Dickens schemer / SUN 11-25-12 / Quest of astronomer Percival Lowell / Largest moon in solar system / Fictional writer in John Irving best seller / Big Red Machine hustler / Jurassic suffix / Snoop Lion's genre / Four-time role for Patrick Stewart / Excommunicator of Martin Luthor

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Constructor: Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy



THEME: "A Little Extra" — "Note: Fourteen symmetrically placed answers in this puzzle are each missing a part ... which can be found elsewhere"; the missing part is an "X"—each missing "X" can be found in an adjacent black square, with each black/X square being a part of the large black "X" in the center of the grid.

Word of the Day: PLANET X (13D: Quest of the astronomer Percival Lowell) —

Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century and culminated at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's quest for Planet X. Lowell proposed the Planet X hypothesis to explain apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the gas giants, particularly Uranus and Neptune,^[1] speculating that the gravity of a large unseen ninth planet could have perturbed Uranus enough to account for the irregularities. [...] Today, the astronomical community widely agrees that Planet X, as originally envisioned, does not exist, but the concept of Planet X has been revived by a number of astronomers to explain other anomalies observed in the outer Solar System. In popular culture, and even among some astronomers,^[5] Planet X has become a stand-in term for any undiscovered planet in the outer Solar System, regardless of its relationship to Lowell's hypothesis. Other trans-Neptunian planets have also been suggested, based on different evidence. (wikipedia)

• • •
I remember an "H" puzzle from several years back that followed this same general pattern. That one was *much* harder, largely because the "H"s didn't stand alone the way *all* of the Xs in this puzzle do (much easier to see / find that way). In fact, in today's puzzle, I was able to blow through the whole thing in a well below-average time without even grasping that some of the X answers were theme answers. APOLLO, GAS, MALCOLM, PLANET—with all of these, it honestly didn't occur to me (in the speed-solving moment) that there was an "X" missing. I was dimly aware that I was to be on the lookout for missing "X"s, but when you're flying along and the "X"s aren't really holding you back any, it's easy to forget what you're supposed to be looking for. Anyway, now that I look at it, the theme is cute and clever, and mostly nicely executed. I'm a little distracted about the lack of rhyme or reason to the Xs directionality. I get that all the Downs up top end in "X" and all the Downs in the bottom half start with "X," but the fact that an "X" might work in two directions or ... might not ... that feels arbitrary, and thus not great. Also, having both PROFESSOR X and the X-MEN involved in the theme feels like double-dipping. But overall, I think the theme is nicely done. Further, the grid has an impressive amount of white space, with big blocks of interesting long answers like YOSEMITE SAM (63D: Mustachioed cartoon character) and CALLIGRAPHY, POPEMOBILE (113A: Widely used term declared "undignified" by John Paul II) and PETE ROSE (57A: Big Red Machine hustler), T MINUS ZERO and HITS BOTTOM. Gave the puzzle a level of interest beyond the theme. Enjoyable.


Theme answers:

• 46A: Je ne sais quoi (X FACTOR) / 13D: Quest of the astronomer Percival Lowell (PLANET X)
• 15D: Beano competitor (GAS-X)
• 4D: Excommunicator of Martin Luther (LEO X)
• 7D: 1992 Denzel Washington title role (MALCOLM X)
• 58A: Four-timei role for Patrick Stewart (PROFESSOR X) / 60A: Almost every man in the world has one (X CHROMOSOME)
• 65A: Followers of a boom? (GENERATION X) / 72A: More precise alternative to scissors (X-ACTO KNIFE)
• 88A: Lunar mission commanded by Thomas P. Stafford (APOLLO X) / 94D: G's opposite (X RATING)
• 91D: Novelty glasses (X-RAY SPEX)
• 112D: Comic book mutants (X-MEN)
• 114D: Wii alternative (XBOX)

I'm surprised at my fast time now that I look over the grid, considering there were a number of answers I just didn't know (or barely knew ... maybe heard of before ... but couldn't dredge up). TIMBALE is new to me; it's got an eerie resemblance to percussion instruments I *do* know, like TIMPANI and TABLA, but it stumped me—needed every cross. I thought OBEISANT was archaic / French, and was shocked to find it correct here (after OBEDIENT didn't work out) (11D: Like a good butler). I was all set for ORIBIS after reading 67D: South African antelopes, but then bam, NYALAS. I'm sure I've seen these antelope in the puzzle before, but they just didn't jump (or leap, or bound, or whatever antelope do) out at me. KEMAL!? Man, that was rough. I don't think I even knew Atatürk *had* a first name. And RENI could've been anyone (94A: "The Labors of Hercules" painter Guido). Never heard of him.


Bullets:

• 49A: His tomb is a pilgrimage site for both Muslims and Jews (EZEKIEL) — news to me. The only potential answer I could think of was ABRAHAM.
• 80A: Largest moon in the solar system (GANYMEDE) — Zeus's cupbearer. "Cupbearer" both is and is not a euphemism.
• 93A: Morgan le ___ (Arthurian sorceress) (FAY) — I'm in the middle of Marion Zimmer Bradley's _The Mists of Avalon_ right now (for the class I'm teaching). It's an epic (i.e. enormous) retelling of the Arthurian legend from the perspective of four main female characters (including Morgan—or "Morgaine"). I remember being a bit bored by it the first time I read it, but I'm loving it this time around. Not sure what changed.
• 24D: Snoop Lion's genre (RAP) — I just love the utterly nonsensical name "Snoop Lion" so much. You may remember him by his erstwhile moniker, Snoop Dogg.
• 65D: Fictional writer in a John Irving best seller (GARP) — I saw this movie in the theater when it came out. I was 12. I was ... too young. But one of the results of seeing a movie like that when you are "too young" is that it really Really stays in your brain. Also, just to do some random free association, Glenn Close is in that movie, and Glenn Close is in "Damages," which I started watching today, with Ted Danson, and both of them were in the 1984 TV movie "Something About Amelia" with actress Roxana Zal, who was in the 1987 movie "River's Edge," Which I Also Watched Today. P.S. Roxana ZAL's relative lack of fame is crossworld's loss.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld