Big maker of smoothies energy bars / SUN 5-13-12 / Forerunner of euchre / Where to conform per expression / Dead Sea Scrolls writer / Grammy-winning Radiohead album of 2000 / Dallas pro baller / World leader beginning December 2011

Constructor: Ben Tausig

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Indies" — add "D" sound for wackiness!

Word of the Day: ODWALLA (90D: Big maker of smoothies and energy bars) —

Odwalla Inc. ( /oʊˈdwɔːlə/) is an American food product company that sells fruit juice, smoothiesand food bars. It was founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 and is headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California.

The company experienced strong growth after its incorporation in 1985, expanding its distribution network from California to most of North America, and went public in 1993. A period of decline occurred as a result of a fatal outbreak of H7 in 1996 that was caused by using bruised fruit that had been contaminated. Odwalla originally sold unpasteurized juices, claiming that the process of pasteurization altered the flavor of the juice. Following the E. coli outbreak, Odwalla adopted flash pasteurization and other sanitization procedures. Odwalla recalled its juices and experienced a ninety-percent reduction in sales following the event. The company gradually recovered, and, after a few years, was making a profit again. (wikipedia)

• • •

See, a little sound-change puzzle can be kind of fun. Always nice to lead with one of your stronger entries, and WEED SHALL OVERCOME certainly qualifies. Also always good to close with one of your stronger entries, and WHOLE NUDE BALLGAME definitely qualifies. Ben edits the Onion A/V crossword and has his own weekly syndicated crossword as well—I have the latest book collection of these puzzles, "Crosswords from the Underground," and the puzzles are uniformly entertaining, moderately challenging, and very, very current. Plus he has a great puzzle book for kids called "Mad Tausig vs. the Interplanetary Puzzling Peace Patrol." Which is all to say he's an old pro who knows his stuff. Younger than me, but still an old pro.

Theme answers:

• 23A: Slogan for medical marijuana activists? (WEED SHALL OVERCOME)
• 36A: Persians who protect their feet? (THE SHOD OF IRAN)
• 50A: Entitlement to cross the stream first? (RIGHT OF WADE) — my least favorite
• 69A: "If you can't behave on this tour, I swear you'll be sorry!"? ("NO MORE MISTER NICE GUIDE!")
• 88A: Big part of the dairy business? (CHEESE TRADE)
• 104A: Lost subject of a hit Beatles song? (WANDERING JUDE)
• 115A: Clothing-free version of the national pastime? (WHOLE NUDE BALLGAME)

I had two significant hang-ups today. The first was that I couldn't remember KIM JONG-UN's name (31D: World leader beginning December 2011). I had KIM IL-SUNG and KIM JONG-IL in my head, and I knew the new guy ended with an "UN(G)" sound, but I forgot that the JONG remains the same (come on ... come on ... nothing? ... OK, moving on). This North Korean dictator spelling problem was compounded by my not having *any* idea what the clue 49A: Big twit? meant. I had -EER and still couldn't do anything with it. If you "twit" someone, do you JEER them? Maybe? That's how I'm explaining it to myself, anyway. Thank god I knew Bruce Springsteen's "NEBRaska" (78A: State for which a Springsteen album is named: Abbr.). That tiny abbrev. helped me settle both KIM JONG-UN and REDBUD, which had previously been RED OAK (which is the name of a local diner and, I assume, also the name of a tree) (61D: Oklahoma state tree). So, first hang-up, Korean dictator. Second hang-up, the DRAM IN ROME. Mixologists really measure things in DRAMs (63A: Mixologist's measure)? I've read a lot of drink recipes and have Not seen that measurement. Not saying it's not real, just saying DROP or DASH seemed more likely. And IN ROME, yikes (51D: Where to conform, per an expression). Very apt clue, very hard to get (for me). I'm just grateful I've heard of OMBRE (75A: Forerunner of euchre)—otherwise I'd've been like "EMBRE ... I guess so ... must be something I've never heard of." RADNOR (50D: Josh of "How I Met Your Mother") I got but misspelled. The way to remember how to spell him—just remember: he's funny, but he's no Gilda RADNER. (I kid: he's a handsome, talented guy, and Will was on his show once; show creator Carter Bays is a big crossword fan)






[I used to think Kurt was singing "Kim Il-Sung, Kim Il-SUNG ... Mary! ... Mary!"]

I think I know C.W. POST as a cereal magnate, not as a school name (82A: Largest campus of Long Island Univ.). I had JARGON at first instead of PIDGIN (125A: Simplified language form). Not much else in the way of problems for me. Oh, except, -EUSE, which I am ready to declare the single worst piece of crossword fill I've ever seen anywhere ever (123A: Feminine suffix). Ever. Please recall my earlier declaration about [Feminine suffix] clues and how I hate them because a. they're suffixes, so already not great, and b. they can be ENNE *or* ETTE. Or, now, apparently, -EUSE. EUSE! It's as lovely as it sounds.

Bullets:

• 1A: One waiting in France (GARÇON) — I've really got to get a better print-out system on Sundays. This clue *still* looks like [One wailing in France] to me.
• 28A: More than a quarter of academic circles? (CEES) — not great fill, but fantastic cluing.
• 90A: Like much of Pindar's work (ODIC) — I know I'm not supposed to like this word, but somehow I can't bring myself to hate it. It's like ODIN and ODIE had a baby and someone wrote  a poem about it.
• 10D: Dallas pro baller (MAV) — wow, NYT is working "Baller" hard this week. Almost as hard as ELWES (105D: Cary of "Robin Hood: Men in Tights").

• 41D: Obama's birthplace (HAWAII) — Me: "KENYA!" D'oh! That's his dad. Stupid brain.
• 52D: Jason who's a five-time baseball All-Star (GIAMBI) — non-baseball-fans might have trouble here, esp. as this crosses OMBRE. I assume most people still remember Paul REISER (79A: Hunt's co-star on "Mad About You")
• 100D: Grammy-winning Radiohead album of 2000 (KID A) — I think Ben's studying ethnomusicology at NYU. His puzzles tend to be music-heavy, which I enjoy. 
• 103D: Dead Sea Scrolls writer (ESSENE) — One Of Those Words. All common letters. Useful to know. You'll see it again (and again).

Since I plugged Ben's books earlier in the write-up, I feel compelled to plug the newest Winston Breen novel from crossword constructor Eric Berlin, called "The Puzzler's Mansion" (just came out May 10). This is the third book in his puzzle-based novel series—it's "juvenile" fiction (I think that's what they call it)—for ages 8 and up. The books are big hits with kids (esp. kids of inveterate crossword solvers—I know my kid and fellow blogger Amy Reynaldo's kid are both fans).

I should probably also mention that I was on national television last night—CBS Evening News finally ran the segment on me that they interviewed me for back in February. All the wintery parts are edited out and there are blog visuals from just yesterday. Contains very rare footage of me in the wild (i.e. teaching). I don't know if I can embed the video, but I can certainly link to it. You can also watch it at my Facebook page.

[PuzzleGirl sent me this photo of her TV screen, somewhere in sunny Southern California (where she was participating in the Crossword LA tournament). Made me laugh.]

Enjoy!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Newsman Roger / SUN 5-6-12 / 1920s Olympic track gold medalist Paavo / Sister 1920s-30s evangelist / Old country name from Portuguese for beautiful / Savanna grazer / Protector of dead in Egyptian myth / Air Force college athlete

Constructor: Alex Vratsanos

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: A-V Club — theme answers are two-word phrases (or names), first word starting with "A," second word starting with "V"

Word of the Day: Sister AIMEE (86A: Sister ___, 1920s-'30s evangelist) —

Aimee Semple McPherson (October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles, California evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s.^[1] She founded the Foursquare Church.^[2] McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, which she drew upon through the growing appeal of popular entertainment in North America. (wikipedia)

• • •

Not much of a theme, but who cares? It's Sunday, so all I ask is that the grid not suck and the theme not be tiresome, convoluted, or otherwise annoying. This one's so simple, it can hardly offend. And the constructor gets to indulge his amazing vanity. It's win-win.


Theme answers:

• 23A: Have, say (AUXILIARY VERB) — by far the hardest of the theme answers to pick up. Because of its placement, and the general vagueness / toughness of clues in the N and NW, it took me a good while to really get started. Once I got going, though the cluing seemed thorny at times, the puzzle most felt normal, difficulty-wise.
• 38A: They're likely to blow (ACTIVE VOLCANOES)
• 65A: Not seeing eye to eye (AT VARIANCE) — one of three AT phrases in the puzzle (see also AT MOST and AT PEACE).
• 68A: End of the main part of the Constitution (ARTICLE VII) — "VII" isn't really a word ... I mean, that's a five, not a "V"
• 89A: Electrical pioneer (ALESSANDRO VOLTA)
• 114A: Common houseplant with colorful blooms (AFRICAN VIOLET)
• 50D: Brandy, for one (AQUA VITAE)
• 46D: Some succulents (ALOE VERAS)

Stupidly started with some kind of -MAN at 7A: Air Force college athlete (FALCON), and so had MNOP for my [10D: Alphabet quartet]. Followed that up with AMENDS for 21A: Nervous ... that is to say, I read the wrong clue. This *often* happens on Sunday, when the print-out of the puzzle (because it's all crammed onto one 8 1/2 x 11 page) leaves the type tiny and the numbers in the grid prone to being obscured. Bah. BAH. Once I got that whole northern area sorted out, the only persistently nasty part of the grid was at the very tiny opening that links the northern section to the eastern section, i.e. the PEELE / SLIT area. I've *barely* heard of George PEELE (36D: Shakespeare contemporary), and I teach poetry from that time period regularly. Never thought of a SLIT as a "channel" before (43D: Microchannel). Thought the ELAND (49A: Savanna grazer) might be on ORIBI (wrong continent, probably). And OBLIQUE is very oddly clued. I'm not even sure how it's equivalent to [At a glance] which seems more adverbial phrase than adjective. Weird.

Bullets:

• 26A: Protector of the dead, in Egyptian myth (ISIS) — just a guess, off the "I"
• 63A: Decidedly eligible, in a way (ONE-A) — about the toughest ONE-A clue I've ever seen.
• 105A: Two-finger keyboard shortcut in Windows (ALT-TAB) — not a Windows user, but could infer the answer easily enough with a few crosses.
• 118A: Speaker of the line "He thinks too much: such men are dangerous" (CAESAR) — To be clear, Shakespeare's CAESAR says this, not real CAESAR. For the third Shak-related clue of the day, see 41D: Romeo's "two blushing pilgrims" (LIPS).

• 4D: Record label for the Kinks and Pink (ARISTA) — this is how I confirmed LENTO (31A: Slowly). I get LARGO and LENTO confused.
• 51D: 1920s Olympic track gold medalist Paavo ___ (NURMI) — I partially remembered this, somehow, though the first two letters needed crosses for me to be certain.
• 112A: Old country name from the Portuguese for "beautiful" (FORMOSA) — formerly "Taiwan"; that was tough. SE corner gave me a minor scare there at the end, but a correct guess of WAFTS helped me pry it open (94D: Drifts).
• 91D: It might go up via an escalator (SALARY) — I'm not familiar with this concept, though, again, it wasn't too tough to infer.
• 56D: Newsman Roger (O'NEIL) — Dude does not have a wikipedia page, what the hell? He was "the reporter of record" for the JonBenet Ramsey story, according to his bio page at MSNBC. And the world is better for it, I'm sure.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Student of morality / SUN 4-29-12 / Gherman cosmonaut / Ancient Balkan region / 2009 Hilary Swank biopic / Child-care author LeShan / 1984 superpwower / Botanical beards /

Constructor: Tracy Gray

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: "Infractions" — five theme answers with ordinal numbers and two theme answers with actual fractions in them have those numbers/fractions represented as fractions by having the numerator (which in very case is "ONE") take the place of the ordinal number in the answer, and then having the denominator be the answer directly below said numerator.

Word of the Day: Gherman TITOV (48D: Gherman ___, cosmonaut who was the second human to orbit the earth) —

Gherman Stepanovich Titov (Russian: Герман Степанович Титов) (September 11, 1935–September 20, 2000) was a Soviet cosmonaut who, on August 6, 1961,^[1] became the second human to orbit the Earth aboardVostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1. Titov was the fourth man in space after Gagarin and Americans Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom (the latter two made suborbital voyages). (wikipedia)

• • •

The theme simply doesn't work because of the HALF / QUARTER issue. With all the other answers, ordinal numbers are being represented as fractions, but with the HALF and QUARTER answers, fractions are being represented as fractions. Fifth in a sequence and one-fifth are totally different things. Half and 1/2 are not. That is a Major-League inconsistency.

Theme answers:

• 23A: With 26-Across, like grandchildren ([Third] GENERATION)
• 33A: With 44-Across, execute, in a way (DRAW AND [Quarter])
• 45A: With 50-Across, euphoric ([Seventh] HEAVEN)
• 71A: With 77-Across, high-end retail chain (SAKS [Fifth] AVENUE)
• 94A: With 103-Across, 1999 Shyamalan thriller ("THE [Sixth] SENSE")
• 105A: With 112-Across, compromise (MEET [Half] WAY)
• 122A: With 127-Across, classical work that's the source of the European Union's anthem (BEETHOVEN'S [Ninth]) — without thinking, I put a FIVE under that ONE instead of the proper NINE. Minor stumbling ensued.

Fill on this one is subpar, with a few notable exceptions (DIXIECRATS makes a nice answer, and I really liked THANATOS, thought that may just because a. I *knew* it, and b. it's fun to say) (80A: Political party that won 39 electoral votes in 1948 + 89D: Death personified, in ancient Greece). Since this is a puzzle about fractions, let's talk fractions. Consider the longer (non-theme) answers in this grid. Now consider how many of them are made up predominantly of the Wheel of Fortune letters, RLSTNE (with S and E being the real spotlight hogs). You need these letters, obviously, but when you cram your grid full of them, you really limit how interesting your fill can be. But back to fractions—RLSTNE presence, expressed in fraction form:

• ABSCESSES (2/3) 
• ENLISTEES (8/9)
• STEELIEST (8/9)
• SOITSEEMS (2/3)
• ATTHESTART (7/10)

Now, I can imagine a really interesting word that is RLSTNE-heavy, but that would be the exception, not the rule. When your long fill (the bang pow awesome stuff) is laden with RLSTNE, you diminish the overall interestingness of the grid considerably. Consider these grid neighbors and their RLSTNE content: TESTER, all of it; SUNUNU, just half. The latter is indisputably better. Now, I DO TOO is just 1/6 RLSTNE, and it's not exactly amazing, so the presence of these letters is by No Means the only consideration when filling a grid. But they are good letters to keep your eye on. I always tell my students to "kill linking verbs" (incl. all forms of the verb "to be"). Now, I don't mean this. I just mean, hunt them. If you find that they need to live, let them live. But be aware of them, because if they proliferate and overrun your prose, you are in a heap of trouble.

Also, no one is going to win any friends with answer like OSTEOID (95D: Bonelike), ARISTAE (75A: Botanical beards), or SEPTAL. I'm currently having a love/hate relationship with CASUIST (13A: Student of morality). It's obscure (bad), but unusual and interesting, esp. in this grid (good!).

Where's EIGHTH!?

PIXY seems like a [Var.] (70D: Sprite). Never seen it, except in the candy name PIXY Stix (which I would very much accept as a clue). OCHRE should've had some kind of [British] marker (markre?) in the clue (109D: Cousin of rust). The SW seemed to me the toughest part of the grid by a good margin. Knew ISADORA (125A: Dancer Duncan) but not how to spell her—there are Lots of variants that ceom from that basic name template—ATLASES clue was Saturday-hard (128A: They have scales), no way I was guessing TINWARE was a "service" (though I see it now) (92D: Colonial service), AREOLAS was thornily under-clued (93D: Colored parts), never heard of "AMELIA" (98D: 2009 Hilary Swank biopic) and EXP. makes sense now (111A: Abbr. on many food labels), but I can't remember seeing it clued thus and had a hard time getting it even with the "X" in place. Oh, and I misremembered EDA as IDA (121D: Child-care author LeShan). I had some trouble in the PIXY / TWP (68A: County subdivision: Abbr.) / WRIT area too (which probably spilled into the SW). Otherwise, the rest of the grid seemed of avg. Sunday difficulty (unless you've never heard of GEORDI (11D: "Star Trek: T.N.G." role)—I guess that could've been rough).

Bullets:

• 53A: Faith that celebrates both Jesus and Muhammad (BAHAI) — really wanted ISLAM here.
• 113A: Ancient Balkan region (THRACE) — also Kara ___ (aka "Starbuck") of TV's "Battlestar Galactica"; here she is solving a puzzle (of sorts):

• 129A: Gave, as a hot potato (TOSSED TO) — Gave : Tossed :: Gave to : TOSSED TO. He gave John the potato : he tossed John the potato :: he gave the potato to John : he tossed the potato to John. Something's screwy here.
• 7D: "1984" superpower (EURASIA) — the great "1984" superpower conundrum for xword solvers: EURASIA or OCEANIA?
• 58D: R&B singer Hayes (ISAAC) — musical finale!

["You socked it to me, mama!"]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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)

• • •

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?]

Wild banana / SUN 4-15-12 / Italian holiday / Small-runway aircraft briefly / Saverin who co-founded Facebook / Rafael to friends / Shalom * hebrew greeting / Palais Garnier star / Some buggy drivers / Silence indicator / Implement with spatula-like blade

Constructor: Kevin G. Der

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

[Click to enlarge]

THEME: TITANIC (56D: [See blurb])— Blurb: "When this puzzle is finished, 12 special squares, along with the circled squares, will create an image of 56-Down. The 12 squares corresponding to the "reflection" of the special squares, when read clockwise from top left, will spell an alternative name for 56-Down." — twelve "special squares" are rebus squares with FE (symbol for "Iron") in them. The "reflection" squares, when read per the instructions, spell out "SHIP OF DREAMS"

Word of the Day: PAPAW (70D: Wild banana) —

n.

1. A deciduous tree (Asimina triloba) of the eastern and southeast United States, having flowers with three sepals, three petals, and numerous stamens and fleshy, edible fruit.
2. The fruit of this tree.
3. See papaya.

[Ultimately from Spanish and obsolete Portuguese papaya, papaya; see papaya.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/pawpaw#ixzz1s4Jcx5WB

• • •

AGN? SGS? DAFE?

I will start by saying what is self-evident: this is an architectural marvel. So many layers, so much complexity. A real constructing feat. But I can't say I had a good time solving it. The theme was so demanding that, of course, fill got compromised. Everywhere. Badly. I can't list it all, but ouch. I don't have anything else to say. The puzzle is amazing—and memorable, in a way that most Sundays, esp. recent Sundays, have not been—so I'll take that, I guess. But the fill I had to endure (not once, not twice, but Constantly) was just deflating. I was slumped over this one by the end, enduring it rather than enjoying it.

Doesn't help that I really, really disliked this movie, and its cloying soundtrack.

Theme answers:

• 33A: Iconic line shouted in "56-Down" ("I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD") — this is the point (at WORLD, actually), where I first understood the subject of the puzzle. Before that, I assumed (given the rectangular shape of the grid, and the title) that football was involved.
• 29A: Where 56-Down embarked (SOUTHAMPTON) — this feels familiar. Didn't we already have a TITANIC puzzle this year? Or maybe there was one in another publication? 
• 35A: With 37-Across, #1 song from "56-Down" ("MY HEART / WILL GO ON")

• 125A: "56-Down" co-star (WINSLET)
• 128A: "56-Down" co-star (DICAPRIO)
• 141A: Record-tying achievement for "56-Down" (ELEVEN ACADEMY AWARDS)
• 152A: 56-Down, e.g. (LUXURY LINER)

Bullets:

• 5A: Anjou relatives (BOSCS) — there's an odd-looking plural. This was one of the first answers I got. I started badly/slowly. You can see why. Didn't know the theme, didn't know there were rebus squares, and then even the straightforward stuff was like BALT and ALLOK and EASER (?!). 
• 24A: Peace Nobelist Root (ELIHU) — gimme! Grateful for this one, even though I'd rather never see this odd name again. I always feel oddly guilty when I'm struggling and then get a gimme like this. Feels like the puzzle is patronizing me. "Here ya go, slugger."
• 43A: Italian holiday (FESTA) — I assume this is just the Italian word for "holiday," 'cause I got no idea what FESTA is if it's a proper noun. And crossed with STOL (44D: Small-runway aircraft, briefly)? If I didn't do a lot of crosswords, I'd've been screwed right there. 
• 64A: Rafael, to friends (RAFE) — so ... the first, second, third, and fifth letters, then? OK ...
• 78A: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum site (SANTA FE) — TAOS didn't fit. Then neither did SANTA FE ... picked up the rebus at LIFESPAN and things got a lot easier after that.

• 53D: Saverin who co-founded Facebook (EDUARDO) — I've booted his name before. And I booted it again today. &%(*%ing POUFFE!? Man ... so many hurty answers.
• 54D: Shield bearer, typically (LEFT ARM) — by far my favorite clue / answer in the grid. Frustrating, but then I got it, and it seemed perfect. An oasis in a Great Answer desert.
• 92D: "Shalom ___" (Hebrew greeting) (ALEICHEM) — needed every cross and flat-out guessed at the "I" in AIRE (119A: Yorkshire river). 
• 128D: Palais Garnier star (DIVA) — I assume this Palais Garnier place is a famous opera house. . . yes, in Paris. To me, Garnier is a hair car company with annoying ads. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

PS SYNDICATED READERS—I'm supposed to be on the CBS News tonight (Apr. 22) at 6pm (or check local listings) [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?]

Japanese native / SUN 4-8-12 / Lurid 1979 film about John Dillinger's girlfriend / Athlete wearing calligraphic D logo / Cockney greeting / Ex-senator Bayh / Sasquatch's kin / Letter seen twice in Philadelphia / Stone-pushing Winter Olympian / 1997 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones flick

Constructor: Daniel A. Finan

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "In-Nuendos" — Answers follow pattern "___ IN ___" but are represented by a description of the word in the second blank, INside of which are circles containing the word that belongs in the first blank.

Word of the Day: AINU (99A: Japanese native) —

n., pl., Ainu, or -nus.

1. A member of an indigenous people of Japan, now inhabiting parts of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands.
2. The language of the Ainu.

[Ainu aynu, person.]

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ainu#ixzz1rPFUC99H

• • •

Oh boy, non-contiguous circles! This should be good! ... is what I didn't say when starting this puzzle.

Interesting idea, but the preposterousness of the actual answers made me mostly dislike this one. I think "IT'S TOLD USING A WATCH" basically killed any affection I might have had for this puzzle. Audible groan! Literally, I emitted an audible groan. Also, no one has ever called "wool" "sheep's clothing," facetiously or otherwise. WTH? Some of the longish answers are interesting (see esp. PARCHEESI, MEAT-EATER, HONEYDEWS) (114A: The Royal Game of India; 85D: Tyrannosaurus rex, archetypally; 7D: Breakfast items often eaten with spoons), but then there's stuff like TREF, AINU, 'ELLO (90D: Not kosher; 99A: Japanese native; 91D: Cockney greeting) ... Kind of a wash. If you thought the theme cute, I envy you.



Theme answers:

• 22A: 1997 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones flick (AFRICAN-AMERICAN) — this is where I got the theme, and it took some doing. Got very hung up in the north, with PEST for TICK (12D: OFF! target), SUM for ARE (9D: Total), and ESCAPED for VACATED (8A: Left). Figuring out that "MEN" was in the circles got me ARE, and things righted themselves from there. Sped through puzzle after that.
• 36A: Preventive measure, proverbially (IT'S TOLD USING A WATCH)
• 51A: Headstone phrase (TREATY RESULT)
• 69A: Lurid 1979 film about John Dillinger's girlfriend, with "The" (COLOR FOR VALENTINE'S DAY)
• 88A: "To be on the safe side ..." (JUDGE'S MATTER)
• 101A: Golf ace (THE LONELIEST NUMBER)
• 121A: One who looks friendly but isn't (WOOL, FACETIOUSLY)

Bullets:

• 67A: Athlete wearing a calligraphic "D" logo (TIGER) — 2-0, thanks for asking! First game was a nail-biter, next was a delicious blow-out. So happy baseball season is underway and Verlander and Cabrera and Fielder all look magical.
• 79A: Letter seen twice in Philadelphia (PHI) — Greek letter, that is.
• 97A: Stone-pushing Winter Olympian (CURLER) — At least the clue didn't say "athlete."
• 130A: Spouse's acquiescence ("YES, DEAR") — this clue actually creeped me out a little. 
• 13D: Ex-senator Bayh (EVAN) — he was a darling of the Dems at one point. Not sure what's up now.
• 52D: Sasquatch's kin (YETI) — "kin"? Yes, insofar as they are both non-existent, sure. I guess they are also "kin" of the unicorn.

• 72D: "Game of Thrones" protagonist ___ Stark (NED) — can't bring myself to read this. Wife says "don't bother" but then keeps reading ... she's weird that way. I'm reading Patrick Rothfuss's "The Name of the Wind" (vol. 1 of the Kingkiller Chronicle). If you are at all into all that fantasy / Hobbit / Harry Potter / whatever, you *must* read this guy. Fantastic. I'm not generally a fan of the genre, but this guy can Write.
• 102D: Percussion instrument with a pedal (HI-HAT) — One H didn't give it to me. Two Hs did.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

Early Wagner opera / SUN 4-1-12 / Disappearance of 7/2/1937 / University of Miami mascot / Old-time actress Talbot Naldi / Cassim's brother in classic tale / Terrestrial decapod / Botanical holder / Insect named for Virgin Mary

Constructor: Patrick Merrell

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Of Course!" — common expressions with golf-related clues

Word of the Day: UNK. (91D: Anonymous: Abbr.) —

Anthony Platt (born March 28, 1982) commonly known as Unk, is a DJ/rapper. He began spinning records in 1998. After meeting DJ Jelly and DJ Montay, he joined their DJ entourage, the Southern Style DJs. They performed for high school parties, proms, pep rallies, and other events around the state of Georgia. In 2000 Big Oomp signed Unk to his label, Big Oomp Records. Some of his recent work has been featured on the 2K Sports NBA 2K9 game. He is known for his smash-hit Walk It Out. (wikipedia)

• • •

Golf. Not my thing. Terms are familiar enough, and the grid (ugsome UNK, aside) seems solid. It's just that cute little golf puns aren't that cute to me. Probably a very satisfying puzzle for golf-lovers or people who like this kind of innocuous wordplay. I'm not this puzzle's ideal audience.

Theme answers:

• 22A: Golf club repositioning? (CHANGE OF ADDRESS)
• 14D: Duffer's shots? (FOREPLAY)
• 40A: Hole in one? (STROKE OF LUCK)
• 49A: Comment after hitting a tee shot out of bounds? (BYE BYE, BIRDIE)
• 69A: Wedge shot from a worn-out practice range? (A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK)
• 90A: Use one club for all 18 holes? (PUTTER AROUND)
• 101A: Course not listed in guidebooks? (MISSING LINKS)
• 88D: Club thrown in disgust? (CAST IRON)
• 122A: Woods stowed in the rear of a golf cart? (BACK-SEAT DRIVERS)

Bottom of the grid was way, way harder than the top for me. This is largely the fault of RIENZI (93D: Early Wagner opera), which may as well have been any random series of six letters. Never heard of it. Never ever. Rough. But there was other roughness in the bottom half of the grid: ALL CASH had a kind of arbitrary clue on it (97D: Like a real-estate deal that doesn't involve a mortgage)—I was expecting something much more real-estate-specific. Robert Frost's middle name? &$^% if I know (LEE). Miami University's mascot is an IBIS? (112D: University of Miami mascot) They're the Hurricane, right? The Miami Hurricane? What the bleep? That's not Miami University OF OHIO is it? Nope (trivia: their mascot is "Swoop the Redhawk"). Even DSCS / ERIC gave me grief. No idea that ERIC was any Danish king's name, let alone the name of a whole lot of 'em (128A: Any of seven Danish kings). And DSCS could be DSOS ... thankfully I realized that ERIO was not a likely Danish name. Top half was largely a cinch, except for AMF (7D: Inits. in bowling lanes). Again, I ask, What the !@#? Stands for "American Machine and Foundry," and according to Wikipedia, "American Machine and Foundry or AMF was founded in 1900 and was once one of the largest recreational equipment companies in the United States." Trying to figure out why this wasn't ALF (a much more reasonable, and cluable, answer). At first I thought it was because the resulting cross, HOLE, was somewhere else in the grid, in a golf answer. But no. Oh, wait—HOLE is in the clue for STROKE OF LUCK. Maybe that's it. Anyway, the point is, ALF / HOLE beats, nay, destroys AMF / HOME.



Bullets:

• 26A: Botanical holder (TENDRIL) — that's a pretty difficult clue. Took many crosses to uncover the answer.
• 37A: Jennifer of tennis (CAPRIATI) — you have to be a tennis fan *and* (probably) of a certain age (certainly over 30) for this to be easy (as it was for me). 
• 53A: Insect named for the Virgin Mary (LADYBUG) — I had no idea. Cool trivia. I filled this answer in without ever looking at the clue. Same thing with BYE BYE BIRDIE, come to think of it.
• 77A: Disappearance of 7/2/1937 (EARHART) — I was just reading a Nat'l Geographic cover story on The Titanic. Speaking of disappearances, I mean.
• 99A: Old-time actress Talbot or Naldi (NITA) — I forgot about Talbot. Naldi is a gimme.
• 4D: Terrestrial decapod (LAND CRAB) — didn't know that was a species. Sounds as real as "land shark."
• 35D: Sport named for a British boarding school (RUGBY) — more cool trivia. News to me. 
• 54D: Cassim's brother in a classic tale (ALI BABA) — clue was meaningless to me, but with a few crosses, ALI BABA came into view. I was thinking "man, this dude better be famous..." And lo ...

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld