Constructor: Bruce Haight
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday) (30 seconds over average time)
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THEME: president names + a random letter, anagrammed for some reason...
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: Queen of SHEBA (58D: Queen of ___ (visitor of King Solomon, in the Bible)) —
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We need to talk about how objectively bad this puzzle is. Is it performance art? That is the only reasonable explanation I can think of. It's a parody of a bad idea designed to elicit bafflement and anger in people who actually care about good puzzles. Maybe I'm on camera right now? I'm not even angry, I'm just blinking in stunned bemusement. The theme clues are bonkers, esp. for a Monday. Visually painful and confusing. Further: totally unnecessary. I mercifully figured out fairly early on that I did not need to even look at the first part of the theme clues. I just read the post-"=" part and that ended up working just fine. Let's talk specifically about why this is a substandard puzzle. There are two main reasons: the added letters have no rationale, and the anagramming has no rationale. Random added letters, anagrams happening for no reason. Add to that the fact that you can do what I did—just ignore the presidential word math part—and still solve it (i.e. the fact that the theme is irrelevant and ignorable) and, I hope, you can see why this just isn't up to snuff. It's quite baffling that this puzzle was accepted for publication by anyone, let alone the outlet that continues to call itself "The Best Puzzle in the World." People seem to think that I have it in for Will, or for this constructor, or blah blah blah, but I promise you, talk to *any* experienced constructor, and, while they may not use language as strong as mine, they will tell you what's wrong with this puzzle right quick, and the reasons they give will overlap substantially with my own.
AND SO AM I is so weak, especially as a themer. Forced and awkward and anti-climactic. And HANDGRIP isn't much better—I had no idea those squeezy thingies even had a name. Are there really no better PRESIDENT + LETTER anagrams out there? These themers are generally a SAD LOT. Why doesn't this puzzle do *anything* well?! I can't stop laughing at LAY EGGS (48D: What hens do), which is about as scintillating and stand-alone worthy as EAT FOOD or DRIVE CARS. Also, and this is an undeniable editing gaffe, you can't have a clue with "eggs" in it anywhere when EGGS is in the grid, and you *especially* can't have it in the clue for an answer that both means "EGGS" *and* crosses your EGGS answer (53A: Lab eggs = OVA). I teach Shakespeare and had no idea AYS were [Shakespearean cries]. Don't blame Shakespeare for your bad fill. I will say one nice thing about this puzzle: it has a dog in it. Nothing with dog in it can be all bad. Just, you know, substantially bad. I DIG and I FOLD right next to each other? Really. OK, I FOLD, good night.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday) (30 seconds over average time)
Theme answers:
- LIFEGUARD (17A: GARFIELD + U = Beach V.I.P.)
- AND SO AM I (26A: MADISON + A = "Me, too!")
- FILM LOVER (39A: FILLMORE + V = Movie buff)
- HAND GRIP (54A: HARDING + P = Squeezable exercise tool)
- POLICE DOG (66A: COOLIDGE + P = Narc's four-footed helper)
U + A + V + P + P = ............ ?????? UV APP? VA PUP? I'm sure it's something presidential...
The Queen of Sheba is a Biblical and Quranic figure. The tale of her visit to King Solomon has undergone extensive Jewish, Islamic, and Ethiopian elaborations, and has become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in the Orient. // The queen of Sheba (מַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא, "malkat-šəḇā" in the Hebrew Bible, βασίλισσα Σαβὰ in the Septuagint, Syriac ܡܠܟܬ ܫܒܐ, Ethiopic ንግሥተ፡ሳባእ፡) came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (I Kings 10:2). "Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10; II Chron. 9:1–9) as those she gave to Solomon. She came "to prove him with hard questions," which Solomon answered to her satisfaction. They exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land. (wikipedia)
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AND SO AM I is so weak, especially as a themer. Forced and awkward and anti-climactic. And HANDGRIP isn't much better—I had no idea those squeezy thingies even had a name. Are there really no better PRESIDENT + LETTER anagrams out there? These themers are generally a SAD LOT. Why doesn't this puzzle do *anything* well?! I can't stop laughing at LAY EGGS (48D: What hens do), which is about as scintillating and stand-alone worthy as EAT FOOD or DRIVE CARS. Also, and this is an undeniable editing gaffe, you can't have a clue with "eggs" in it anywhere when EGGS is in the grid, and you *especially* can't have it in the clue for an answer that both means "EGGS" *and* crosses your EGGS answer (53A: Lab eggs = OVA). I teach Shakespeare and had no idea AYS were [Shakespearean cries]. Don't blame Shakespeare for your bad fill. I will say one nice thing about this puzzle: it has a dog in it. Nothing with dog in it can be all bad. Just, you know, substantially bad. I DIG and I FOLD right next to each other? Really. OK, I FOLD, good night.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]