Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen who is filming a screwball comedy with IRENE Dunne.
We expect Saturday themeless crosswords to have a few great clues, and we get some doozies today. The top left corner starts with two outstanding ones. [Popular pubs for college grads] for ALUMNI MAGS is brilliant. [Directive for the board] is one of my favorite clue types. I've seen DON'T ERASE on blackboards hundreds of times, but not since high school. Clues that bring out memories you didn't know you had are especially satisfying.
I always learn something from this constructor. STREET PROPHETS felt too generic, but in crosswords, phrases like that must be a "thing", not just a "description." As you probably already know, it is indeed someone who spreads the gospel through rap music or graffiti. Tupac and DMX are considered prime examples.
Too many "great clues" can make a crossword overly tricky, and this one played hard for me. PHONE RECORDS for [Some damning legal evidence] feels tenuous. Sicily's ENNA used to be a crossword staple, but it's rare now. BARBED WIT didn't come easily to me, so [Art of cutting cards] was confusing, although delightful when the pin dropped. These things are personal, though. Fast solvers will race through this puzzle and be sorry that it's over so quickly.
There's often something in each puzzle that reminds me of a Sondheim lyric, and I've learned to keep that annoying habit to myself. Today, though, two different clues point to the same song from "Funny Thing": the "one two" pun at 57-Across and the "Left right left right" clue at 12 -Down. Imperial Rome Captain Miles Gloriosus leads his troops into town singing:
One, ... Two, ... One, ... Two, ...
We not only fought but we won, too!
Left, ... Right, ... Left, ... Right, ...
There's none of the enemy left, right?
You didn't ask, but this month's Jim Horne Book Club selection is Dr. No. Not the Ian Fleming book, but the recent novel by the brilliant Percival Everett.