Wed., 4/29 Ed Sessa

[magus]

THEME:   first word of phrase is the name of The Tonight Show host --- in order
   
GOOD ONES:     
With "The" post prime time fare since the '50's {& theme}   TONIGHT SHOW [and they all begin with J!]   
One who whistles while he works   REF   
   
BTW:   
Comedy team who voiced Piel Bro…   BOB AND RAY [it occurred to me that comedy teams no longer exist, likely because vaudeville died]   
   
Goya's year   ANO [I'd go with "Game show request"]   
   
Clinker in a Glas   EIS [this clue is a clinker all right, but it could have used the vowel blend EI made plural]   
   
Over there   YONDER [though it probably seems archaic to most solvers, this term is still used where I now live]   
   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[rbe]

Should have started with "Steve."

[Thomps2525]

I agree. Steve Allen hosted The Tonight Show from 1954 to 1956 and shared hosting duties with Ernie Kovacs in the 1956-57 season. A bit of trivia: The program's first announcer was Gene Rayburn, who would become a frequent game show panelist and host of Match Game. And how about Conan O'Brien, who hosted The Tonight Show for eight months in 2009-10? Hay-yo!

Today's Daily News crossword by Jacob Stulberg contained a zig-zag series of grey squares. The letters in the pattern, which resembled a staircase, were NUDEDESCENDINGASTAIRCASENO2. That was the title of a 1912 Modernist painting by Marcel Duchamp. The "No. 2" was formed with the final three letters of the banned substance REDNO2 (Red dye no. 2). The "2" was crossed by H2O.

I remember a Smothers Brothers tv episode in which Dick was holding a painting of a nude and a horrified Tommy shouted, "It's Mom!" When Dick turned the painting toward the audience, we saw that it was Nude Descending A Staircase, No. 2. Has anyone ever been able to see a "nude descending a staircase" in that painting?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase,_No._2