Mon., 10/6 Jerome Gunderson

[magus]

THEME:   first word of a phrase can follow ARMY
   
GOOD ONES:     
Soldier's group { & theme }  ARMY   
Apt name for a painter   ART   
   
   
RATING:     
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

When I hear the word "saloon" I think of the scenes in old Western movies showing rowdy gunmen drinking and sometimes fighting. I certainly don't think of 21st-century bars and taverns as "saloons." After all, Toby Keith sang I Love This Bar, not "saloon." Today's puzzle included TSHIRTS, clued as "Saloon souvenirs." I've never been to a bar. Can I assume that barkeepers sell t-shirts? And if so, why didn't the clue say "Bar souvenirs"?

Crossword editors used to reject 15x15 puzzles with more than 36 black squares. A good puzzle has no more than 32. Today's has 40 and is the third such puzzle I've seen in the past week. Have editors changed their publication standards?

[magus]

I certainly don't think of 21st-century bars and taverns as "saloons."
Because you don't think of it that way does not mean others do not.  The term is perfectly acceptable.

Toby Keith sang I Love This Bar, not "saloon."
Is a Toby Keith song authoritative?

Can I assume that barkeepers sell t-shirts?
Yes, especially because you've never been to a bar.

Have editors changed their publication standards?
Yes, and that may not be bad if by doing so allows for increased entertainment, which, alas, this one did not.

[Thomps2525]

I can think of only one hit single about a saloon: the Oak Ridge Boys' Y'All Come Back Saloon in 1977. Nine years earlier, Paul McCartney sang about how the title character in Rocky Raccoon "booked himself a room in the local saloon." I thought the word was pretty much obsolete, outside of Western movies and novels. If bar-goers in 2014 still use the word "saloon," then I officially withdraw my objection to the use of that word in a puzzle.

Now...tell me about those t-shirts. People actually pay money for t-shirts so they can wear the shirts in public and provide free advertising for the bars? What a great deal for those bartenders!