Outer protein shell of virus / TUE 5-16-17 / Chicago squad in old SNL skits / Victim of river diversion in Asia / Divergent actor James

Constructor: Bruce Haight

Relative difficulty: Challenging (this took me over 6 minutes; I haven't been over 5 minutes on a Tuesday in probably a decade; my average is about 3:40)

THEME: Well I could see that a state + an extra letter had to be anagrammed for the answer, but damn if I could figure out why. No idea. Kept trying. No idea. Finally read a different crossword blog to discover There Is No Reason. Random states + random letters, anagrammed. That is it. Why "Washington"? No reason. Why add the "R"? No reason. What does WARNING SHOT have to do with Washington? Nothing. Behold the Best Puzzle In The World. This is your god now.

Theme answers:

• WARNING SHOT (17A: WASHINGTON + R = Intimidation tactic)
• "I'M SERIOUS" (24A: MISSOURI + E = "No fooling!")
• NORMAL DAY (???) (33A: MARYLAND + O = Period in which nothing special)
• BANK RATES (ugh, these answers...) (45A: NEBRASKA + T = Mortgage specifications)
• AFRICAN LION (52A: CALIFORNIA + N = Majestic)

Word of the Day: CAPSID (5A: Outer protein shell of a virus) —

[seriously, that is what come up at the top of the page when you google [define capsid]]

A capsid is the protein shell of a virus. It consists of several oligomeric structural subunits made of protein called protomers. The observable 3-dimensional morphological subunits, which may or may not correspond to individual proteins, are called capsomeres. The capsid encloses the genetic material of the virus. (wikipedia)

I keep rewriting this first sentence because I just can't quite come up with the right words to capture how dumb this theme is. I mean, aren't solvers everywhere asking "why these states?" Aren't they asking "Why Those Letters?" Constructors at home, despite the fact that the editor has apparently lost his damn mind / has so few submissions he has to accept nonsense like this—Don't Do This. Your themes need to have some hook, some sense of purpose, something. This is a joke. Maybe it is a joke. Maybe it's some avant-garde performance-art stuff—a puzzle that looks like it means something but actually means nothing! A Thursday on a Tuesday! I have no idea. But I don't think anything so Andy Kaufman-esque is going on here. I think this puzzle is just bad. Really bad. Objectively bad. Anyone out there who has Ever had a puzzle rejected by the NYT is sitting out there this morning going, "... REALLY?!" Yes, really folks. Enjoy!



Analyze this garbage? I would prefer not to.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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