Constructor: Bruce Haight
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
![]()
THEME: DEVIOUS (45D: Tricky ... or a tricky description of 18-, 29-, 36-, 48- and 59-Across)— two-word answers where first word starts with "D" and second with "V" (get it? wordplay!)
Theme answers:
![]()
D + V ... DEE VEE-ous ... Sure, OK. It's a very thin concept that feels like it belongs on a Monday, but it's a cutesy bit of wordplay that functions as an acceptably playful little revealer, so fine. Totally inoffensive at a minimum, clever if you're being very generous. The theme answers aren't terribly interesting, as they are simply D.V. phrases that fit symmetrically into the grid (not like there are a ton of good ones to choose from), but the mid-length fill (the 7s in the corners) are decent. Varied, colloquial, unforced. I enjoyed "I'LL BITE,""SAY WHEN, ADOPT ME, etc. But honestly the only thing I remembered about the puzzle when I'd finished, the only part that made itself felt in any way, was the SE corner, where a. I figured out the theme via DEVIOUS, and b. I ran into ORONYMS, a word so wildly out of place on a Tuesday that I had to check all the crosses just to make sure I hadn't screwed something up. If you thought maybe 53A: From the beginning: Lat. was DE NOVA ... well, you might've had a small problem there, especially if you (as seems quite possible) didn't know what ORONYMS were. The word was so strange that I thought for sure it had something to do with the theme (which I hadn't bothered to try to figure out yet). If DEVIOUS hadn't been right next door, I might've persisted in that mistaken thought for a while (seems a better physical location for a revealer than the one occupied by DEVIOUS, frankly).
Only hold-ups, besides ORONYMS was NO CAN DO, which I had to shoot through with crosses before I recognized it (3D: "Sorry, Charlie!"), and then EVIE (26D: ___ Wilcox, daughter in E. M. Forster's "Howard's End"). I read "Howard's End" several years ago, but remember very little about it—certainly none of the character names. I wrote in BEDEW before BLEAR (65A: Dim with tears). Perhaps one day I will run into this puzzle's evil twin, ODIOUS. PeaceOATOTT OUT!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- DEATH VALLEY (18A: Lowest point for Americans?)
- DODGE VIPER (29A: American-made sports car with a V-10 engine)
- DEEP VOICE (36A: Bass, e.g.)
- DARTH VADER (48A: Film character who says "Give yourself to the dark side")
- DEMO VERSION (59A: Prototype, maybe)
• • •
Only hold-ups, besides ORONYMS was NO CAN DO, which I had to shoot through with crosses before I recognized it (3D: "Sorry, Charlie!"), and then EVIE (26D: ___ Wilcox, daughter in E. M. Forster's "Howard's End"). I read "Howard's End" several years ago, but remember very little about it—certainly none of the character names. I wrote in BEDEW before BLEAR (65A: Dim with tears). Perhaps one day I will run into this puzzle's evil twin, ODIOUS. Peace
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]