Constructor: Stu Ockman
Relative difficulty: Medium (6-something, almost a minute of which was spent trying to dig myself out of a terrible predicament in the SW corner ...)
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THEME: GOO GOO EYES (66A: Adoring looks seen 10 times in this puzzle's grid) — rebus puzzle where "OO" appears in a single box ten different times (including inside GOO GOO EYES itself)
Theme answers:
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Sincere question: what makes the eyes "GOO GOO"? I see that two "O"s can represent eyes, fine, but how are those eyes "GOO GOO"? They look like wide open or surprised eyes, maybe? But I honestly don't see how two "O"s next to each other gets you an "adoring look." I do see that "GOO GOO" gets you two sets of eyes inside the revealer itself, which is a cute touch, but the central idea—that the "OO"s represent specifically GOO GOO eyes, and not just, uh, eyes—that, I don't get. I got the theme very early, after CROON wouldn't fit and then VOODOO DOLL was indisputably a right answer. Still struggled a bit here and there trying to find the "eyes"—didn't know there would necessarily be such an orderly distribution. Slightly (read: very) odd to have non-theme answers (CRITICAL, MOUSSAKA longer than two of the themers, but I guesssss the rationale is that if you count all the letters in those themers, and not just the boxes, then they are longer. I love how TOO RICH FOR MY BLOOD fits so neatly across the middle; it's a wonderful, colorful phrase, and my favorite thing about the puzzle by far. Doesn't change the fact that the theme doesn't really deliver what it says it delivers, though. Mostly I am mad that, between the revealer and VOODOO DOLL, this puzzle has made me remember the Goo Goo Dolls, and so now this will be in my head all night:
Had trouble with SEAL (23A: It can make an impression in correspondence) and wrote PEONS for PLEBS (28D: Commoners). Balked at I CAN'T because I kept wondering "you can't *what*!?" (36D: "That's beyond me") Also had to talk myself into REGINAL, because ??? Didn't really know what a STAG beetle was, so getting into the SE corner was a little challenging. DESI, not a term I remember hearing / seeing before. But by far the toughest hurdle for me was the SW, where everything was going great until TAX---. I had zero zip no idea about EVA Air (!??!) (64D: ___ Air, carrier to Taiwan), and—the real issue—I wrote in REF instead of REC (65D: Supporting letter, informally). REC is better, but "letter of reference" is a common enough term. I write these things all the time, and somehow when looking at RE- my brain couldn't come up with anything but REF. This was unfortunate, not just because it was wrong, but because it made me think TAX--- had to be TARIFF (71A: Revenue-raising measure). But TIMEX *had* to be right. Blargh. Eventually worked it out, but the corner ate up way way more time than it should've.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (6-something, almost a minute of which was spent trying to dig myself out of a terrible predicament in the SW corner ...)
Theme answers:
- VOODOO DOLL (17A: One stuck abroad?)
- FOOLPROOF (26A: Risk-free)
- TOO RICH FOR MY BLOOD (41A: "I'm out")
- FOOTSTOOL (50A: Ottoman)
Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies. Some species grow to over 12 cm (4.7 in), but most are about 5 cm (2.0 in). // The English name is derived from the large and distinctive mandibles found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stags. (wikipedia)
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Had trouble with SEAL (23A: It can make an impression in correspondence) and wrote PEONS for PLEBS (28D: Commoners). Balked at I CAN'T because I kept wondering "you can't *what*!?" (36D: "That's beyond me") Also had to talk myself into REGINAL, because ??? Didn't really know what a STAG beetle was, so getting into the SE corner was a little challenging. DESI, not a term I remember hearing / seeing before. But by far the toughest hurdle for me was the SW, where everything was going great until TAX---. I had zero zip no idea about EVA Air (!??!) (64D: ___ Air, carrier to Taiwan), and—the real issue—I wrote in REF instead of REC (65D: Supporting letter, informally). REC is better, but "letter of reference" is a common enough term. I write these things all the time, and somehow when looking at RE- my brain couldn't come up with anything but REF. This was unfortunate, not just because it was wrong, but because it made me think TAX--- had to be TARIFF (71A: Revenue-raising measure). But TIMEX *had* to be right. Blargh. Eventually worked it out, but the corner ate up way way more time than it should've.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]