Constructor:Gordon Johnson
Relative difficulty:Medium (no idea ... tweeted about it while I was solving, so my time was obviously through the roof; it felt normalish)
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THEME: STAR-CROSSED LOVE (34A: Relationship doomed from the start ... or asomething found in this puzzle four times?) —currently or former acting couples, who also appeared in at least one movie together, appear four different times, as crossing answers:
Theme answers:
We had it all ... just like ERIC Bana (10D) and BACALL...
This seems like it will play pretty easy if you know all the Hollywood couple involved, and if not, not. They're all pretty dang famous, so I doubt there will be many who won't know them, but maybe the movies used to clue them aren't so familiar. Actually, they're pretty seminal. "Bugsy" might've gotten by some people, and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" most certainly did, but the couples involved are all iconic, so there shouldn't have been too many proper noun wipe-outs. My main problem with this theme is the revealer. STAR-CROSSED LOVERS is the needed phrase. It's what's in the puzzle, and it's The Actual Famous Phrase. The phrase from "Romeo & Juliet." Google knows this:
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"Love" alone is not an option. Also, stupid me, I always thought "star-crossed" meant "fated to be together," despite knowing full well how "Romeo & Juliet" ends (spoiler alert: badly). Not sure how that happened. What else? Well, ENSOUL is flat-out ridiculous, I had no idea the dwarves had known ages (?), and OPEN FIRE next to VENGEFUL *and* ISLAM was very, very grim. Very. Grim. Speaking of grim, gonna go check in on the convention now, bye.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. ADD-INS are for froyo.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Medium (no idea ... tweeted about it while I was solving, so my time was obviously through the roof; it felt normalish)
THEME: STAR-CROSSED LOVE (34A: Relationship doomed from the start ... or asomething found in this puzzle four times?) —currently or former acting couples, who also appeared in at least one movie together, appear four different times, as crossing answers:
Theme answers:
- BURTON / TAYLOR
- BOGART / BACALL
- JOLIE / PITT
- BENING / BEATTY
To sell a Kia Soul to someone (me)
• • •
We had it all ... just like ERIC Bana (10D) and BACALL...
This seems like it will play pretty easy if you know all the Hollywood couple involved, and if not, not. They're all pretty dang famous, so I doubt there will be many who won't know them, but maybe the movies used to clue them aren't so familiar. Actually, they're pretty seminal. "Bugsy" might've gotten by some people, and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" most certainly did, but the couples involved are all iconic, so there shouldn't have been too many proper noun wipe-outs. My main problem with this theme is the revealer. STAR-CROSSED LOVERS is the needed phrase. It's what's in the puzzle, and it's The Actual Famous Phrase. The phrase from "Romeo & Juliet." Google knows this:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. ADD-INS are for froyo.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]