Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (3:48)
THEME: body parts on high — theme answers are phrases that follow the pattern [body part IN THE welkin]
Word of the Day: ORAN (41A: Algerian port) —
• • •
Oran [...] is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country. It is closely associated with its neighboring city, Aïn Témouchent.It is the capital of the Oran Province (wilaya). The city has a population of 759,645 (2008[1]), while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest city in Algeria.[3] Oran is a major port, and since the 1960s has been the commercial, industrial, and educational centre of western Algeria. (wikipedia)
Not tough, but tougher than normal for Monday, largely do to fussiness and ambiguity. I think this theme is dead in the water. EYES IN THE SKY just doesn't work, for a couple of reasons. It's very much the odd man out. Plural EYES should've disqualified it immediately. Also, the other two phrases are metaphors that describe types of human beings. EYES IN THE SKY ... isn't. Not even close. Fill-wise, this was just fine, though I could do without crosswordesey geography like CAEN and ORAN. You gotta wonder if the awful partial IS TO over the not-great French place CAEN (64A: Battle of Normandy city) could've been avoided if the constructor hadn't been so compelled by getting KNUTE in there as well as ROCKNE (48D: With 9-Down, Notre Dame coaching legend). Oh, and ILSA's in there too. Strike three. Slowed down ... where? Let's see. Not sure which spelling (-ER or -OR) of CONNOR was in play (5D: Sarah ___, "The Terminator" heroine). Clue on RAT was crazy—I liked it, but it was Saturday-hard/complicated (13D: Singer who doesn't want a hit?). Fumbled HEAD IN THE CLOUDS when it looked like the phrase was going to be HEADING ... something. Couldn't process what was meant by "station house" in 34D: Took to the station house (RAN IN). No way I could get "I'M OKAY" from that clue without a bunch of crosses (44D: "No harm, no foul"). I'm not even sure that answer goes (well) with that clue. Lastly (and this has nothing to do with difficulty, just my own inept typing), I had to spend many seconds tracking down a typo—at bleeping CONNER! I remember thinking as I was solving, "oh, it's MOE, so CONNOR has an O not an E," but apparently my fingers did not follow through on the realization.Theme answers:
- 20A: Overhead security devices (EYES IN THE SKY)
- 37A: Lack of contact with reality (HEAD IN THE CLOUDS)
- 52A: Sign of haughtiness (NOSE IN THE AIR)
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