Constructor: Alan Arbesfeld
Relative difficulty: Easy (faster than yesterday)
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THEME: In a pig'S EYE (OINK!)— all themers begin with same sound, spelled differently in each case:
Theme answers:
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Head-snapping reversal from yesterday's puzzle—this one was not bad, but it skewed Way older, and, for me, a person who is increasingly old, way easier. Theme type is more common, fill more common. Maybe "established" is a better way to say it than "old." Although ... a 1960 "hitmaker" ... a 1955 labor merger ... a 1948 Triple Crown winner ... the PIPs ... the Stones ... John HERSEY ... TISH Addams ... I mean, its cultural center of gravity is pretty objectively "old" (note: I didn't say "bad"). It was almost embarrassingly how easily I filled in 85% of this grid, including stuff no non-solving human knows, like ATRI. Even though yesterday's puzzle took more effort, I enjoyed it more, mostly because I hadn't seen it all before. But honestly, this one, with the exception of ATRI, is absolutely solid. Concept is tight and well executed—I'm not wondering "Where's ___!?" or "Why did they use ___ instead!?" I don't think there are any stray "sigh" sounds out there that they missed. Uh oh, SAIGON? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone thinking about it, but I did, and there's SAIGON, SAIGON, S-S-S-S-SAIGON.
Tough to get a good themer for SAIGON, though. Maybe just SAIGON, VIETNAM? There is a band called SAIGON KICK. I can't recall any of their songs offhand, but I suddenly feel a deep yearning to hear them. [This one is either much more or much less depressing than "19," depending on how you look at it.]
I always confuse ATRI with ATLI because I Have Done Too Many Crosswords In My Life. ATLI is a figure from Norse mythology, "loosely based on Attila the Hun" (per wikipedia). You don't see either of these guys in puzzles much any more because, well, puzzles have gotten better. They can come in handy in a late-week puzzle with a demanding grid, but I'd rather not see either of them on a Tuesday. I decided to read Longfellow's "The Bell of Atri" just now (you can too; it's not that long). It's about an abused and neglected horse who brings communal justice down on her terrible miserly owner by ringing the bell at the center of town (which it does by pulling the bell rope with its teeth). The upshot of it seems to be that you should look out for those who have no voice, those whom the letter of the law fails to protect ("creatures dumb and unknown to the laws"). Don't ask me if I know any other horse poems because the answer ... is NAY (2D: "I vote no").
Those damned NE and SW corners were really hard to get into (by which I mean they connect to the rest of the grid only through the narrowest of passages). I had TAZA for the tea (TAZO is the tea; TAZA is the chocolate I eat almost daily). I blanked briefly on the SPACE of CYBERSPACE because, well, it's not 1996 anymore. I had ENNATE at first at 29D: Present at birth (INNATE) because my brain assumed some alt-crosswordy spelling. Had to leave the second letter of RIATA blank for a bit, as usual (it can be "E" or "I") (25D: Cowboy's lasso). Balked at SCAPES because yuck (49D: Scenic vistas, briefly). Garlic SCAPES are a thing. I'd prefer those in my grid, since no one actually calls vistas "SCAPES." That's all I've got to say on this one.
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Relative difficulty: Easy (faster than yesterday)
Theme answers:
- CYBERSPACE (17A: The online world)
- SILENT NIGHT (26A: Song whose first verse ends "Sleep in heavenly peace")
- SAYONARA (33A: Japanese farewell)
- CITATION (46A: 1948 Triple Crown winner)
- SCIENCE FAIR (52A: Big school event attended by parents)
- PSYCHED OUT (63A: Undermined the confidence of)
Atri (Greek: Ἀδρία or Ἀτρία; Latin: Adria, Atria, Hadria, or Hatria) is a comune in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Italy. In 2001, it had a population of over 11,500. Atri is the setting of the poem, The Bell of Atri, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Its name is the origin of the name of the Emperor Hadrian. (wikipedia)
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Tough to get a good themer for SAIGON, though. Maybe just SAIGON, VIETNAM? There is a band called SAIGON KICK. I can't recall any of their songs offhand, but I suddenly feel a deep yearning to hear them. [This one is either much more or much less depressing than "19," depending on how you look at it.]
I always confuse ATRI with ATLI because I Have Done Too Many Crosswords In My Life. ATLI is a figure from Norse mythology, "loosely based on Attila the Hun" (per wikipedia). You don't see either of these guys in puzzles much any more because, well, puzzles have gotten better. They can come in handy in a late-week puzzle with a demanding grid, but I'd rather not see either of them on a Tuesday. I decided to read Longfellow's "The Bell of Atri" just now (you can too; it's not that long). It's about an abused and neglected horse who brings communal justice down on her terrible miserly owner by ringing the bell at the center of town (which it does by pulling the bell rope with its teeth). The upshot of it seems to be that you should look out for those who have no voice, those whom the letter of the law fails to protect ("creatures dumb and unknown to the laws"). Don't ask me if I know any other horse poems because the answer ... is NAY (2D: "I vote no").
Those damned NE and SW corners were really hard to get into (by which I mean they connect to the rest of the grid only through the narrowest of passages). I had TAZA for the tea (TAZO is the tea; TAZA is the chocolate I eat almost daily). I blanked briefly on the SPACE of CYBERSPACE because, well, it's not 1996 anymore. I had ENNATE at first at 29D: Present at birth (INNATE) because my brain assumed some alt-crosswordy spelling. Had to leave the second letter of RIATA blank for a bit, as usual (it can be "E" or "I") (25D: Cowboy's lasso). Balked at SCAPES because yuck (49D: Scenic vistas, briefly). Garlic SCAPES are a thing. I'd prefer those in my grid, since no one actually calls vistas "SCAPES." That's all I've got to say on this one.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]