Constructor: John Lampkin
Relative difficulty: Medium (4:20)
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THEME: MB—>MP —wacky letter-change stuff
Theme answers:
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The NYT can't be this desperate for wacky Wednesday puzzles. Changing UMP to UMB ... well, it's a thing you can do, but as you can see from this puzzle, it's hard to see the upside. The themers simply don't come together, by and large. This is an example of a letter-change that one *can* do ... but, given the weak results, one probably *shouldn't* do (or, now, I guess, have done). If we accept the basic premise here (i.e. that just changing one letter in a three-letter sequence is sufficient basis for a theme), then I think RULE OF THUMP makes the grade, while the others do not. With RULE OF THUMP, the base phrase is a nice standalone phrase, and the new one evokes a very clear and specific image. It's cute. And that's what you want your wacky themers to be, at a minimum: cute. But READY TO RUMPLE does not have a good standalone base phrase (It needs "Let's get..." in front of it to be truly solid), and the clue evokes ... nothing. I don't even understand the context for the clue quote: "You think the blanket needs messing up?" What situation is happening there. READY TO RUMPLE is a question? Why would you ask about messing up a blanket? Why would there be a good and bad time to do that? It's idiotic, the whole thing. SLUMPERLAND is just absurd—the way SLUMPER is absurd, even before you stick -LAND on the end. DUMP AND DUMPER is about as bad as READY TO RUMPLE in terms of its making zero sense. Why would a "trash collector" (is that like a garbageman?) call his memoir DUMP AND DUMPER? Is it about a specific "dump" that he takes his trash to? And then ... he is the "dumper"? Or is the truck the "dumper"? It's not funny. It's confusing. Wacky Themers Have To Land Perfectly. These are just off and off and off.
Imagine thinking anyone in 2018 is going to know TANIA Mallet. What is even happening with that clue? She was in a single movie 50+ years ago. That is all. At least TANIA Raymonde (of "Lost" (ABC), "Goliath" (Amazon), etc.) is still acting, and has acted in More Than One Thing. I still think she's pretty obscure, but she beats Mallet by a long shot. Apparently there are people who think that "Goldfinger" is still current cinema. Mallet wasn't exactly famous when the movie was in theaters. Come on. The rest of the fill was OK, with the longer non-theme fill being reasonably entertaining. I like NOSE COUNT and PLUNK DOWN. I got -PEACE part of 17A: Topic for one of the Dalai Lama's "Little Book" series first, and so wrote in WORLD PEACE. I also blanked on SHAW (1A: Eliza Doolittle's creator) and had no idea that cement trucks had HOSEs attached (?@!). Thought the windows were PENNA. Thought a HOE had a "tapering blade" (63D: ADZ). Found THE very hard to come up with, given the clue (33D: "What ___?!"). Wrote in DRONE at first for 5A: Many an Amazon "worker" (ROBOT). The quotation marks around "worker" made me briefly wonder whether the puzzle was taking a swipe at their terrible labor practices. SLAVE seemed a bit pointed, though, esp for the NYT. So ... ROBOT. I don't associate ROBOTs with Amazon any more than I associate them with other large industrial operations. But I thought they were experimenting with DRONE deliveries; hence my (wrong) initial answer.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Hey, check 48-Across ... now check the clue on 27-Across. Quality editing, right?
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (4:20)
Theme answers:
- READY TO RUMPLE (20A: "You think the blanket needs messing up?")
- RULE OF THUMP (36A: Guideline for testing watermelon ripeness?)
- SLUMPERLAND (43A: Whence slouches?)
- DUMP AND DUMPER (58A: Title of a trash collector's memoir?)
Tania Mallet (born 19 May 1941) is an English model and actress who is best known for her appearance as Tilly Masterson in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964). [...] Tania is cousin of actress Helen Mirren. [...] Despite the film's phenomenal success, Goldfinger would be Mallet's only major big screen appearance. (wikipedia)
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Imagine thinking anyone in 2018 is going to know TANIA Mallet. What is even happening with that clue? She was in a single movie 50+ years ago. That is all. At least TANIA Raymonde (of "Lost" (ABC), "Goliath" (Amazon), etc.) is still acting, and has acted in More Than One Thing. I still think she's pretty obscure, but she beats Mallet by a long shot. Apparently there are people who think that "Goldfinger" is still current cinema. Mallet wasn't exactly famous when the movie was in theaters. Come on. The rest of the fill was OK, with the longer non-theme fill being reasonably entertaining. I like NOSE COUNT and PLUNK DOWN. I got -PEACE part of 17A: Topic for one of the Dalai Lama's "Little Book" series first, and so wrote in WORLD PEACE. I also blanked on SHAW (1A: Eliza Doolittle's creator) and had no idea that cement trucks had HOSEs attached (?@!). Thought the windows were PENNA. Thought a HOE had a "tapering blade" (63D: ADZ). Found THE very hard to come up with, given the clue (33D: "What ___?!"). Wrote in DRONE at first for 5A: Many an Amazon "worker" (ROBOT). The quotation marks around "worker" made me briefly wonder whether the puzzle was taking a swipe at their terrible labor practices. SLAVE seemed a bit pointed, though, esp for the NYT. So ... ROBOT. I don't associate ROBOTs with Amazon any more than I associate them with other large industrial operations. But I thought they were experimenting with DRONE deliveries; hence my (wrong) initial answer.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Hey, check 48-Across ... now check the clue on 27-Across. Quality editing, right?
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]