Longtime Burmese PM / THU 12-11-14 / Togs with red tags / Brand name in immunity boosting / Fox's partner on X-Files / Ancient s
Constructor: Joe DiPietro
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
THEME: (THROUGH) — phrases that go "___ through ___" are represented by the first part of the phrase literally passing through the last part of the phrase:
Theme answers:
NACHO (through) THEBES
EXPELS (through) LIP
IS NOT (through), DINGBAT!
SMUT (through) ISLAM
Word of the Day: ED AMES (42A: One of a group of singing brothers) —
A reasonably strong example of this type of puzzle (where a common phrase is completed by mental addition of a word represented by an answer's action, direction, etc.)? There are mild consistency issues (two third-person singulars, CUTS and PULLS, but then a SLIP and a GOING; also two THE X phrases, but then a ONE'S X and an IN THE X phrase), but the core idea is just a missing "through," so on a syntactical level, all these theme answers work. I don't like PULLS (through) IN THE CLUTCH much, though. The IN just glitches the whole effect. IN is fighting "through" for directional primacy. It just feels like a clunker to me. Also, that section has PLU, which is D-grade fill. I honestly didn't know what it meant when I was finished (47A: Like arts and crafts: Abbr.). Couldn't think of anything it could possibly mean. Turns out it's an abbr. for "plural." Not anywhere I've ever seen, but somewhere. You can bet if it's in the grid, some dictionary somewhere has confirmed that it's legit. Still, PLU = ugh. I think the theme answer / grid set-up just gets you in a tight jam from the get-go, as you have very limited options where H---G is concerned (37A). And since PULLS and SLIP are also immovable, it's probably lucky that PLU is the only real casualty in that middle section. This puzzle has some junk, but it really doesn't make the puzzle creak and groan too much. Even the obvious Scrabble-f***ing in the SW *and* SE doesn't in fill that's *too* bad. NAM and NDAK and ATTN are not good, but we see them pretty frequently, and ESTERC … also, in my book, not good, but at least it's unusual. So mild thumbs-up for this one.
Bullets:
60A: Longtime Burmese P.M. (U NU) — old-skool crosswordese. Up there with U THANT. U NU is the shortest full name you'll ever see (at least in a crossword grid).
24A: Togs with red tags (LEVI'S) — About the last thing I got. I own LEVI'S. Several pairs, I think. I don't know what "red tags" refers to. I had no idea that was an identifying feature. Also, "togs," ugh. Sounds like a word ED AMES or one of the guys from The BOX TOPS would use. Actually, no, those guys are too hip.
18D: Ancient site of the Luxor Temple (THEBES) — I always (and I mean Always) forget that there is another THEBES besides the one in Aeschylus's "Seven Against Thebes" and Statius's "Thebaid" (i.e. the Greek one).
26A: Aerial anomaly (UFO) — gave me trouble. Thought the "aerial" was the thing your analogue TV used to need to get reception.