I got off to a good start on today’s crossword by Paula Gamache. As it happens, I’ve seen Twelfth Night a couple of times recently so I knew Viola disguised herself AS A MAN. In my youth, I adored The Daughter of Time by Josephine TEY. (The bed-ridden protagonist tries to solve the age-old mystery of whether Richard III murdered the princes in the tower.) “Slowing in music” is either RALL or RIT, and only one of those fit. “Hyphenated IDs” are SSNS. And we’re off.

And then we’re stuck.

Staring at the page didn’t help. Walking away and coming back didn’t help. I had to dig around in the darkest, dankest corners of my brain to make more progress.

Big Daddy is from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It first played on Broadway before I was born, but I do remember the Paul Newman-Elizabeth Taylor film. Was it Burl IVES who played the father? Might he have originated the role on stage? It’s worth penciling in. The “Last known Roman gladiator competition” was also before I was born, but it seems likely the year starts with a C. There was a lot of that sort of thing. All the gory details were a struggle today.

If you’re stuck, here are a few additional clues to get you going. The “Put-down catchphrase” is from Alice. “Recyclable” is a noun, meaning a type of container. “Aids in artful deception” is a two-word alliterative noun phrase. “One may be backed up” doesn’t describe a drain or a medical condition, but rather a vocal entertainer.

As I look through my notes, though, my main problem today wasn’t parsing clues. It was ignorance. I don’t know my Lord of the Rings trivia, my Brett Halliday novels, newborn health measurements, 1950s slang, Latin legal terms or marine insurance policy extensions. This was a perfect storm of the areas of my inexpertise.

I did like “Where people wear gowns, for short,” though, and I even guessed it with no letters. I’ll have to latch onto ORS as my moral victory for the day.

If you’re going to the A.C.P.T., consider signing up for the CRU dinner on the Friday before the evening events begin. Mike Alpern tells me there are about 15 reservation slots left. This is a long-time tradition started by frequenters of the now defunct N.Y.T. crossword forum. Many of them hang out at Amy Reynaldo’s forum, and you can see the relevant information here.

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