Reform Party pioneer / WED 3-11-15 / Unseen Cheers wife / Tom entirely Morse code / Aid provider since 1864 / Goes from Carndona
THEME: RED CROSS (67A: Aid provider since 1864 … or a hint to this puzzle's circled squares) — RED things CROSS one another in the grid, five times
Theme answers:
- MARS (3D: Twix maker) / RARE MEAT (17A: Something that's just not done at the dinner table?)
- RADISH (18A: Salad bar item) / NAIL POLISH (12D: Purse item)
- BRICK (31D: Adobe, e.g.) / CHILI (42A: Tailgate dish)
- STRAWBERRY (29D: Kool-Aid flavor) / MERLOT (65A: Dark wine)
- ROSE (62D: Stood) / RED CROSS
Henry Ross Perot (/pəˈroʊ/; born June 27, 1930) is an American businessman best known for being an independent presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988. Perot Systems was bought by Dell for $3.9 billion in 2009. With an estimated net worth of about US$3.5 billion in 2012, he is ranked by Forbes as the 134th-richest person in the United States. (wikipedia)• • •
Hey, I recognize this puzzle. A couple years back, right after Hurricane Sandy, I put together a collection of puzzles to benefit the American Red Cross ("American Red Crosswords" … yeah, clever, I know), and David submitted this puzzle, or a version of it, but we'd already accepted one with a vaguely similar theme, so he, of course, generously made another puzzle for us. (You can read his story about this puzzle's journey to publication here). I was just reviewing that collection, and it was making me very nostalgic. So many big-time constructors … with Patrick Blindauer editing. We raised a nice chunk of change. The collection is still available. Just go here, follow the link to the American Red Cross, donate whatever you want, and then go back to our site and download the collection as a .pdf file. Print and solve! (You actually don't have to donate at all to get the puzzles, but … why would you do that?)
My only issue with the puzzle—and I'm not sure it's even an "issue," just an inconsistency that I notice—is that some of the things are inherently red, and some of the things *can* be red, if you want them to be. MERLOT *is* a red wine, but NAIL POLISH is only red … when it's red. Ditto ROSEs. RADISH, red. BRICK? Maybe. And one other odd thing—the theme cluing. Some are clued as non-red versions of the word (i.e. MARS is not clued as the red planet, but as the candy maker), or as different parts of speech altogether (e.g. ROSE is clued as a verb), while others are clued straight-up, as the red things the puzzle says they are (RARE MEAT, for instance). But "inconsistency" is just another way to say "variety." At least today it is.
Grid doesn't have much glitz outside the theme answers. I like seeing OPA LOCKA as a full answer (usually it shows up only as a way of cluing OPA, yuck). I also like the ATHEIST / IT'S A LIE symmetrical pairing near the center. RECIPE and TV TRAY go together nicely as well. Much of the rest of the grid is just basic short stuff. Mostly solid. Only DAHS made me wince a little. Some great cluing in this puzzle. See especially 45A: It might have a stirring part (RECIPE) and 8D: Top gear (HATS), Anyway, go get that "American Red Crosswords" collection for yourself if you haven't already. 24 specially commissioned puzzles by a wide range of top-notch constructors. Print it out, make a little book, give it to your aunt for St. Patrick's Day. Or something. Be creative.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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