Constructor: Lynn Lempel
Relative difficulty: Normal Monday
![]()
THEME: DOWNSIZE (62A: Diminish the work force ... or a literal hint to the answers to the four starred clues) — starred clues are long DOWN answers that contain "sizes" ... that actually *increase* as you move across the grid, but that sink lower *in* the grid, so ... yeah OK.
Theme answers:
![]()
Enjoyed this puzzle despite the fact that it works on only two out of the three possible levels (i.e. the sizes appear in DOWN answers, and the sizes (small, medium, large, jumbo) literally move DOWN (i.e. lower in the grid) with each successive themer, but the sizes do *not* go DOWN (size-wise) as you move across the grid). Also JUMBO isn't anyone's idea of the fourth term in this sequence. If I said "finish this sequence: small, medium, large, ___" you'd probably say "extra large"; you might say a bunch of things, but JUMBO probably isn't one of them. And *still* I was entertained by this grid, mostly because the basic quality of the grid, overall, is just so dang good. MODEL UN! LASSI! Even BPA, which I can't really call "good," but which is at least current. Since Mondays are high-speed affairs anyway, all I want is a moderately coherent theme and then cleanness and bounce, cleanness and bounce! This thing's got only a small handful of answers I'd chuck overboard, and only a couple I really dislike: IDI (old school crosswordese + murderous tyrant = booo), and ET ALII, which is an answer I'd retire right now if I could, along with ET ALIA. No one likes having to guess at the ETALI(?) mystery letter, and no one says or even writes it out like that anyway. We all know that ET AL is the only legit abbr. here, so let's ditch the ET ALI(?) twins for good, OK? Oh, and TGI? Come on, that's horrible. But let's focus on the positive, which is virtually everything else about this grid.
I had only one hiccup: ACRE for SITE (12D: Building lot). I had the "E" in place and ACRE was the first thing that popped in my head. I also struggled a bit to come up with PRINT MEDIUM, since the plural "print media" is by *far* the more common phrase. I saw a giant window display of REDDI-WIP just last night up in Ithaca (15A: Dessert topper from a can). The store had fashioned a giant bottle, and then used some kind of batting or cotton to simulate the "wip"ped cream, but if you looked at it up close it was kind of dingy and had dead bugs in it, so maybe not the greatest way to hock your Valentine's Day wares. I think maybe it was a lingerie store, so, yeah, dead bugs in a fake giant REDDI-WIP display don't really put me in the underwear-buying mood, but maybe ladies are different. Luckily the rest of our Ithaca jaunt ("Lady Bird," the pan-Asian restaurant Mia) was quite nice and dead bug-free. On that note, goodbye.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Normal Monday
Theme answers:
- SMALL WORLD (3D: *"Crazy to run into you here!")
- PRINT MEDIUM (6D: *Newspapers or magazines)
- AT LARGE RACE (27D: *Contest for an areawide seat)
- MUMBO JUMBO (31D: *Nonsense)
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic synthetic compound with the chemical formula(CH3)2C(C6H4OH)2 belonging to the group of diphenylmethane derivatives and bisphenols, with two hydroxyphenyl groups. It is a colorless solid that is soluble in organic solvents, but poorly soluble in water. It has been in commercial use since 1957. [...] The FDA states "BPA is safe at the current levels occurring in foods" based on extensive research, including two more studies issued by the agency in early 2014. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviewed new scientific information on BPA in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015: EFSA's experts concluded on each occasion that they could not identify any new evidence which would lead them to revise their opinion that the known level of exposure to BPA is safe; however, the EFSA does recognize some uncertainties, and will continue to investigate them.In February 2016, France announced that it intends to propose BPA as a REACH Regulationcandidate substance of very high concern (SVHC). The European Chemicals Agencyagreed to the proposal in June 2017. (wikipedia)
• • •
I had only one hiccup: ACRE for SITE (12D: Building lot). I had the "E" in place and ACRE was the first thing that popped in my head. I also struggled a bit to come up with PRINT MEDIUM, since the plural "print media" is by *far* the more common phrase. I saw a giant window display of REDDI-WIP just last night up in Ithaca (15A: Dessert topper from a can). The store had fashioned a giant bottle, and then used some kind of batting or cotton to simulate the "wip"ped cream, but if you looked at it up close it was kind of dingy and had dead bugs in it, so maybe not the greatest way to hock your Valentine's Day wares. I think maybe it was a lingerie store, so, yeah, dead bugs in a fake giant REDDI-WIP display don't really put me in the underwear-buying mood, but maybe ladies are different. Luckily the rest of our Ithaca jaunt ("Lady Bird," the pan-Asian restaurant Mia) was quite nice and dead bug-free. On that note, goodbye.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]