Cheers

Man must be pleased; but him to please
Is woman’s pleasure; down the gulf
Of his condoled necessities
— Coventry Patmore

A clue at 1 Across is like the opening sentence of a novel. The constructor makes an extra effort to make it memorable. C.W. Stewart conjures up the ghost of Coventry PATMORE, a 19th-century writer famous for an influential narrative poem called The Angel in the House. It romanticized and idealized his wife, Emily, the very image of Victorian perfection, meaning she was dutiful and subservient and shamelessly devoted.

I found that whole upper-left corner tricky. “Have heat” is a devious clue for PACK. None of my chains have a MONOCLE attached. CONNIVE is a great word, but I had a hard time digging it out. Then there’s our old friend AREOLES. It’s a word too crossword-friendly to ignore, whatever it brings to mind for you. I always think of irises.

It’s Thursday so we’re expecting trickery. How long did it take you to discover that Ms. Stewart’s creation suffers from a rare form of up-down dyslexia?

There are plenty of great clues. What kind of mind clues GOO as “Fake blood?” We hear “old flame” often, so I guess that makes “One in [a current] affair” a FLAME. DOWN would be way too easy for a four-letter word meaning the “Opposite of up” so it’s ABED instead. “You might catch one near a beach” fooled me, as I assumed incorrectly that the nearby location must be inland. You need to head off in the other direction to catch a WAVE. “Twin Tony” is clever too. Tony OLIVA played his entire major league career for the Minnesota Twins.

I was confounded by a medical mystery for a while, too. Did you worry after figuring out 44 Across that your might get a hole in your ELBOW? You might, but more likely in the “elbow” of your sweater. Nicely done.

Finally, to all my dear readers, I bend my own elbow, raise my glass, and shout “PUSMOTTOB!”

Update: Sara shared this video with a song written by Tom Lehrer in a comment. I think she found it in the Tens Column:

(This video is no longer available.)