Isn't it funny that this puzzle comes right on the heels of yesterday's? But did it help me with the theme? No. Not until I got to the revealer, that is. And how nicely it is tucked away in the corner there. Beautiful. And another beautiful thing about this theme? The fact that the first answer "Cause of irritated eyes" (BADBREAKUP) makes sense as it is. When I got that filled in, I wondered why it even had an asterisk. Then "Many lovers, e.g." didn't really make sense for CATPEOPLE, but as usual, my mind sort of made it work. "Sure, some people love cats. What? What about the e.g.? Just forget about that... nothing to see here."
By the time I got to "Mayim of entertainment" (THESHOWMUSTGOON), I was just ignoring those theme answers altogether. Finally, 69A is "Basic linear expression with a hint to answering the five starred clues in this puzzle." And you know what? I got the rebus from the Down - "How peers should be treated" (AS[EQUALS]). So then the Across answer is Y=X, and suddenly all those clues look a lot different. It's not "Many lovers, e.g." it's "Manx lovers, e.g.", and "Maxim of entertainment." Very nice.
My favorite clue today might be "Try to see?" (WOO). That's good. And there's a funny little pairing of EAST and EDEN (Steinbeck title starter and ender). "One of three for a grand" was cute for PIANOLEG. I thought first of "zeros," of course, but it was way too short. Heh.
Seemed on the easy side overall, but it's a fun theme.
- Horace
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