Constructor: Victor Barocas
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
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THEME: "Capital L's" — 6-letter US capital cities are formed by two L-shaped answers, an Across and a Down, which provide the first and last three letters of the capital name, respectively. Thus:
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: TRIPTYCH (51A: Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights," for one) —
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This is a very interesting construction. I found it rather difficult, first because it took me a little while even to see the theme, and then because I kept forgetting about the theme or not seeing where the theme was in play. Found it very hard to get into the far north, for instance, until I (finally) realized, "oh, right, the answer to [Cry of epiphany] does an L-turn..." into TOPEKA. Same thing happened with [Butcher's tool]—I just kept forgetting when I was looking at L-shaped answers, especially with those Downs. I don't think it was hard so much as flummoxing. Required a lot of attention to detail, a constant reassessing of what the hell was going on. Which is just fine. I admire the architecture of the puzzle—the execution of the theme—but I didn't find it that entertaining. Sort of like solving a sudoku—fine to pass the time, but not very mentally engaging. There's no hook, no cleverness, no humor. Just a really nifty physical feature of some answers. Fill was OK—got a little rough in parts (CUOCO???? (32D: Kaley of "The Big Bang Theory") PUD??? (127D: British dessert, for short) TATAS!?!? (contemporary slang for breasts, maybe, but multiple [Byes], no)), but otherwise held up pretty well.
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I did quite enjoy seeing BOSS HOGG, and the clue on ROCK CONCERT (24A: Rush job?) and CRISCO (103D: It's been shortening for over 100 years) were nice. Couldn't believe how long it took me to get LUCAS (I saw "Star Wars" eight times as 7-year-old, and yet I wanted CUKOR at [Director George] —?????). Had a very rough start because I wanted -NESS for 2D: Suffix with hard or soft (-WARE) and ENID for 3D: Girl's name that's also a place (ERIN). Lots of trouble in the NE too, as I only just now understood 18D: Head of state? (INTER-) and wanted 14A: Peyote and saguaro (CACTI) to end in an "S". Forgot that Charlie Sheen was ever on "Spin City" (that move from Michael J. Fox to Charlie Sheen must've been jarring; thankfully for my sanity, I'd stopped watching "Spin City" by the time Fox left). Speaking of "Charlie," if you have no idea what the hell "song" 44D: Where Charlie may ride forever, in song (MTA) is referring to, you aren't alone. You gotta be pretty old to remember that one. I certainly don't—learned about it the same way you may be learning about it right now—from crosswords. It's probably pitched perfectly, though, for the average age of the crossword-solving crowd. Thus, fair.
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
THEME: "Capital L's" — 6-letter US capital cities are formed by two L-shaped answers, an Across and a Down, which provide the first and last three letters of the capital name, respectively. Thus:
Theme answers:
- TOP dogs (27A: Big kahunas) + eurEKA (9D: Cry of epiphany) => TOPEKA
- DENounce (35A: Censure) + cleaVER (16D: Butcher's tool) => DENVER
- JUNiper (37A: Berry used to make gin) + ThorEAU (20D: He wrote "It is life near the bone where it is sweetest") => JUNEAU
- BOSs Hogg (71A: White-suited "Dukes of Hazzard" villain) + ShelTON (46D: Connecticut city) (???!) => BOSTON
- AUStere (73A: Spartan) + TinacTIN (43D: Athlete's foot treatment) => AUSTIN
- ALBerts (104A: Einstein and Camus) + TiffANY(81D: Renowned jeweler) => ALBANY
- HELoise (106A: Hint-giving columnist) + "MacarENA" (77D: 1990s craze) => HELENA
- PIEtas (116A: Religious art figures) + Le CaRRE (94D: Best-selling author who once worked for Britain's MI6) => PIERRE
Word of the Day: TRIPTYCH (51A: Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights," for one) —
A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ trip-tik; (from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχοs ("three-fold"), from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry. (wikipedia)
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