Robin

Today's writer of Gameplay reminded me (again!) how much older I am than many of the devotees of the Saturday crossword puzzle. I remember going to the movie theater to see "Harry and Tonto" so the fact that Ms. Lovinger had never heard of the movie--sigh! Art Carney's Oscar win was well-deserved!

My late aunt and I would play Scrabble often and she would always beat me by a considerable amount. How she managed to always pull the "J", the "Q", and the "Z" tiles always mystified me! Shortly before she passed away, we played our last game, with her grandchildren as observers. I managed to pull the "Z" tile and formed the word "zit". She claimed that "zit" was not a word, much to the chagrin of the kids, who kept saying, "But it is a word!" Finally, she had one of the kids get her Scrabble dictionary, the copyright date of which was 1948!! Needless to say, "zit" wasn't in the dictionary! On another topic, 42-Across came to me as I was watching a "Big Bang Theory" rerun, when Sheldon mentioned that he had that kind of memory!

As a "Star Wars" fan, I liked the link to Kessel Run in Tricky Clues! Every time I watch the original movie (or "The Force Awakens") and hear Han Solo misuse the term "parsec" I cringe! Still love the movies though!

I don't know if anyone else remembers, but the clue "British rock group" appeared in a New York Times crossword puzzle a while back. And the answer to the clue back then was the same as in today's puzzle!

As others have noted, this was not a particularly difficult Friday puzzle. For me, as one of the world's oldest "Star Wars" fans, the 21-Down clue was a real treat! And may the Force (Ford?) be with all of you!

I had some problems with the theme clues, but after solving enough of the across clues, I was able to figure out the theme clues. Interestingly, 7-Down was the easiest theme clue for me (maybe because I used to have a number of these items!). I wish I didn't have to point this out, but the answer to 62-Across is rather problematic due to the actions of the current occupant of the White House!