Remote-sensing orbiter / THU 9-20-12 / Crasher of 1979 / Laughable Lyrics writer / New Jersey setting Coneheads / Ottoman Empire founder / Whence phrase Put not your trust in princes / Radial choices / Seasoning from laurel tree / 1963 Johnny Cash hit

Constructor: John R. Conrad

Relative difficulty: Medium



THEME: FIRE rebus — six FIRE squares, one in each corner and two more closer to the center

Word of the Day: LANDSAT (17A: Remote-sensing orbiter) —

n.
Any of various satellites operated by U.S. government organizations, used to gather data for constructing images of the Earth's surface.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/landsat#ixzz26yV9lzEa

• • •
I've been dickering around w/ my iPhone and new apps that are being wonky and now I look and it's like 5 minutes til my scheduled bed time (I have to have a regular bed time or I go all wobbly, particularly in the a.m.). So, not gonna spend much time on this one, which is just as well. This puzzle is the very definition of "adequate" or "acceptable." It is a rebus. The rebus squares are where you might expect them to be. Once you get one, you can get most of the rest right away. The fill varies from fine to awkward then over to dated and eventually around to I don't care much. Anyone who goes to Edward for LEAR (6D: "Laughable Lyrics" writer) and whatever that song (song?) is cluing AMY (19A: "Once in Love With ___") clearly comes from a cultural world I don't really live in much, if at all. They can't all be in my wheelhouse, sadly. I kept waiting for the boom or pow or bang, and instead it was just the hum and occasionally clang of basic machinery, doing what it does, chugging away, giving me this very serviceable, workmanlike rebus puzzle. If there'd been another layer to the FIRE motif, maybe I'd be able to work up more enthusiasm here.


FIRES:

• FIRE AT WILL
• LINE OF FIRE
• FIREWORKS
• CEASE FIRE
• RING OF FIRE (65A: 1963 Johnny Cash hit)
• FIRESTONES (64A: Radial choices) — read this as [Radical choices]; trouble followed
• RAPID-FIRE
• FIRE ALARM
• FIRE BOMB
• BACKFIRE
• SPITFIRE
• FIREARMS

The theme density makes great fill a near impossibility, so maybe I should be happy with what I've got, which is not a total disaster. Still, I look at the NW corner and see ALIENEE (one of my least favorite 7-letter crosswords) (15A: Property recipient, at law) over whatever it is that LANDSAT is (OK, I know what it is, sort of, now, but still ... gibberish to me when I solved it), and then RETAR (...) over Random Roman Numeral MDIV (28A: Year Michelangelo's "David" was completed) over awkwardly-spelled and Latin-pluraled AMEBAE (32A: Pond creatures), and my heart does not flutter. Speaking of Latin-pluraled, ET ALIAE is a huuuuge *ouch*, in that no one uses that ever ever ever. Ever. ET ALIA / ALIA, you can make a case for. They are reasonably common shorthand. But the feminine plural? No. Just ... cramp-inducing.

Didn't struggle in very many places—at least not for long. I've got bay leaves in my kitchen cabinet, which, as far as I knew until just now, is where they come from. There, and the store where I bought them, in their little jar—god's gift to soups. Also blanked on OSMAN, as I am wont to do—valid answer, not great fill (52D: Ottoman Empire founder). If I were named OSMAN and I founded an empire, I'd call it, I don't know, the Osmanian Empire, or Osmandu. Or Narnia. Ottoman Empire is what I'd call my empire if my name were Otto. What else—wanted PASSAIC for PARAMUS because ... "Coneheads?" What year is it? If you want me to get PARAMUS, I'm gonna need to see "mall" in the clue (38D: New Jersey setting for "Coneheads"). Wanted nothing for ARIES (49A: Friendly if a bit careless sort, supposedly) because astrology is bullshit and how in the world is this clue valid? Might've had some trouble with SKYLAB except I had -LAB before I ever saw the clue, and so knew the answer before I even looked (41A: Crasher of 1979).

For some reason the clue on PSALMS (38A: Whence the phrase "Put not your trust in princes") has put this song in my head, so I'll leave you with it. (You'll be happy it's not this) Good day!


Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld