Constructor: Andrew Kingsley
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Fu-HSI (26A: Fu-___ (legendary Chinese sage)) —
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Just no wavelength vibe at all today. So many names, so very many names, and I could barely remember any of them, and when I did, I couldn't spell them right. I like NO PUN INTENDED (37A: Comment that might follow "I used to be a banker until I lost interest"), but the rest of it is kind of blah for me. And when it's not "blah," it's a gratuitous spelling nightmare. PIXY STIX, dear lord (20A: Candy in a straw). And RAMI MALEK!? I know exactly who that is, and I know his name ... by sound. But I realized I had absolutely no idea about *any* of the vowels. Well, I guess the "A" in MALEK I knew, but first "A" coulda been an "E," the "E" coulda been an "I," and, well, the "I" sure as hell coulda been a "Y"—which is what I had, i.e. I finished with an error. One I only caught after scouring the grid methodically for a couple minutes. I think I had REMY in there for a bit (a real human name) and then changed the "E" to "A" because of RARE (57D: Like $10 gold eagle coins). But I didn't ever change the "Y." Why? Why did I not change the "Y"? Well, check out the *$&%^&#&$ing cross? DRILY!?!?!? I had DRYLY, which is, as you will see here, a totally correct answer. Exhibit A, the only one you will need:
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I honestly don't understand how you can cross a highly unusual name with DRILY at the *#$@#*&$ing "I." It's astonishingly terrible constructing / editing / etc. I guarantee you there are tons of paper solvers out there right now who have No Idea they have an "error" in that square. RAMY MALEK looks totally fine to me, even now.
Nope:
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Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Once again I direct your attention to "Women of Letters," the collection of crosswords edited and written by women, to benefit women's charities. More info here.
P.P.S. Currently spell-checking this write-up, and my computer thinks DRILY is wrong and DRYLY is juuuuuuust fine.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Word of the Day: Fu-HSI (26A: Fu-___ (legendary Chinese sage)) —
Fuxi (Mandarin: [fǔ ɕí]; Chinese: 伏羲), also romanized as Fu-hsi, is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited (along with his sister Nüwa女娲) with creating humanity and the invention of hunting, fishing and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters c. 2,000 BCE. He was also known as Paoxi (t 庖犧, s 庖牺), also romanized as Pao-hsi. Fuxi was counted as the first of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period. Fuxi was an ancient Chinese god who was said to show the ancient Chinese people how to domesticate animals. (wikipedia) [why have we not seen FUXI in the grid yet!?!?!]
• • •
Nope:
- 4D: Till compartment (TENS) — had ONES
- 8D: The Grand Prix used to have one (TTOP)— had STOP (?); I thought it was a race (?)
- 6D: More familiar name for Enrico Rizzo in an Oscar-winning film (RATSO) — this one is on me; should've gotten it easily. I have no idea how, but for some reason my brain believed the clue was asking specifically for a race car driver's name. I blame "Grand Prix" in the 8D clue. I think I was thinking of SENNA (also five letters)
- 32A: Capital of Nigeria (ABUJA) — I mean, eventually ... but not right away, by any means.
- 26A: Fu-___ (legendary Chinese sage) (HSI) — Fu ... is right. F + U.
- 35A: ___ law, principle stating that computer processing power doubles every 18 months (MOORE'S) — pfft, nope. Probably heard of it, but today, irretrievable.
- 45A: Tony ___, early Macy's Day Parade balloon designer (SARG) — See "Fu," above.
- 64A: Common fossil in Paleozoic rocks (TRILOBITE) — the name is familiar, but it evokes only computer storage measurements and those fluffy things from that one "Star Trek" ep. "The Trouble With TRILOBITEs," I think it was ...
- 22A: Shot that determines who gets to break, in billiards (LAG) — uh uh. Nope.
Soooo much trivia, which is not at all my favorite kind of puzzle. Name after name after name. I knew a bunch (SIMONE, JESSE, KELSO, ESPERANTO, EDD), but the prevalence of them just felt excessive. Mainly I just think the RAMI / DRILY cross is an atrocity. I shouldn't knock all the names, though. If Twyla THARP hadn't attended my alma mater, I might not have paid so much attention to her over the years, and thus might still be struggling to put much of anything in the grid. So thanks, Twyla.
P.S. Once again I direct your attention to "Women of Letters," the collection of crosswords edited and written by women, to benefit women's charities. More info here.
P.P.S. Currently spell-checking this write-up, and my computer thinks DRILY is wrong and DRYLY is juuuuuuust fine.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]