Constructor: John Lampkin
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday) (3:31)
![]()
THEME: DIDDLY SQUAT (62A: What the exercise regimen in 17-, 25-, 37- and 51-Across is worth) — weightlifting puns (except for "twist"—I don't know what that is)
Theme answers:
![]()
This one was just slightly off, all over. I'm in the gym 5 days a week, so I might be too close to the subject, but there are some slight problems with this answer set, from my pov. The connection between the body part in the clue and the "exercise" type in the answer feels tenuous. You can do curls with your arms, sure, OK, but LIFTS you also do with your arms, not specifically your shoulders. Shoulder PRESS is actually a pretty common "exercise," but chest is the body part that gets associated with PRESS, which is normally called a *bench* press, and while CURLS, LIFTS, PRESS, and SQUAT are all very familiar gym terms, TWIST ... ??? Wrist twist? I've never done one of these. I don't think I've heard of them. Even if they exist, they aren't nearly as common an "exercise" as the other gym-related answers. And what even is a PEPPERMINT TWIST (besides a dance)? I had PEPPERMINT SWIRL in there at first (before I knew the theme, obviously). And is the joke that you are literally curling cheese, lifting forks, twisting peppermints, and pressing wine (bottles?), and *that's* why the "exercise regimen" is worth DIDDLY SQUAT? On Mondays, I expect the theme concept to be tight and the execution to be bam bam bam bam. No "what?" or "... huh" about it.
Having themers with "?" clues automatically sets a Monday puzzle on a path to be harder than usual. And then there were soooooo many clues that were vague enough to trick me into initial mistakes—a lot of them. I haven't seen SWEATS in my gym in so long that that answers didn't even occur to me until I had over half the crosses. I thought Bo-Peep's sheep were a TRIO. Couldn't see POINTA for a bit. Figured [Totalitarian control] was IRON FIST. Then thought one of four in a grand slam was a RUN. Then stupidly wrote in SEEM for 71A: Consider to be. Thought the ICE was thin on Everest. And then I couldn't get either SEDGE or SALES off their initial esses. SALES was brutal for me, as I thought 53D: Business successes was referring to the, uh, success of the business, not a thing that is considered a success within the general sphere of business. Ugh. Unlike lots of solvers today (I guarantee you) I got TRURO instantly, but I still insist it has no business in any early-week puzzle and should only be trotted out in cases of extreme need. The very clue—[Cape Cod resort town]—should tip you off that is only regionally known, and the town population (18K???) should tip you off that it simply isn't Monday material. You can see how the themers get the constructor in a bind there, as he's gotta run --C-F and --U-O right next to each other, and the first one's pretty much gotta be DECAF, so ... yeah. You made it hard on yourself. But TRURO isn't acceptable (on a Monday). Only reason I know it is because a decade ago I yelled about its being ridiculously obscure. I guess I didn't yell loud enough.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday) (3:31)
Theme answers:
- CHEESE CURLS (17A: Arm exercise at a dairy farm?)
- FORKLIFTS (25A: Shoulder exercise at a cutlery store?)
- PEPPERMINT TWIST (37A: Wrist exercise at a chandy factory?)
- WINE PRESS (51A: Chest exercise at a vintner?)
Truro (/ˈtrʊəroʊ/; Cornish: Truru) is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is Cornwall's county town, only city, and centre for administration, leisure and retail. Truro's population was recorded as 18,766 in the 2011 census. People from Truro are known as Truronians. As the most southern city in mainland Great Britain, Truro grew as a centre of trade from its port and then as a stannary town for the tin mining industry. Its cathedral was completed in 1910. Places of interest include the Royal Cornwall Museum, the Hall for Cornwall and Cornwall's Courts of Justice. (wikipedia)
• • •
Having themers with "?" clues automatically sets a Monday puzzle on a path to be harder than usual. And then there were soooooo many clues that were vague enough to trick me into initial mistakes—a lot of them. I haven't seen SWEATS in my gym in so long that that answers didn't even occur to me until I had over half the crosses. I thought Bo-Peep's sheep were a TRIO. Couldn't see POINTA for a bit. Figured [Totalitarian control] was IRON FIST. Then thought one of four in a grand slam was a RUN. Then stupidly wrote in SEEM for 71A: Consider to be. Thought the ICE was thin on Everest. And then I couldn't get either SEDGE or SALES off their initial esses. SALES was brutal for me, as I thought 53D: Business successes was referring to the, uh, success of the business, not a thing that is considered a success within the general sphere of business. Ugh. Unlike lots of solvers today (I guarantee you) I got TRURO instantly, but I still insist it has no business in any early-week puzzle and should only be trotted out in cases of extreme need. The very clue—[Cape Cod resort town]—should tip you off that is only regionally known, and the town population (18K???) should tip you off that it simply isn't Monday material. You can see how the themers get the constructor in a bind there, as he's gotta run --C-F and --U-O right next to each other, and the first one's pretty much gotta be DECAF, so ... yeah. You made it hard on yourself. But TRURO isn't acceptable (on a Monday). Only reason I know it is because a decade ago I yelled about its being ridiculously obscure. I guess I didn't yell loud enough.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]