Constructor: Ed Sessa
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (3:25)
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THEME:"THAT'S LIFE!" (66A: Comment of resignation applicable to 17-, 28- and 50-Across) — All theme answers could be clues for the word LIFE
Theme answers:
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Happy snoozeday. I like how this puzzle is apparently actively hostile to all things that happened after 1980. You know a puzzle skews very, very old when RHEA Perlman is your hip pop culture reference (72A: Perlman of "Cheers"). Canasta clues and Jack PAAR and "CARA Mia" and ENDORA and OMAR Sharif and "MR. ED" ... you know, for the kids! You could at least pretend to be living in the present. I mean, you clued DRAKE via the duck!? I feel like the original clue on ELENA must've been [Actress Verdugo] and someone in editing was like "This is a little too much, even for us." OK, sure, SELFIE's in here, but even then, the cluer thinks people actually take them with those ridiculous SELFIE sticks, which I've not only never used, but never seen. Lots of short common crosswordesey stuff, and a theme so basic that it's barely there. Also, PICTURE MAGAZINE? What ... is that? Cluing it as "format not much seen nowadays" is absolutely no help. That's just a terrible clue. It provides no valuable information. Ugh. Have you looked at most magazines nowadays? You know what they have a lot, and I mean a Lot of? Ads! Also, pictures. The clue on ENDORA is bizarre, too. What is this mythical "Bewitched" that *isn't* "1960s TV"? Why would you add "in 1960s TV" to that clue? Again, It Adds Nothing. Also, it's your second "1960s TV" clue of the day. Lastly, that SW corner is a real non-winner. Look at all those identical intersecting letter strings. NET crosses NET. ONE crosses ONE. TON crosses TON *and* TON. Rough. Rough all over. Some of the Downs are nice, but overall ... Ruff.
I had two slow-downs today. The first came at 10D: Crowd-wowing (ELECTRIC), a clue I couldn't really process. Even with ELECT-I- in place, I had no idea what was going on. It's election season, so that probably got in my head a little. Anyway, that's a very odd clue for ELECTRIC. The other trouble spot was, unsurprisingly, around the PICTURE part of PICTURE MAGAZINE (again, I renew my ugh). I couldn't get 52D: T-shirt material (COTTON) the first couple of times I looked at it. I guess the connection between that garment and that fabric is really not that intuitive or tight to me. Are all t-shirts cotton? Ah, I do see that the definition of "t-shirt" does say "generally made of cotton," so OK. I feel like there are far, far more interesting and precise clues you could've gone with there, but this clue is very ... this puzzle. So there's something apt.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (3:25)
THEME:"THAT'S LIFE!" (66A: Comment of resignation applicable to 17-, 28- and 50-Across) — All theme answers could be clues for the word LIFE
Theme answers:
- 17A: Classic activity for family night (BOARD GAME)
- 28A: Serving in a bowl with milk (BREAKFAST CEREAL)
- 50A: Periodical format not much seen nowadays (PICTURE MAGAZINE)
Endora (Agnes Moorehead), is Samantha's mother and Darrin's chief antagonist in the series. Like all witches, she never reveals her surname, indicating to Darrin that he would be unable to pronounce it. Endora finds mortals dull and disapproves of Darrin, as do many of Samantha's relatives. Endora refuses to even speak Darrin's name correctly, alternatively calling him "Derwood", "What's-his-name", "Darwin", "Dum-Dum", etc., all much to his annoyance. She refers to him as "Darrin" only eight times during the entire series. Endora's ploys to provoke a breakup always fail as Samantha and Darrin's love overcomes every obstacle. Even though Endora casts countless farcical spells on Darrin, she never attempts to destroy him outright. During the first season, Endora threatens her warlock husband Maurice, after he destroys Darrin, saying that she will not have a human being on her conscience. It was one of the few times when Endora went out of her way to protect Darrin from Maurice (see episode 1-10). Endora, once, let Maurice kiss her. But, when she realizes that, after he has kissed her and disappeared, she has contracted an illness which leaves her unable to use her powers, she is furious – until Maurice returns to gives her an antidote, and take her to "the place we used to go to on the Milky Way" to have dinner. She doesn't get along with Darrin's mother, Phyllis Stephens, because she gets along too well with Phyllis' husband, Frank. But, they are civil to one another in, what Samantha calls, "killing one another with kindness". Endora does dote on her grandchildren, Tabitha and Adam; They call her "Grandmama". (wikipedia)
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I had two slow-downs today. The first came at 10D: Crowd-wowing (ELECTRIC), a clue I couldn't really process. Even with ELECT-I- in place, I had no idea what was going on. It's election season, so that probably got in my head a little. Anyway, that's a very odd clue for ELECTRIC. The other trouble spot was, unsurprisingly, around the PICTURE part of PICTURE MAGAZINE (again, I renew my ugh). I couldn't get 52D: T-shirt material (COTTON) the first couple of times I looked at it. I guess the connection between that garment and that fabric is really not that intuitive or tight to me. Are all t-shirts cotton? Ah, I do see that the definition of "t-shirt" does say "generally made of cotton," so OK. I feel like there are far, far more interesting and precise clues you could've gone with there, but this clue is very ... this puzzle. So there's something apt.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]