Constructor: Jay Kaskel
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME:"Shocking!"— all theme clues are ["Shocking!," to a [somebody]] and then the answer is a phrase meaning "Shocking!" (in really olde-timey lingo) that is also a pun on the [somebody]:
Theme answers:
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"Shocking!," to the cast of "The Andy Griffith Show." These expressions are all hilariously old. Like, OLD NAG old. Older-than-WKRP old. Not quite DINOS old. But old. Made this XER (ugh, that "word") feel waaaay too young for this puzzle. Almost like a teen AGER (ugh, that non-word). The concept almost works, except for the DARNED answer (see above), but it's all too cornball for me. The fill generally matches the theme, i.e. not from this century in any way shape or form. Grid is crowded with tired, old fill / crosswordese. There is a minor cute factor in the theme, if you're into that kind of thing, but the mustiness of the whole endeavor is rather too much for me. Rather! None of this, however, is shocking.
Puzzle was mercifully easy, though. The only hold-ups involved cheap stupid ambiguities like at 15A: "See you!"—I had ADI- and went ADIEU instead of ADIOS, and again at 39A: Childish comeback where I had AM TOO instead of IS TOO. See, fun, right? Sigh. The most interesting mistake I made came at the most interesting answer in the grid (interesting, in that it felt not at all in keeping with the mindset / humor / frame of reference of the Entire rest of the puzzle): HERB (25D: Marijuana, slangily). Had the "H-" and quickly wrote in HASH (seemed more like what someone who uses the expression "OH, MY STARS!" would call marijuana). This puzzle doesn't really warrant further comment.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- "OH, MY STARS!" (17A: "Shocking!," to an astronomer?) (that "OH" is totally contrived, boo, no)
- "HOLY TOLEDO!" (25A: "Shocking!," to an Ohio tourist?)
- "I'LL BE DARNED!" (36A: "Shocking!," to a seamstress?) (the seamstress herself would not be darned ... just factually speaking)
- "WELL I NEVER!" (50A: "Shocking!," to a teetotaler?)
- "GOOD GRAVY!" (59A: "Shocking!," to a Thanksgiving guest?)
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Puzzle was mercifully easy, though. The only hold-ups involved cheap stupid ambiguities like at 15A: "See you!"—I had ADI- and went ADIEU instead of ADIOS, and again at 39A: Childish comeback where I had AM TOO instead of IS TOO. See, fun, right? Sigh. The most interesting mistake I made came at the most interesting answer in the grid (interesting, in that it felt not at all in keeping with the mindset / humor / frame of reference of the Entire rest of the puzzle): HERB (25D: Marijuana, slangily). Had the "H-" and quickly wrote in HASH (seemed more like what someone who uses the expression "OH, MY STARS!" would call marijuana). This puzzle doesn't really warrant further comment.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]