It wasn’t easy finding a picture of Will Nediger, but I found one at The JimH Crossword Blog, along with a very nice interview.

Here are my alternate clues to the puzzle

22 Across – Baby’s possible response to a game of “Peekaboo?”
36 Across – “I wish I had left that to you.” “You will, Oscar, you will.”
68 Across – Peter Fonda was so not this in the movie
94 Across – Making apprehensions?
113 Across – Good old-fashioned naughtiness?
4 Down – What David felt toward the lion and the bear?
50 Down – David’s encounter with Goliath?

Ali Khameni could just as easily been clued “Muhammad ___” or better yet “Laila ___.” If it had been clued as “Nuclear-weapon seeking tyrant ___ Khameni” it would have been ok with me. It seems to be ok for communists and other tyrants to invade crossword puzzles, as long as they aren’t Nazis.

Why do I remember Dan Aykroyd’s impression of Tom Snyder more than I remember Tom Snyder?

I wanted idea man to be ideator. I recalled this IBM commercial.

The poet Riley is James Whitcomb Riley, and yes, I will do a separate post on the poem in question.