I wrote it in on a lark, and it was right. Then there was LOMAX ( 11D: Bluesman Willie). I've received more than one of these in my lifetime, so this wasn't hard. Then there's the equally modern and saucy E-VITE ( 12D: Web-based way to announce a party). REMIX ( 19A: Many a dance club tune) came easily, as my best friend is a record collector and surely has thousands of such recordings in his special temperature-controlled vault. Second, I love the X-fest, and I especially love that all the 'X' answers are original, sometimes insanely so. First, who knew that Spam was flavored!? 16A: Spam flavorer (clove). The coolest corner in this grid, by far, is the NE. I was slightly proud of how quickly I uncovered that last one. This was the corner with a lot of one-word clues - Jet, Indo, Penny, and then 2A: Bowl (arena). Oh, also me up in this corner was ENS ( 5D: Wearer of a half-inch stripe: Abbr.) - though to my credit, ENS was at least on my short list of possible entires there - and RAG ( 23A: Bootblack's need), where I had TAR (!?). ENID is more often a city in Oklahoma, but Ms. I tested (and confirmed) the 'D' against 20A: English author Blyton (Enid), which should be a gimme for you, if not now, then in the future. LANE? ANTE? CANDY!? MARSHALL!? Weirdly - very weirdly - the first answer I *knew* in this corner was LAUD ( 4D: Write an ode to). Had no idea what to do with 1D: Penny _ (Saver). The NW was, by far, the hardest part of this puzzle for me. 58A: *Advice to a careless dresser, maybe (zip up your).45A: *Umpire's invocation after a pop-up, perhaps (infield rule).37A: *Classic comical restaurant complaint (there's a in my soup).24A: *Fighter at 112 pounds or less (weight boxer).'Aargh, I've been ZAXED!' (that's a word I just coined - it means 'run through with a ZAX'). Seuss - if you thought ADZ was a crazy-looking tool name, check out ZAX ( 58D: Hole-punching tool for a slater)!? My question - what's a 'slater?' (Aside from a hilarious character on 'Saved By the Bell,' of course). And there's at least one word in the grid I'm convinced was invented by Dr. There was some under-stated, often one-word, cluing that really added to the difficulty level in places. That said, the rest of the grid was largely fresh and exciting. The concept is clever, but in the execution, and in the clues, there's no humor, no zip, no zing. I think the theme was a bit bland, and once you caught on, the puzzle got a lot easier to do - there aren't that many familiar phrases containing 'FLY,' after all (are there?). I'm indifferent to this theme, but I liked the puzzle a lot.

or a hint to the answers to the six starred clues) - starred clues indicate familiar phrases containing 'FLY,' though 'FLY' is omitted when the phrase is written into the grid.

THEME: 'No Fly Zone' (34D: Restricted space.

Miami herald crosswords