, thinking there might be a billion ways to spell it (there are only a couple), and then I wrote in WIPED at
37A: Tired (WEARY), mostly because that is the phrase my wife uses—so much so that it's kind of a household joke.
Then (less surprisingly) I wrote in ACHE for
PINE (
45A: Yearn (for)). I knew that area was a wreck, so rather than try to fix it immediately, I relied on the middle and ends of the long Downs to bail me out—once I had ZEBRA and -GE RIND, the front ends were very gettable and the mistakes I'd made ironed themselves out.
Bullets: 
- 1A: Yankee's crosstown rival (MET) — balked at this one. Instinctively wanted BOS or SOX because, honestly, when was the last time you could consider the METs a real "rival" to the Yankees? 2000?
- 1D: Reader's notes alongside the text (MARGINALIA) — great word. I love finding MARGINALIA in my old books. Weird to see what people think is important.
- 30D: Spelling clarification that Aziz might use twice (Z AS IN ZEBRA) — insane, and easily the best thing about the grid. Coincidentally, I had just been looking at a picture of Aziz Ansari at Coachella on Buzzfeed's Facebook page (That is a sentence that just five years ago would have made absolutely no sense to me, and probably makes only partial sense to millions of people still).
- 13D: Biblical kingdom east of the Dead Sea (MOAB) — never saw the clue. Always thought it was weird this place didn't rhyme with "lobe."
- 31D: Common marmalade ingredient (ORANGE RIND) — we've eaten our way through the chocolate chip cookies this weekend, so I might have to make do with marmalade on toast for dessert tonight. Worse things have happened.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
