Constructor: Amanda Chung and Karl Ni
Relative difficulty: Medium (3:09)
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THEME: YOUNG / AT HEART (67A: With 68-Across, still feeling like a teenager, say ... or a hint to the circled answers)— names for animal YOUNG can be found AT HEART (i.e. smack in the middle) of theme answers:
Theme answers:
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It's been nine years (!) since DEVA was in a puzzle, so if you didn't know that one, you are Forgiven. Certainly eluded me. I had any number of things in there before I got DEVA (entirely from crosses). That was one of a few answers that didn't seem quite *Monday* to me (see also FAKIR), but what *did* seem quite Monday to me was my solving time, so no harm done. It would be great if people stopped pretending that ANATOLE France was a household (i.e. Monday) name. I shouldn't ever see that name unless it's a late-week puzzle with a fairly demanding grid. Modernize your fill! I'm burying the lede here, which is: I thought this was a very good puzzle. The theme was cute and simple and smart and neatly executed *and* dense without being grid-burdening. All the baby animals are, in fact, smack dab in the middle of each theme answer: not just *somewhere* in the middle, but perfectly in the middle. Here's the only problem I had with the theme: the clue on the revealer. [Still feeling like a teenager]??? Uh, yeah, I don't think YOUNG / AT HEART means "still feeling socially and physically awkward and painfully insecure." I think YOUNG / AT HEART is supposed to be a *positive* concept. It doesn't square well with teenagedom. At least not mine.
Had trouble right away, forgetting the word INCUBUS. Also had issues getting OPTICAL FIBER, since the only relevant phrase I know is "Fiber-optic cable."ANATOLE France was a gimme for me, in case you think I complain only about answers I *didn't* know. Also knew FAKIR. DEVA, no so much. Misread 50D: Eight: Sp. as 50A: Eight: Prefix and wrote in OCTO-. Finally, I wrote in NAIAD at 53D: Forest of mountain maiden of myth (NYMPH), which is actually technically possibly true, and is the kind of mistake you make when you know too much myth-stuff and you star with the "N." Blowing NYMPH (!) was a big (well, small) timesuck in the SE, as I got all those Downs in order and then had to figure out which of the Downs was a bummer.
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Relative difficulty: Medium (3:09)
Theme answers:
- INCUBUS (1A: Night demon)
- AKITA (8A: Japanese dog)
- OPTICAL FIBER (22A: Cable material that transmits data using light)
- ARE YOU KIDDING ME? (39A: "Really?!")
- JOHN COLTRANE (49A: Legendary jazz saxophonist)
noun
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Had trouble right away, forgetting the word INCUBUS. Also had issues getting OPTICAL FIBER, since the only relevant phrase I know is "Fiber-optic cable."ANATOLE France was a gimme for me, in case you think I complain only about answers I *didn't* know. Also knew FAKIR. DEVA, no so much. Misread 50D: Eight: Sp. as 50A: Eight: Prefix and wrote in OCTO-. Finally, I wrote in NAIAD at 53D: Forest of mountain maiden of myth (NYMPH), which is actually technically possibly true, and is the kind of mistake you make when you know too much myth-stuff and you star with the "N." Blowing NYMPH (!) was a big (well, small) timesuck in the SE, as I got all those Downs in order and then had to figure out which of the Downs was a bummer.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]