Constructor: Doug Peterson
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: DOUBLE DOWN (31D: Blackjack player's option ... or a description of the answers to the starred clues?) — five Down theme answers are all Doubles (i.e. two-word phrases where both words are the same)
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: WALLA WALLA —
I did this puzzle in 2:46, which is as fast as I've been in a Long time.
Fun fact—I almost went to school in WALLA WALLA (Whitman College, to be exact). My entire family is from the Pacific Northwest, which is the only reason that school was even on my radar.
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Very mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it's just repeated words. On the other, it's got a great revealer, and the Downward theme answers give this Monday puzzle a nice twist. Back to the first hand, the fill is mediocre-to-terrible in several parts, largely because the grid is a. thematically dense and b. filled with 3- and 4-letter words (I might have literally choked on the CRT / RECUE / TSKED section). But, returning to the other hand, the long Acrosses are nice, and NEO-NOIR is byootiful (38A: Modern film genre with dark themes). So ... there you have it. In a nutshell. Mixed nuts. Mixed nutshells. I'm ceasing to make sense, so I'm gonna go watch the first episode of the new season of "Arrested Development" now.
See you tomorrow.
Oh, and a reminder to those of you who like easy puzzles (T-W level) and want to expand your horizons with some contemporary crosswords based on the week's news, go sign up for Peter Gordon's "Fireball Newsweekly Crosswords" — get in for as little as $5. Details HERE.
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: DOUBLE DOWN (31D: Blackjack player's option ... or a description of the answers to the starred clues?) — five Down theme answers are all Doubles (i.e. two-word phrases where both words are the same)
Theme answers:
- 3D: *Band with the 1983 hit "Hungry Like the Wolf" (DURAN DURAN)
- 27D: *Hit song for the Kingsmen with famously unintelligible lyrics ("LOUIE LOUIE")
- 6D: *Washington city near the Oregon border (WALLA WALLA)
- 29D: *Joke starter ("KNOCK KNOCK...")
- 9D: *Affectedly virtuous (GOODY GOODY)
Word of the Day: WALLA WALLA —
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County,Washington, United States.[6] The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census. Walla Walla is in the southeastern region of Washington, approximately four hours by car from Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington and thirteen miles from the Oregon border.Whitman College, Walla Walla Community College, and the Washington State Penitentiary are located in Walla Walla. Walla Walla University is located in nearby College Place, Washington. Baker Boyer Bank, the oldest bank in the state of Washington, was founded in Walla Walla in 1869.Walla Walla is famous for its sweet onions. Many wineries are located in the area.In July 2011, USA Today selected Walla Walla as the friendliest small town in the United States. (wikipedia)
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I did this puzzle in 2:46, which is as fast as I've been in a Long time.
Fun fact—I almost went to school in WALLA WALLA (Whitman College, to be exact). My entire family is from the Pacific Northwest, which is the only reason that school was even on my radar.
See you tomorrow.
Oh, and a reminder to those of you who like easy puzzles (T-W level) and want to expand your horizons with some contemporary crosswords based on the week's news, go sign up for Peter Gordon's "Fireball Newsweekly Crosswords" — get in for as little as $5. Details HERE.