Constructor:Jeff Chen
Relative difficulty:Easy
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THEME: I don't know, some circled words meaning "like" I guess—themers contain words that mean roughly "to be fond of"
Theme answers:
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Pretty unlikable. The theme is so vanilla it gives vanilla a bad name. I actually love vanilla. My favorite non-alcoholic beverage in the world is a vanilla malt. So screw that, this puzzle *isn't* vanilla. It's just blah. Shaded / circled words that mean roughly similar things ... is a theme type that is far too stale to stand alone without some snappy revealer or other raison d'etre. I guess I'm supposed to be wowed in some way by the unusual grid shape, or the fact that the themers are Downs, or something. But it's just a tired theme masquerading as something fancy. There's nothing here. Worse, what the puzzle appears to think is hip (or HEP, ugh) and new and cool is actually blargh. INK UP? (38A: Get tats) Come on. It's your arm, not a gas tank. Stop. Also, ANNE V? No. Being in a swimsuit issue is not a thing. Not a crossworthy thing. You can be in there 20 more times, don't care, no. When the only thing you are known for, per the opening paragraph of your wikipedia page, is being in the swimsuit issue a lot, you may be a thing to sad leering man-children who say "YES, DEAR" a lot and then complain about their wives to their locker-room buddies, and you may also be a lovely human being, but crossworthy, no. I do kinda like the pope-esque quality of her name (ST. ANNE V?"), but no. I GO no.
When I saw the biggish corners, I thought this was gonna play hard, but the opposite was true. My time was only a hair's breadth north of my normal Monday, and faster than this week's Monday for sure. This is all especially surprising given how segmented the grid is. Usually hard to navigate into / out of isolated corners. But the long answers were So easy that moving from room to room in this thing was a snap. I trim the STEMSoff of asparagus spears, so that was a weird clue for me (41A: Asparagus spears, e.g.). I like the crossing of ORANGE and ERROR. For sentimental reasons. Which reminds me: vote vote vote. Bye now.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Easy
Theme answers:
- FANCY PANTS (26D: Pretentiously high-class)
- PARTY FAVOR (4D: Item in a swag bag)
- DIG DEEP (22D: Push oneself to the max)
- CORN RELISH (9D: Southern side dish made with kernels off the cob)
- LIKE-MINDED (28D: Thinking similarly)
Anne Sergeyevna Vyalitsyna (Russian: А́нна Серге́евна Вьяли́цына; born 19 March 1986), also known as Anne V, is a Russian-American model. She is perhaps best known for her 10-consecutive-year run of appearances (2005–14) in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. (wikipedia)
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When I saw the biggish corners, I thought this was gonna play hard, but the opposite was true. My time was only a hair's breadth north of my normal Monday, and faster than this week's Monday for sure. This is all especially surprising given how segmented the grid is. Usually hard to navigate into / out of isolated corners. But the long answers were So easy that moving from room to room in this thing was a snap. I trim the STEMSoff of asparagus spears, so that was a weird clue for me (41A: Asparagus spears, e.g.). I like the crossing of ORANGE and ERROR. For sentimental reasons. Which reminds me: vote vote vote. Bye now.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]