Constructor: Johanna Fenimore and Jeff Chen
Relative difficulty: Easy (4:27)
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THEME: NO BRA DAY (61A: Annual event to support breast cancer awareness ... or a hint to answering 16-, 22-, 24-, 35-, 53- and 55-Across) — theme answers have letter string "BRA" in them, which you must remove for the answer to make any sense vis-a-vis the clue:
Theme answers:
Where to start? First, what is ... this? Is this "day" really a well-known thing? I've never heard of it until just now. Looking it up online, it does appear to be real—so I'll give it that—but it also appears to date from 2011 (!) and also to have been spun off of (!?) BRA Day, which was a Breast Reconstruction Awareness day started by a plastic surgeon. Wikipedia notes: "The day is controversial as some see it as sexualizing and exploiting women's bodies while at the same time belittling a serious disease." Also, well, here's my other favorite tidbit from the wikipedia entry on this alleged "day":
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I don't think this "day" is sufficiently well known to be a viable theme answer. It's Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I am all in favor of drawing attention to that in crossword form, but this cutesy use of a not-famous "day" feels a little off. Also off—the date. I mean, if you're going to use a "day" as the basis for your puzzle theme, maybe run the puzzle on the actual day. NO BRA DAY is, technically, Saturday (Oct. 13). Lastly, I get that you have to take the BRAs out to make the clues make sense, but visually it just looks like you've put a bunch of bras *in* to your puzzle. So it's more SIX BRAS DAY than NO BRA DAY.
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LAB crossing LAB? NO, DOG(S). No. Just no. I mean, you cross a couple of "UP"s, something small like that, no one's really gonna care. But you can't cross LAB with LAB. They aren't even different meanings of the word LAB, really. I get that the *actual* "no-bra" answer doesn't have LAB in it, but the grid does, so ... no. LABRATS was interesting, though, as it was the answer that tipped me to the theme (I already had BRAIDING but didn't really get it), and the clue sent me into some weird wrong-answer territory. I had LABRUMS in there at one point. Are those muscles? No, it's cartilage. Well ... it was anatomical, anyway, so I'm gonna give my wrong answer partial credit. The hardest part of this puzzle for me was, weirdly, IROC (47A: Car named after an automotive competition). I had the "I" and then the "O" and thought "I know four-letter car names, what the hell?!" Ugh. IROC. Do they even make those any more? Also, how in the world is that clue supposed to be useful??? There's nothing helpful about it, nothing competition-y about its name. Nothing. Bizarre clue choice. The fill on this one is clean enough. No serious complaints. And it's nice to crush an easy puzzle every once in a while. But the theme just came up short on multiple levels.
Five things:
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Relative difficulty: Easy (4:27)
Theme answers:
- BRAIDING (16A: Picking out of a lineup, e.g.)
- LAB RATS (22A: Upper body muscles, for short)
- BRAVERY (24A: Extremely)
- LEFT BRAIN (35A: Didn't delete)
- VIBRATO (53A: First name in "The Godfather")
- BRAKING (55A: Chess piece)
Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporation. It was the first of a number of novel processes introduced during the 1950s, when the movie industry was reacting to competition from television. Cinerama was presented to the public as a theatrical event, with reserved seating and printed programs, and audience members often dressed in their best attire for the evening. [...] The word "Cinerama" combines cinema with panorama, the origin of all the "-orama" neologisms (the word "panorama" comes from the Greek words "pan", meaning all, and "orama", which translates into that which is seen, a sight, or a spectacle). It has been suggested that Cineramacould have been an intentional anagram of the word American; but an online posting by Dick Babish, describing the meeting at which it was named, says that this is "purely accidental, however delightful."
(wikipedia)
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Where to start? First, what is ... this? Is this "day" really a well-known thing? I've never heard of it until just now. Looking it up online, it does appear to be real—so I'll give it that—but it also appears to date from 2011 (!) and also to have been spun off of (!?) BRA Day, which was a Breast Reconstruction Awareness day started by a plastic surgeon. Wikipedia notes: "The day is controversial as some see it as sexualizing and exploiting women's bodies while at the same time belittling a serious disease." Also, well, here's my other favorite tidbit from the wikipedia entry on this alleged "day":
[15% of respondents are serious "The Good Place" fans]
Five things:
- 26A: Pulitzer Prize winner for "A Death in the Family" (AGEE) — ok maybe I spoke too soon about fill quality, as the grid is a bit heavy on the crosswordese, at least up top. Near AGEE is ISM and ELIA (which, like yesterday's BRAE, has been largely absent from grids for a while). Crosswordese makes me solving life easier, as I am, uh, fairly fluent, but it's not particularly enjoyable.
- 42A: One choice in a party game (DARE)— first thought: SKINS. Weird.
- 18A: Sign at some beaches (NO DOGS)— booooooooo! Beach near my parents' home is very dog-friendly and if you've ever seen a dog on a beach, you'd never deprive a dog of a beach again. It's basically like dog heaven.
- 44D: She helped Theseus navigate the Labyrinth (ARIADNE) — ... and then he promptly ditched her on some island. Ovid has all the juicy deets on these jackass womanizing heroes. Oh, and you'll want to confuse her with ARACHNE. Don't.
- 2D: Scale awkwardly, with "up" (CLAMBER) — Not sure why, but I find this word adorable. This may be my favorite thing in the grid.
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