Constructor: Joe Kidd
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: You tell me ... looks like "EL" (or "ELS") is added to familiar phrases to get wacky phrases, clued wackily ... but can that be it? I feel like I must be missing something...
Theme answers:
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What am I supposed to do with this? What is anyone supposed to do with this? Someone professing himself a "professor emeritus" wrote me some hate mail today, haranguing me for being so negative blah blah blah. I've been getting that criticism forever, so mostly I ignore it, but to get that letter earlier today and then to be confronted with *this* puzzle at 10pm ... I dunno. It's like the universe is trolling me. Even if I wanted to be some kind of Nice-Thing-Saying person, some kind of Fount of Positivity, I would be stymied by this puzzle. It's baffling. I've seen add-a-letter puzzles, and drop-a-letter puzzles (they're among the oldest theme types in existence), but I can't remember seeing multiple letters added this arbitrarily. Why is there no revealer? What is the point of this three-themer clunker? Elevated trains? I went looking for Ernie ELS thinking maybe he could explain it all to me, but found only Elena OCHOA. She just shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just happy to be here," she said. I have seen many bad puzzles, ill-conceived puzzles, poorly executed puzzles, but I'm hard pressed to remember anything this ... pointless.
Almost broke 3 minutes on this sucker (very Very fast for me, for a Wednesday), but I had some trouble backing my way into that final themer (the clue for which was the most inscrutable of the lot, by far). I don't want to dwell on how olden and stale the fill is (generally), but please survey or resurvey it. ADRIP is the obvious laffer, but even after that, there's so much junk in this grid. It's all ODEA and ARIA and EVEL and CALE and EMAJ etc etc AH ME. My wife rightly asked, "Why did the gardener only buy one SEED?" (40A: Gardener's spring purchase). She also asked, "Where's the revealer?" But we're all asking that. Some of the longer Downs are just fine—and that is the only praise I can give this. How is this the "best puzzle in the world?" How?
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- SECURITY CAMELS (19A: Dromedaries on patrol?)
- CHICKEN BROTHELS (36A: Henhouses of ill repute?)
- MARRIAGE VOWELS (49A: The "I" and "o" of "I do"?)
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939), is an American farmer, businessman and former NASCARWinston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships. He was the second NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated (the first was Curtis Turner on the February 26, 1968 issue. His 83 wins tie him with Jimmie Johnson for sixth on the all-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner's list (behind Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, who are tied for fourth with 84). His 14.82% winning percentage is the ninth best all-time and third among those with 500 or more start. Yarborough won the Daytona 500 four times; his first win coming in 1968 for the Wood Brothers, the second in 1977 for Junior Johnson, and back-to-back wins in 1983 and 1984. In 1984, he became the first driver to qualify for the Daytona 500 with a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour (320 km/h). Yarborough is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year Award (1977, 1978, 1979). (wikipedia)
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Almost broke 3 minutes on this sucker (very Very fast for me, for a Wednesday), but I had some trouble backing my way into that final themer (the clue for which was the most inscrutable of the lot, by far). I don't want to dwell on how olden and stale the fill is (generally), but please survey or resurvey it. ADRIP is the obvious laffer, but even after that, there's so much junk in this grid. It's all ODEA and ARIA and EVEL and CALE and EMAJ etc etc AH ME. My wife rightly asked, "Why did the gardener only buy one SEED?" (40A: Gardener's spring purchase). She also asked, "Where's the revealer?" But we're all asking that. Some of the longer Downs are just fine—and that is the only praise I can give this. How is this the "best puzzle in the world?" How?
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]