Constructor:Joe DiPietro
Relative difficulty:Challenging
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THEME:"It's All an Elision"— familiar phrases beginning "It's" have the "It's" changed to just "S," creating wackiness etc.
Theme answers:
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This is an adequate cornball theme. Wack wack wacky, more groanery than legit funny, but fine, whatever, it's acceptable. Theme itself, not a problem, pretty easy to pick up. In fact, the only real problem I had with the theme was that the themers weren't really relevant to my solve. I never saw half of them. Wacky clues meant nothing to me. I just put "S" at the beginning of the themers and then imagined phrases beginning "It's"—usually by the time I got around to thinking about the themer, I could tell from the letters I already had what the answer was going to be. So this puzzle should've been easy. But holy crud, the opposite. I never got up any speed. Every clue fought me. So much "?" cluing and off-cluing and slant-cluing ... very, very rough to solve. Twice I hit patches were I wasn't sure I was going to be able to complete the puzzle. First in the NW, where everything above DITKA and west of SOUR was blank for what felt like ever, and then again around what ended up being the IRON part of EIGHT IRON (?). WHEY instead of WORT (90A: Extract used in brewing) really, really blew me up down there. Kept wanting 52D: Rough choice? to be EIGHT-ISH (with "rough" suggesting an estimate?) but then there was the extra letter... just a mess. But even beyond those two dead spots, the puzzle fought me everywhere. Applause for added difficulty, even if the experience wasn't exactly pleasurable.
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So many things I didn't know. ROQUE? No-que (102D: Game with mallets played on a hard-surfaced court). TRITIUM? (13D: Radioactive form of hydrogen) Oy, no. There's a YORK, PA now? David IVES? (44A: "Venus in Fur" playwright David) ETHEL Muggs? My daughter is an "Archie" fanatic and there are Archies aplenty in my house and I read three current Archie titles and nope nope nope. No recollection of ETHEL Muggs. The western section, with its astonishing pair of non-theme Downs alongside the long themer, was emblematic of my trouble. Need crosses to work a section like that, but:
Also, the Cole Porter song is TOO DARN HOT, so STEW DAMN HOT made no sense to me as a phrase. I don't know why "too damn hot" is a good base phrase. Just sounds like something someone might say, but not something coherent enough to be a stand-alone phrase. Oh, and the far north was a bear too. TENURES, ouch (6A: Terms of service). That clue suggests something very, very different. NITRO for 8D: It blows things up, in brief, again, tough. Wasn't sure what "blows up" meant there. Was thinking enlargement, not explosion. REEDING?? (10D: Small semicircular grooves on a column) LOL what is that? 9D: Some wedding figures is insanely vague for USHERS. The whole puzzle was like this.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Challenging
Theme answers:
- STUFF OUT THERE (23A: "Do your taxidermy on the patio instead"?)
- SNOW SURPRISE (40A: A foot on the ground in Phoenix?)
- SOUR LITTLE SECRET (17D: Mystery ingredient in SweeTarts?)
- STEW DAMN HOT (68A: Comfort food causing oral discomfort?)
- STAKING ME FOREVER (37D: Always putting up my entry fees?)
- SIOUX YOU KNOW (92A: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and that's probably it?) (my favorite)
- SIP TO BE SQUARE (113A: Slogan for wine geeks?)
York (Deitsch: Yarrick), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the city serving as the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States, both being located in the south-central region of the state. The population within York's city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862. When combined with the adjacent boroughs of West York and North York and surrounding Spring Garden, West Manchester, and Springettsbury townships, the population of Greater York was 108,386. York is the county seat of York County and is located at 39°58′00″N76°45′00″W. York is currently the 11th largest city in Pennsylvania. (wikipedia)
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[dead zones]
So many things I didn't know. ROQUE? No-que (102D: Game with mallets played on a hard-surfaced court). TRITIUM? (13D: Radioactive form of hydrogen) Oy, no. There's a YORK, PA now? David IVES? (44A: "Venus in Fur" playwright David) ETHEL Muggs? My daughter is an "Archie" fanatic and there are Archies aplenty in my house and I read three current Archie titles and nope nope nope. No recollection of ETHEL Muggs. The western section, with its astonishing pair of non-theme Downs alongside the long themer, was emblematic of my trouble. Need crosses to work a section like that, but:
- 35A: Thrown (CAST)—I had LOST
- 56A: Skinflints (PIKERS)—I had MISERS
- 71A: Harpies (NAGS)—I had HAGS
- 75A: Common New England street name (ELM)—???
- 79A: Many, after "a" (SLEW OF)—I don't know, HEAP OF, MESS OF, etc.?
Also, the Cole Porter song is TOO DARN HOT, so STEW DAMN HOT made no sense to me as a phrase. I don't know why "too damn hot" is a good base phrase. Just sounds like something someone might say, but not something coherent enough to be a stand-alone phrase. Oh, and the far north was a bear too. TENURES, ouch (6A: Terms of service). That clue suggests something very, very different. NITRO for 8D: It blows things up, in brief, again, tough. Wasn't sure what "blows up" meant there. Was thinking enlargement, not explosion. REEDING?? (10D: Small semicircular grooves on a column) LOL what is that? 9D: Some wedding figures is insanely vague for USHERS. The whole puzzle was like this.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]