Constructor: Bryant White
Relative difficulty: Easy-Mediumish (4:45*) (*a.m. solve, always 20-30% slower than normal)
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THEME: I don't know, exactly. Someplace with a HIDDEN STAIRCASE, I guess — letters spelling out HIDDEN STAIRCASE descend from TROPHY ROOM (?) (19A: Where gold and silver cups may be displayed) to WINE CELLAR (59A: Temperature- and humidity-controlled place). There are two different things you might "push" in order to reveal the staircase: a FALSE PANEL on a BOOKCASE or a WALL SCONCE in the ... TROPHY ROOM? Ugh, this isn't symmetrical. Why isn't HIDEAWAY connected to the others?
Word of the Day: Leopold AUER (6D: Violinist Leopold) —
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This wasn't hard to solve, but I have no idea whose house we are in, or why the relationship of the theme answers to one another is such a mess. Once you rope in BOOKCASE for your theme, everything kinda goes wonky, because HIDEAWAY has no spatial reference. I can see a "staircase" going from a TROPHY ROOM to a WINE CELLAR, got it. I see that you can push a FALSE PANEL on a BOOKCASE to (I assume) access the "staircase." But HIDEAWAY's just sitting there opposite BOOKCASE as this useless appendage. *What* is the HIDEAWAY? The staircase itself, the WINE CELLAR? It's just a related word with no cross-reference. Further, FALSE PANEL goes to BOOKCASE, but WALL SCONCE doesn't go to HIDEAWAY (which would things symmetrical); it goes up to TROPHY ROOM ... which is presumably also where the BOOKCASE is. And again, I have no idea what scenario is being created for us here. Some mansion with a hidden staircase. Who cares? Who lives here? It's a mess. I thought it was kinda cute how the little staircase thingie in the middle took you from one room to another, but the ancillary theme material really mucked things up. You're throwing extra theme material in here with no sense of purpose, no clear design.
Also, the fill gets Rough in places. Today's "Can We Please Boycott This 'Word' For Ever And Ever" is ENSE (30D: Start of Massachusetts' state motto)—"Parts of state mottos" is surely in the Top Ten of Worst Clue Types. And ENSE!? That has no context that anyone but a hardcore crossword solver or hardcore state motto enthusiast would ever know. It's desperate and terrible and constructors should banish it. You can also banish the AUER clan (there's an actor, Mischa, too ... and maybe someone else I'm repressing; they may not, in fact, be related). I'm not really sure why you had to go to AUER. The grid isn't exactly dense with theme material up there, but you've got AUER *and* AEIOU? Oof, and then ONER. LOL that the clue thinks that anyone uses ONER"in slang" (32D: Extraordinary thing, in slang). I have actually tried saying ONER in conversation, and no one understands what you're saying on first go 'round. "A what?""[Explains]""Oh ... that." Slang!
Speaking of "what is this doing in my grid??": NAZI. Why is there a NAZI in my grid? Why Is There A NAZI In Your WINE CELLAR!? Further, why is there a completely gratuitous NAZI in my grid? Even further, why the &^$% did you Scrabblef**k a NAZI into my grid.* How badly did you think this grid needed a "Z"? Imagine thinking, "I need to 'zazz this puzzle up? .... I know! I'll add NAZI!" It's possible that I could accept the word NAZI in my puzzle—I mean, I have accepted it before. But honestly you better be in a &$^%ing jam before you put NAZI in a grid, and even then you better put a proper clue on it, not some whimsical musical clue (69A: Extra in "The Producers"). You wanna Scrabblef**k that "J" into your grid in the NW, fine, whatever, JOLT and JAVA are harmless. But NAZI? Come on, man.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
*Scrabblef**cking is when you force high-value Scrabble letters into a corner of your grid in a misguided attempt to make your grid more interesting, resulting in a grid corner that is uglier than it would be if you'd just tried to fill it cleanly.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Mediumish (4:45*) (*a.m. solve, always 20-30% slower than normal)
Word of the Day: Leopold AUER (6D: Violinist Leopold) —
Leopold von Auer (Hungarian: 'Auer Lipót'; June 7, 1845 – July 15, 1930) was a Hungarianviolinist, academic, conductor and composer, best known as an outstanding violin teacher. (wikipedia)
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Also, the fill gets Rough in places. Today's "Can We Please Boycott This 'Word' For Ever And Ever" is ENSE (30D: Start of Massachusetts' state motto)—"Parts of state mottos" is surely in the Top Ten of Worst Clue Types. And ENSE!? That has no context that anyone but a hardcore crossword solver or hardcore state motto enthusiast would ever know. It's desperate and terrible and constructors should banish it. You can also banish the AUER clan (there's an actor, Mischa, too ... and maybe someone else I'm repressing; they may not, in fact, be related). I'm not really sure why you had to go to AUER. The grid isn't exactly dense with theme material up there, but you've got AUER *and* AEIOU? Oof, and then ONER. LOL that the clue thinks that anyone uses ONER"in slang" (32D: Extraordinary thing, in slang). I have actually tried saying ONER in conversation, and no one understands what you're saying on first go 'round. "A what?""[Explains]""Oh ... that." Slang!
Speaking of "what is this doing in my grid??": NAZI. Why is there a NAZI in my grid? Why Is There A NAZI In Your WINE CELLAR!? Further, why is there a completely gratuitous NAZI in my grid? Even further, why the &^$% did you Scrabblef**k a NAZI into my grid.* How badly did you think this grid needed a "Z"? Imagine thinking, "I need to 'zazz this puzzle up? .... I know! I'll add NAZI!" It's possible that I could accept the word NAZI in my puzzle—I mean, I have accepted it before. But honestly you better be in a &$^%ing jam before you put NAZI in a grid, and even then you better put a proper clue on it, not some whimsical musical clue (69A: Extra in "The Producers"). You wanna Scrabblef**k that "J" into your grid in the NW, fine, whatever, JOLT and JAVA are harmless. But NAZI? Come on, man.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
*Scrabblef**cking is when you force high-value Scrabble letters into a corner of your grid in a misguided attempt to make your grid more interesting, resulting in a grid corner that is uglier than it would be if you'd just tried to fill it cleanly.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]