Cruciverbalist: Emanuel Ax and Brad Wilbur
Editor: Will Shortz
Solving time: 11:00
Puzzle uniqueness:
The Times crossword is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and they are having celebrities collaborate with constructors. Emanuel Ax is a classical pianist so, of course, there is a musical theme to it. The center black squares form a musical note, plus the 52-Down answer NOTE can follow the ends of the long answers:
MONSTERMASH
SAWEDINHALF
WHISKEYSOUR
RUNNERSHIGH
Words I hadn't known until now:
MANGIA - "Trattoria order?" (Don't have a clue what this means)
QUAKERGUN - "Log painted deceptively to look like a cannon" (Never heard of it!)
Trivia I didn't know:
EREI - "'Fly ___ spurn thee ..." : Shelley
KERRI - "Olympic gymnast Strug"
SITKA - "Early capital of Alaska"
PLAYAREA - "What the keys are to a pianist" (Another answer with a musical bent)
RONS - "Hamilton biographer Chernow and others"
BARR - "Mystery writer Nevada ____" (Come on!)
LOKI - "Shape-shifter of Norse mythology" (Didn't know it, but easily deduced)
NORMARAE - "Best Picture loser to 'Kramer vs. Kramer'" (Didn't know it right off)
MALAWI - "Nyasaland, today"
Junk Answers:
ENE - "Suffix with acetyl"
PREV - "Earlier: Abbr."
SRS - "Some SAT takers: Abbr."
UVRAY - "Tanning element, informally" (Singular?? Normal speech it's UV rays)
NCAR - "Nascar Hall of Fame locale: Abbr."
ASTI - "Italian wine town"
Clever clues:
KOI - "Gold in a pond?"
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