Constructor: Jim Quinlan
Relative difficulty: No idea—I made every mistake a human could make and ended with almost 2x my normal time, but it can't be that hard...
![]()
THEME: two-word phrases where first word has final "N" sound changed to "-IN'" (g-dropped form of "-ing") to create wacky phrases that get wacky clues
Theme answers:
![]()
So the theme is manifestly dreadful—you can play this little word game all day long (PAYIN' RELIEVER, SEEIN' STEALER, uh ... STOWIN' MASON? Etc.), and it never gets interesting. And there are only four of these? It just doesn't cut it. I won't remember this theme at all, but I will remember how unbelievably off this puzzle's wavelength I was. Note: this isn't why it's a bad puzzle. It's bad because, I mean, look at it. No, my ridiculous, EPIC, absurd struggles are totally my own, totally idiosyncratic, and as remarkable as they are embarrassing. I made mistakes and left them in too long and couldn't get anywhere. Over and over and over. I did a Fireball puzzle earlier in the day (those puzzles have Thursday-type themes w/ Saturday-level difficulty), and crushed it in just over six minutes, so I was feeling pretty good when I stepped up to this one. But ugh, where to begin? Well, how about with PASTA for 4D: Trattoria bowlful (PENNE), which I crossed with RTES at 16A: Routing abbr. (ATTN). How in the world did I think RTES could go there, or made any sense? Wow. Couldn't make *anything* happen in the next section over except OPS and EPA. Wanted PETR, but it was a guess and I couldn't justify it. Had OAR for ROW (21D: Do crew). And then, even with BUCS OVA and UVULA, I got nowhere in the NE. Just ... blanking. Wrote in 'ALO (!?!?!?) at 28D: Greeting in Rio (OLA), and then "confirmed" it with MERINO at 32A: Fine wool source (ALPACA), which then made me want MC-something at 32D: McDonald's offering since 1968 (APPLE PIE). At this point, having been in four different sections and gotten nowhere, I started wondering if there wasn't a rebus or some Big Gimmick that I was missing. But no.
Things really got weird when I got to *actual* PASTA at 55A: Ronzoni offering. That made me go back and take out doppelganger PASTA, eventually put in PENNE, and eventually get rolling. Once I got going, it was like the ridiculous freefall I'd been in was a bad dream. Everything started falling into place. I have no idea what perfect storm of brain fall-apart happened during the first 4-5 minutes, but I really hope it never happens again. Very disconcerting. In retrospect, I should've noticed so many things much earlier: obviously KOREA was right for 23A: Subject of reunificaiton talks, but I didn't go with it; my PETR instinct was right, and I didn't go with that, either; I'd looked at the [___ collar] clue a few times and had nothing, but did not (for a long time) *relook* at it after I got the final -EA, which made FLEA obvious, etc.); I mucked around in the SW a whole bunch without ever looking at clues for LANA and ELI—both gimmes; basic things like ERIE and AFRICAN just had (to me) inscrutable clues (49A: Classic railroad name + 39D: Like the earliest humans). I don't think of the cupcake pan as a tray (10D: Bakery trayful = CUPCAKES) ... I wouldn't have gotten BOCCE (even with the BO- in place) if I'd stared at that clue for a million years (8A: Game with a 90-foot x 13.1 foot court). ANYA someone? I'm so glad this is over, both because the theme was not good and because this was probably my single-worst solve, from a pure skill-failure perspective, in years.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: No idea—I made every mistake a human could make and ended with almost 2x my normal time, but it can't be that hard...
Theme answers:
- LYIN' DANCERS (19A: Deceitful ballerinas?)
- MOOIN' WALKER (27A: Cow as it strolls around the pasture?)
- PLAYIN' FOLKS (42A: Band members?)
- BEIN' COUNTER (53A: Census bureau employee?) (wow, that one is really bad...)
Anya Taylor-Joy (born April 16, 1996) is an American-born Argentine-British actress.[2] She is best known for her starring role as Thomasin in the horror film The Witch (2015) and as Casey Cooke in the horror-thriller film Split (2016). She was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2017. (wikipedia)
• • •
Things really got weird when I got to *actual* PASTA at 55A: Ronzoni offering. That made me go back and take out doppelganger PASTA, eventually put in PENNE, and eventually get rolling. Once I got going, it was like the ridiculous freefall I'd been in was a bad dream. Everything started falling into place. I have no idea what perfect storm of brain fall-apart happened during the first 4-5 minutes, but I really hope it never happens again. Very disconcerting. In retrospect, I should've noticed so many things much earlier: obviously KOREA was right for 23A: Subject of reunificaiton talks, but I didn't go with it; my PETR instinct was right, and I didn't go with that, either; I'd looked at the [___ collar] clue a few times and had nothing, but did not (for a long time) *relook* at it after I got the final -EA, which made FLEA obvious, etc.); I mucked around in the SW a whole bunch without ever looking at clues for LANA and ELI—both gimmes; basic things like ERIE and AFRICAN just had (to me) inscrutable clues (49A: Classic railroad name + 39D: Like the earliest humans). I don't think of the cupcake pan as a tray (10D: Bakery trayful = CUPCAKES) ... I wouldn't have gotten BOCCE (even with the BO- in place) if I'd stared at that clue for a million years (8A: Game with a 90-foot x 13.1 foot court). ANYA someone? I'm so glad this is over, both because the theme was not good and because this was probably my single-worst solve, from a pure skill-failure perspective, in years.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]