New York Times, Monday, June 27, 2016

For years I noticed that ELLEN DEGENERES had a really cool letter pattern in her name. The last name alternates 'E's and the first name almost does. One 'E' per syllable. Then one day I saw RENEE ZELLWEGER's name, and the similarity popped out. Not as neatly separated or matched to syllables, but a whole lot of 'E's and no other vowels. And since they were both 10 letters, all I needed was a third entry to round out a theme. PEE WEE REESE was less satisfying, for some reason — I think the lack of alternation. While only three syllables (compared to the others' six and five), it one-ups them in the 'E' department.

I assumed that even those entries, standing alone, were enough for solvers to figure out the theme, but it felt kind of blah without something tying it all together. EASE came quick, and LIVES OF EASE followed not too long after.

So... what famous people did I miss?

People with no vowels but Es in their full name, tied together by LIVES OF EASE. I've seen PEE WEE REESE in a similar concept before (as well as ED MEESE), but it's neat that RENEE ZELLWEGER and ELLEN DEGENERES both fit that pattern as well. Neat that such long names can be formed without A I O U or even Y — how kind of these folks to have so many crossword-friendly Es!

Really strong gridwork. Although Kevan has to integrate fairly long themers, he manages to work in the usual long downs — DEVILED EGG and LITTERBUGS are beautiful — and also JEWELER, the modern RETWEET, a beautiful word in REGALIA, and the full name SWEE PEA. That last one felt a little odd in that it *almost* fits the only-E pattern, but not quite. I know it's just a piece of fill, but it felt slightly out of place.

Also nice to get a bit of Kevan's lawyerly background in REMANDED. I'm used to seeing a bit of REWET, RELET, etc. in many puzzles, so it's nice to get a RE- word where the RE- start is perfectly natural. You can't really have "manded" something.

RIOJA is a fun word as well. Not being able to even tell the difference between some red and white wines, RIOJA was unfamiliar to me, but I was glad to learn it from the fair crossings.

All that, with just a TELE and a ONE L as crossword glue = darn impressive. I even give the latter a pass since it's right in Kevan's wheelhouse.

I hitched a little on LIVES OF EASE, since it felt weird to describe people as "lives." If only PEOPLE OF EASE were a real phrase. Still, some nice finds, and excellent grid execution.

ADDED NOTE: Out of curiosity, I wrote some quick code to answer Kevan's question. The ones I turned up: BENNETT CERF, DEREK JETER, DETLEF SCHREMPF, DREW BREES, ED HELMS, ETHEL/FRED MERTZ, FRED MERKLE, GLENN BECK, HELEN KELLER, JEFF BECK, JESSE HELMS, PETER SELLERS, WERNER KLEMPERER (and as Kevan pointed out ... JEFFREY CHEN!). For a Monday puzzle, I like Kevan's selection. As much as I love my ex-Sonics, DETLEF SCHREMPF is pretty esoteric!