Constructor:Peter Wentz
Relative difficulty:Medium
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THEME:none
Word of the Day:SRSLY(58A: Possible "OMG!" follow-up) —
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Played harder than usual for me, and Way harder than Wentz puzzles usually play for me. I solved upon waking, though, and that's never (or rarely) a good idea, if being at the top of my solving game is the goal, so I adjusted difficulty level accordingly (back to Medium). The puzzle looks like something that should've been far easier than it was. I needed only a little help to get ERYKAH BADU, and no help at all to get JUDGE WAPNER and IGGY POP. And thank god for BUTTERBEER (50A: Quaff at the Three Broomsticks inn), or I'd still be sweating out that SE corner. Clues on EONS (38A: Mountains have grown over them), F-STOP (45A: Setting for Ansel Adams), MUST-DO (?) (48A: Critical assignment), MEL (I had BOB) (48D: Krusty's sidekick on "The Simpsons") and OTTERS (39D: Some pups) were all uncrackable to me. And I seriously could not bring myself to believe in SRSLY. I wanted only "ORLY?" And the short stuff down there was useless to me: three-letter TV station next to three-letter TV station? Ugh. But TACT + TET + BUTTERBEER eventually rescued me, allowing me to finish the puzzle.
I've barely heard of NOSY PARKER (srsly), and getting to IVORY TOWER from 14A: Neocon's target of derision was rough. I was like, "Why would they deride the IVORY COAST?" and then later, "Do they really deride the IVORY TRADE? That's ... weird." All the little Acrosses in the NE were hard. I had STAN (10D: Van Gundy of the N.B.A.) and still couldn't get any. STEM forSLAB (10A: Foundation piece). TAPE for TIVO (16A: Prepare for a later showing, maybe). Later, misspelled WOPNER (thus) and thought Rihanna and Madonna had -NOMY, like ... MONONOMY, only that wouldn't fit (they have ONE NAME, of course). Wish ANTI had gotten a Rihanna clue. That would've been a nice (timely) cluing twofer.
I should probably say that I thought this puzzle was first-rate. Hard, wide-ranging, clean. Everything good.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Medium
THEME:none
Word of the Day:SRSLY(58A: Possible "OMG!" follow-up) —
• • •
I've barely heard of NOSY PARKER (srsly), and getting to IVORY TOWER from 14A: Neocon's target of derision was rough. I was like, "Why would they deride the IVORY COAST?" and then later, "Do they really deride the IVORY TRADE? That's ... weird." All the little Acrosses in the NE were hard. I had STAN (10D: Van Gundy of the N.B.A.) and still couldn't get any. STEM forSLAB (10A: Foundation piece). TAPE for TIVO (16A: Prepare for a later showing, maybe). Later, misspelled WOPNER (thus) and thought Rihanna and Madonna had -NOMY, like ... MONONOMY, only that wouldn't fit (they have ONE NAME, of course). Wish ANTI had gotten a Rihanna clue. That would've been a nice (timely) cluing twofer.
I should probably say that I thought this puzzle was first-rate. Hard, wide-ranging, clean. Everything good.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]