Constructor: Jonathan Schmalzbach and Bill Albright
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (I just wasn't on its wavelength, it's probably pretty normal) (4:47)
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THEME: FRENCH TWIST (62A: Classic hairstyle ... or a hint to the puns in 17-, 25-, 39- and 51-Across) — answers are puns on the first names of French guys, with clues suggesting that the puns are "nicknakes":
Theme answers:
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French guys have funny names, I guess. I don't know. You like the puns or you don't and that's pretty much that. I don't really know what a FRENCH TWIST is, so the revealer didn't do much for me, and I don't think it really expresses what's going on in the theme. Or, it does, but only in the vaguest of ways. Why are these puns "nicknames"? What does "twist" have to do with nicknames? FRENCH TWIST could just as plausibly, probably more plausibly, be the revealer for a theme were French names are anagrammed.The wacky clues also don't make much sense. I mean, even if we accept the wacky context. Am I really gonna look at a painting and go, "mmm, TOO LOOSE, I think." What? Also, "tool ooze" is a better pun. I do not think of a "CLOD" as a clumsy person. I think of him as a tedious bore, perhaps socially awkward or irritation. Pratfalls don't really come into it. "Clod" is an abusive term for a stupid person. "Clumsy"? You're just ruining these. JUULS VERNE would've been great. [Nickname for a vaping author?]. It's legitimately loopy, and very current. These puns and clues just feel stiff. Musty. I get that puns are fun and all, but the execution here felt a little, well, clumsy. And old-fashioned.
Too much crosswordese, but that's not too shocking. I found the puzzle pretty easy *except* for the NW and far south, both of which drove me bonkers. 1A: Issue = ??? Is it a verb or a noun, and then which verb or noun meaning ... ? No idea. So TAJ went in to 1D: ___ Mahal and then I should've dropped in ONE at 2D: Start of every ZIP code in Pennsylvania, because the only other three-letter numerals are TWO and SIX and those obviously didn't work. But my brain just went "dunno" and kept going. 4D: Named, for short ... no way I was getting the awkwardly spelled IDED from that. Then there's 14A: What a current flows through (ANODE). What ... kind of current? I was thinking air. Total disaster up there. And down south. Had SELDOM and SPACED before SPARSE (47D: Few and far between). CRU (more crosswordeeeese) had that absurd "?" clue on it (63D: Grand finale?) ("grand cru" is a wine thing I'm not going to bother to look up right now, sorry). Totally blanked on Indian prime ministers not named Gandhi. ALEPH (still more crosswordese) eluded me as I wanted ALPHA (54D: Beth's preceder). And FAN, no way. No way I think of that as an "item," though I guess it falls under that very general category (62D: Item above a kitchen stove). It's usually integrated into the hood of the stove, so its item-ness doesn't really define it. I think I hated the cluing on this one more than anything. But mostly the puns just didn't entertain me much. Felt flat. DRIVE TIME is a good answer, though. We'll always have DRIVE TIME.
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Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (I just wasn't on its wavelength, it's probably pretty normal) (4:47)
Theme answers:
- JEWELS VERNE (17A: Nickname for a glitzy author?)
- CLOD DEBUSSY (25A: Nickname for a clumsy composer?)
- TOO LOOSE LAUTREC (39A: Nickname for a sloppy painter?)
- BLAZE PASCAL (51A: Nickname for a fiery philosopher?)
Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is a German-born American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as A Moon for the Misbegotten, 110 in the Shade, Carousel, Ragtime, Master Class and Porgy and Bess. As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Operaand the Los Angeles Opera and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2008 her recording of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She has a close working relationship with composer Michael John LaChiusa who has written several works for her, including the Broadway musical Marie Christine, the opera Send (who are you? i love you), and The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle. With her full lyric soprano voice,[3]she maintains an active concert and recording career throughout the United States performing a wide repertoire from classical to musical theater to jazz and popular songs. In 2016, McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. In 2017 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)
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Too much crosswordese, but that's not too shocking. I found the puzzle pretty easy *except* for the NW and far south, both of which drove me bonkers. 1A: Issue = ??? Is it a verb or a noun, and then which verb or noun meaning ... ? No idea. So TAJ went in to 1D: ___ Mahal and then I should've dropped in ONE at 2D: Start of every ZIP code in Pennsylvania, because the only other three-letter numerals are TWO and SIX and those obviously didn't work. But my brain just went "dunno" and kept going. 4D: Named, for short ... no way I was getting the awkwardly spelled IDED from that. Then there's 14A: What a current flows through (ANODE). What ... kind of current? I was thinking air. Total disaster up there. And down south. Had SELDOM and SPACED before SPARSE (47D: Few and far between). CRU (more crosswordeeeese) had that absurd "?" clue on it (63D: Grand finale?) ("grand cru" is a wine thing I'm not going to bother to look up right now, sorry). Totally blanked on Indian prime ministers not named Gandhi. ALEPH (still more crosswordese) eluded me as I wanted ALPHA (54D: Beth's preceder). And FAN, no way. No way I think of that as an "item," though I guess it falls under that very general category (62D: Item above a kitchen stove). It's usually integrated into the hood of the stove, so its item-ness doesn't really define it. I think I hated the cluing on this one more than anything. But mostly the puns just didn't entertain me much. Felt flat. DRIVE TIME is a good answer, though. We'll always have DRIVE TIME.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]