Constructor:David Alfred Bywaters
Relative difficulty:Medium-Challenging (3:50-something for me)
![]()
THEME: lawyer humor— familiar phrases clued (wackily / "?"-style) as if their final words had some relation to the legal field:
Theme answers:
![]()
Yeah, this feels NYT-normal. Corny theme that could've come from decades ago, fill that could've come from decades ago. All of it straight over the plate—the plate is just an old, familiar plate. There's really no reason, in a high word-count / low theme-density puzzle we should be seeing stuff like SAUER and DRI and *especially* WINEY. I don't mean to be whiny, but oof. And double-oof, given the really ambiguous clue. If you're going to have an oofy answer, don't make it tough to suss out. Water on a grease fire. Only makes it ERSE, I mean worse (and there's not much worse than ERSE). Took me longer than normal to finish this largely because of the nature of the theme, which, until I had a couple answers from crosses, was not at all apparent to me. Clues looked like [Concatenation of random words question mark?], so whatever humor or cleverness was there was (at least initially) lost on me. Placeholder puzzle. Adequate. Inoffensive. DRI as a bone.
Many dumb mistakes today, including DROPS for ERROR (18D: What "oopsy" signals) and TERNS (?!) for SWANS (19D: Graceful birds). Are TERNS graceful? I don't know. I do know I was clearly still under the heavy influence of ERNS at that point (30D: Shore birds). Real trouble getting front end of DENTAL RETAINERS (I only ever called mine a "retainer"). And had BIOME for BIOTA (another ugh-word) (43D: Flora and fauna). WHEEDLED and VARMINTS are fine entries—easily my favorite. GO FETCH is ridiculous, esp. as clued (26D: Command to a dog after a ball is thrown). I mean, it's a phrase that I recognize, but, well ... do you have a dog? I do. A lab. She was basically bred to fetch. The idea that I would have to give her a "Command" after throwing a ball is hilarious. She would be like "yeah, I know, why are you talking?" Actually, she wouldn't even be there to listen. She'd be where the ball is already. It's the "after" part of the clue that really kills me. "After" I throw the ball, she's gone. She's chasing it before it has left my hand. Once the arm goes in motion, she anticipates direction and goodbye. Unless I taunt her with false throws, which I sometimes do. Anyway, telling my dog to GO FETCH"after" the ball is thrown would be like telling me to GO EAT "after" the pizza is put in front of me. "Way ahead of you," I would say, through my mouthful of pizza.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty:Medium-Challenging (3:50-something for me)
Theme answers:
- THREE-PIECE SUITS (17A: Legal actions provoked by oversimple jigsaw puzzles?)
- BOXER BRIEFS (35A: Law documents concerning pugilists?)
- BASKET CASES (43A: Court precedents involving games of hoops?)
- DENTAL RETAINERS (61A: Attorneys' fees paid with gold fillings?)
adj, winierorwiniest(Cookery)havingthetaste or qualities of wine (thefreedictionary.com)
• • •
Many dumb mistakes today, including DROPS for ERROR (18D: What "oopsy" signals) and TERNS (?!) for SWANS (19D: Graceful birds). Are TERNS graceful? I don't know. I do know I was clearly still under the heavy influence of ERNS at that point (30D: Shore birds). Real trouble getting front end of DENTAL RETAINERS (I only ever called mine a "retainer"). And had BIOME for BIOTA (another ugh-word) (43D: Flora and fauna). WHEEDLED and VARMINTS are fine entries—easily my favorite. GO FETCH is ridiculous, esp. as clued (26D: Command to a dog after a ball is thrown). I mean, it's a phrase that I recognize, but, well ... do you have a dog? I do. A lab. She was basically bred to fetch. The idea that I would have to give her a "Command" after throwing a ball is hilarious. She would be like "yeah, I know, why are you talking?" Actually, she wouldn't even be there to listen. She'd be where the ball is already. It's the "after" part of the clue that really kills me. "After" I throw the ball, she's gone. She's chasing it before it has left my hand. Once the arm goes in motion, she anticipates direction and goodbye. Unless I taunt her with false throws, which I sometimes do. Anyway, telling my dog to GO FETCH"after" the ball is thrown would be like telling me to GO EAT "after" the pizza is put in front of me. "Way ahead of you," I would say, through my mouthful of pizza.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]