Constructor:Tracy Gray and Andrea Carla Michaels
Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium
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THEME:"Bands Together"— phrases are the names of two bands, clued as if that phrase were a real phrase, which sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't ... the clues are somehow *not* "?"-clues, despite occasional wackiness ... it's a bit of a conceptual mess, tbh
Theme answers:
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An old idea. I've seen this done with movies, too, I think ("Double Features"?). Possible also with bands. Anyway, it's not hard to get the conceit, and after that, it's just a matter of "Have I heard of these bands?" (FREE was the only one I just don't know ... I assume it's some old '60s band). It's not like the clues or makeshift answers are funny. I mean, a bunch of them are just ... phrases. POISON FREE and RUSH THE DOORS and BOSTON CREAM are straightforward, normal phrases. But then you get nutso stuff like FUN SMASHING PUMPKINS (I think the puzzle would've been Much much better off had it been More nutso...) and then clunky awkward stuff like CHICAGO TRAIN (?) and ONE-DIRECTION TRAFFIC. You could replicate this theme infinitely. There's nothing special here. You just have to find symmetrical phrases and put them in the grid. Then fill. The end. And the fill ... yeesh. It's quite off / oldish, throughout. OCELLI? RELO EDA. SINO WEENY LAI. UTAHAN (always unwelcome). NODS TO (which is somehow not NODS AT) (see also the dupe in the clue for SIGNAL—[A wink or a nod, maybe]). EINE ASE UAL and on and on, with UKASE being the real cherry on the top. PRIMROSES and ISAAC NEWTON (67D: Who said "Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is truth") give this thing some color, but otherwise, this thing is a throwback, and not in a charming retro way. More like ... in an OLD CAR stuck in a RUT kind of way.
I don't see a reason to go on. It is what it is. The NYT had been looking up of late, so I guess we were due for some regression.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Easy-Medium
THEME:"Bands Together"— phrases are the names of two bands, clued as if that phrase were a real phrase, which sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't ... the clues are somehow *not* "?"-clues, despite occasional wackiness ... it's a bit of a conceptual mess, tbh
Theme answers:
- CHICAGO TRAIN (22A: Elevated sight in the Windy City)
- ONE-DIRECTION TRAFFIC (36A: All the cars going the same way)
- YES, NO DOUBT (55A: "Absolutely!")
- EAGLES' WINGS (62A: They're seen spread on the back of a quarter)
- BOSTON CREAM (72A: Kind of pie or doughnut)
- POISON-FREE (78A: Like child-safe cleaning products)
- FUN SMASHING PUMPKINS (95A: Lark for a Halloween hooligan)
- RUSH THE DOORS (117A: What many Black Friday shoppers do at midnight)
• • •
I don't see a reason to go on. It is what it is. The NYT had been looking up of late, so I guess we were due for some regression.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]