Wednesday, 11/29

NYS 4:15
LAT 3:48
CS 3:32
NYT 3:21

Barbara Olson’s NYT crossword has a theme that’s all over the place, with every part of the grid interacting with the pairs of 7-, 10-, and 11-letter theme entries that aren't exactly oxymoronic combos. Of course I enjoyed [What a famous woman may play in a movie] as a clue for HERSELF. I also appreciated the inclusion of 14 fill entries that were 7 or 8 letters long, plus clues like [One who knows the score] for MAESTRO
I don't much care for AERO clued as [Prefix with magnetic]; aeromagnetic is a real word, yes, but much more obscure than the other aeros (-dynamic, -nautics, -space, -drome, -port)—and I could swear we saw the same clue within the past few weeks.

Patrick Jordan's Sun puzzle, "Chick Flicks," includes four 12's and a 14 in the theme within a 15x16 grid, also with 14 non-thematic entries of 7 letters or more. The theme is "chick flicks," as in younger versions of avian-titled movies. 3-Down plays on this Marx Brothers film; 9-Down is this; 15-Down is this; 24-Down is this; and 27-Down plays on this movie. (I've never seen any of the five.)