Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
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THEME:MINCE / WORDS (26A: With 45-Across, not be direct ... or what four groups of black squares in this puzzle do?)— the four black-square crosses "mince" (in the sense of divide into parts) the answers that run through them:
Theme answers:
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Stupid penguins. Stupid crosswordese penguin species, ugh (14A: Penguin species). I had the "A" and thought "Oh, I've seen this a bunch in crosswords ... uh ... AMELIE!" Pfffffff, that's a whimsical French movie. That teeny error was very important, and it happened in the *one* letter in that answer that is involved in the theme, and so I could think of *no* word starting AMO- that fit 8D: Extreme fandom, and so I got St-uck (more than most of you all, probably). SEINES (63A: Nets with weights) is the bottom-of-the-grid Long Crosswordese counterpart to ADELIE. They are both ATAD tired. The theme was OK, I guess. In the end, it's just words broken into pieces, which I've seen plenty. Nice little twist here is that both the answers that every grid-spanning themer has inside it a shorter themer (one that crosses only one of the black-square crosses). OK. But I still can't say I enjoyed this much. I recognize that the grid has some nice features, but solving this wasn't that pleasurable, for a host of reasons. Mainly the cluing.
EDMONDS is gonna be hard enough for most people; you'd think the clue would at least give *some* indication of years he played, position he played, team he played for ... something besides the dreadfully dull award clue 61A: Eight-time Gold Glove winner Jim. The cutesy "stood up" / "sit down" clue for ROSA Parks felt tonally off. [Embarrassing spots?] is not a "?"-worthy clue. I don't even know the wordplay that's supposed to be involved there. "Spots" as in "positions"? Is that the base phrase? The clue works fine without the "?" (though it might come across as A TAD shaming / judgmental). George Eliot wrote poetry? (4D: "Our deeds still travel with us from ___, / And what we have been makes us what we are": George Eliot). That AFAR clue was (a)far-fetched. Baffled by EVAN Peters, who is a white dude in a lot of things I don't / won't watch ("American Horror Story," X-Men movies, etc.). And then, beyond cluing, there were just some nuisance answers. E-SIGNS is not quite as e-dumb as yesterday's E-INK, but it's close. CAPITAL Q is a cheap-as-heck way to get a "Q" in your grid, and that stupid clue (36A: MapQuest feature), ugh. Yeah, it's got a CAPITAL M too, so what? And are QR CODES still a thing? (39D: Scannable black-and-white boxes). I literally never see that term / hear anyone use it. Had -R CODES and couldn't even remember the letter that went there. POP TABS is the STEEL TIP boot of today's puzzle (they're POP TOPS or PULL TABS). Also very much not a thing: BAR TRAY (1D: It might hold your glasses). (I asked a bartender just to confirm: "LOL not a thing" was her response). Too much unpleasantness PERMEATEs this thing.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. here's audio of the interview I did with Adrianne Jeffries about the NYT crossword's continued tendency to be exclusionary and tone-deaf, particularly where race is concerned.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
THEME:MINCE / WORDS (26A: With 45-Across, not be direct ... or what four groups of black squares in this puzzle do?)— the four black-square crosses "mince" (in the sense of divide into parts) the answers that run through them:
Theme answers:
- DIETITIAN (3D: Certain nutritionist) / TITIAN (30D: Red hair tint)
- ADORATION (8D: Extreme fandom) / RATION (32D: Allowance)
- WARRANTED (21A: Called for) / RANTED (22A: Sounded off)
- COPACETIC (48A: Just fine) / ACETIC (49A: ___ acid)
James Patrick "Jim" Edmonds (born June 27, 1970) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball and a current broadcaster for Fox Sports Midwest. He played for the California/Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds. Known for his defensive abilities – particularly his catches – Edmonds also was a prolific hitter, batting .284 with 393 home runs and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .903. He is affectionately known by Cardinal fans as "Jimmy Baseball" and "Jimmy Ballgame". (wikipedia)
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EDMONDS is gonna be hard enough for most people; you'd think the clue would at least give *some* indication of years he played, position he played, team he played for ... something besides the dreadfully dull award clue 61A: Eight-time Gold Glove winner Jim. The cutesy "stood up" / "sit down" clue for ROSA Parks felt tonally off. [Embarrassing spots?] is not a "?"-worthy clue. I don't even know the wordplay that's supposed to be involved there. "Spots" as in "positions"? Is that the base phrase? The clue works fine without the "?" (though it might come across as A TAD shaming / judgmental). George Eliot wrote poetry? (4D: "Our deeds still travel with us from ___, / And what we have been makes us what we are": George Eliot). That AFAR clue was (a)far-fetched. Baffled by EVAN Peters, who is a white dude in a lot of things I don't / won't watch ("American Horror Story," X-Men movies, etc.). And then, beyond cluing, there were just some nuisance answers. E-SIGNS is not quite as e-dumb as yesterday's E-INK, but it's close. CAPITAL Q is a cheap-as-heck way to get a "Q" in your grid, and that stupid clue (36A: MapQuest feature), ugh. Yeah, it's got a CAPITAL M too, so what? And are QR CODES still a thing? (39D: Scannable black-and-white boxes). I literally never see that term / hear anyone use it. Had -R CODES and couldn't even remember the letter that went there. POP TABS is the STEEL TIP boot of today's puzzle (they're POP TOPS or PULL TABS). Also very much not a thing: BAR TRAY (1D: It might hold your glasses). (I asked a bartender just to confirm: "LOL not a thing" was her response). Too much unpleasantness PERMEATEs this thing.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. here's audio of the interview I did with Adrianne Jeffries about the NYT crossword's continued tendency to be exclusionary and tone-deaf, particularly where race is concerned.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]