Seaman's chapel / SUN 3-5-17 / Sea serpent of old cartoons / Yogurt-based Indian drink / Modern acronym for Seize day / KPMG hiree / Rider of horse tornado / Chocolate banana liqueur cocktail

Constructor:Timothy Polin

Relative difficulty:Medium


THEME:"It's Elementary"— themers have circled letters representing "elements" that also appear in the clue (as "circled letters" ... so you kind of sort of have to get the circled letters to understand the clue):

Theme answers:

• WEATHER BALLOON (22A: [circled letters]-filled contraption)
• EIFFEL TOWER (30A: World landmark built with [circled letters])
• MOOD STABILIZERS (45A: [circled letters]-based drugs)
• ROADSIDE DINER (60A: [circled letters]-advertised establishment)
• DAGUERREOTYPE (73A: Picture displayed on a [circled letters] surface)
• AEROBIC EXERCISE (88A: [circled letters]-consuming activity)
• BASEBALL BAT (99A: Sports implement often made from [circled letters])
• NUCLEAR REACTOR (113A: [circled letters]-fueled device)
• TOOTH DECAY(15D: Condition contributed to by a lack of [circled letters]
• LEPRECHAUN (71D: Fabled [circled letters]-hiding trickster) 

Word of the Day:BETHEL(21D: Seaman's chapel) —

noun

noun: bethel; plural noun: bethels

1. 1.

   a holy place.
2. 2.

   a chapel for seamen. (google)

This was a nuisance puzzle. Tolerable, but something one endures rather than enjoys. After I waded through the crosswordesey garbage in the NW and figured out the theme ... well, I figured out the theme. And that was that. There were no great revelations or particularly interesting moments. There were more Periodic Table-driven answers, occasionally interesting in and of themselves (I learned I can't spell DAGUERREOTYPE—who put that middle "E" in there?), but mostly about as impressive as "hiding" the letter "O" in a very long answer (i.e. not). I halfway liked the LEPRECHAUN answer but mostly just because today is Parade Day here in Binghamton, a day to celebrate St. Patrick's Day ridiculously early and (I hear) drink yourself into a stupor before dinner. It's fun! But otherwise, it was a Sunday, and it happened, and now it's over.


Cluing seemed dated / stuffy. SONNY BOY, indeed (61D: Lad). Not too UP-TO-DATE (122A: [Gold] courant). Even the cartoon sea serpents are "of old" (54A: CECIL). The biggest problem was how badly choked the grid was with tired old fill. From everything but WHARF in the NW to the W, where you can OGLE UGLI EGGOs. It goes on. And then the "humor" is stuff like that damned BEIRUT clue, which doesn't even work from a sound perspective, but OK (52D: Foreign capital whose name sounds like a water passage to San Francisco). My biggest errors involved The Wrong Ape (a movie featuring me and my BABOON GAL PAL, "EDSEL," driving around EDINA and comically botching crosswords) (I went with GIBBON there ... boy did that make "EDSEL" angry ...) (yes, I know, BABOONs aren't "apes" ... but GIBBONs are ... so somehow it all works out ... in the end)—and then there was BETHEL, an answer so far over my head I couldn't see it. Never heard of this definition (21D: Seaman's chapel). I seriously considered BOATEL for a non-negligible amount of time. Had WOODSY for WOODED (32D: Sylvan), PIZZA (!?) for MATZO (13A: Flat bread), and PANIC for HAVOC (53A: Great confusion). No idea what KPMG is, but I'm guessing it's to do with accounting—not rap, as the name (to me) suggests.



Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Peter Gordon is offering a new season (2017-18) of Fireball Newsflash Crosswords—20 very up-to-date puzzles with (very) current events-heavy fill. Get in on the action here (in the next 24 hours!)

P.P.S. Harvard's radio station (WHRB 95.3) interviewed me several months ago re: crosswords as part of a larger segment on the NYT crossword's 75th anniversary. Here it hear. Just kidding, hear it here.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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