Constructor: Lee Taylor
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (10:31)
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THEME:"That's a Mouthful" — themers are phrases that (allegedly) are hard to say FIVE TIMES FAST (58D: Hard way to say the answers to the starred clues in this puzzle (good luck!))
Theme answers:
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Great to see a female constructor (2019 update—M: 36, W: 5); too bad the theme is so disappointing. Aside from the fact that I can say all of these just fine five times, there's the fact that these are just lifted from tongue-twister lists, of which there are tons on the Internet. Constructor just has to find a bunch that line up symmetrically. This involves no real thought or creativity. You're arranging pre-existing phrases in a grid, not doing anything particularly clever or new or interesting. The wordplay is out of a can, is what I'm saying, so the whole thing is a non-starter for me. And it's bizarre that nonsense phrases like IRISH WRISTWATCH are clued as if they are just normal things. No "?" or nothin'. There are some real issues with fill as well, like BALTO x/w ILENE, yikes. And then just an over-reliance on crosswordese and partials and gunk. There's not a single answer outside the themers that has any kind of real interest or spark. "Frequent collaborator with Adam Sandler"? Since ... since when is that a thing? A crossworthy thing? Dear god. I mean, I didn't know BARNES either, but I am more than willing to conceded that the BARNES is a thing. HERLIHY, hoooooo no, not really. BES. COZ. OEN. ADAR. EMS. RES. ROHE. TAJ. There just wasn't anything here to get excited about.
Gah, I wish I had something to say about this. It's somewhat nice to see Mrs. MAISEL here, which is at least fresh, as crossword fill goes. I had no idea RUFOUS was a word (57A: Reddish). I had RUBOUS in there for a while, as rubies are red and rubicund means reddish and rubious maybe also means that, not sure ... yep, it does. RUFOUS is a name to me, though I guess that's RUFUS.
Had real trouble also with CHICHI and OWLISH and ATTICA, which I had never heard of as clued (15D: Ancient Greek state with Athens). I know the adjective "Attic," but ATTICA to me is a prison. A prison where there was an inmate uprising and a brutal police response. A prison whose name was famously chanted by Pacino.
I should probably say that [Leading characters in "Mad Max"] = EMS because the letter "M" (i.e. "em") is "leading" both words in the title "Mad Max." I should probably say this because there are always a smattering of people befuddled by tricksy letter-oriented clues like this. I can hear them all now, collectively groaning. They are right to groan. Good day.
P.S. OK I want to uncast whatever aspersions I seemed to cast on Tim HERLIHY above. I want to uncast them because this exchange on Twitter dot com made me do a literal spit-take*:
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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (10:31)
Theme answers:
- THREE FREE THROWS (22A: *Result of a foul on a long basketball shot)
- REAL RARE WHALE (38A: *Albino orca, e.g.)
- SHE SEES CHEESE (4D: *What a dairymaid does all day long)
- SHOE SECTION (67A: *Part of a department store where people sit)
- UNIQUE NEW YORK (93A: *Home of the world's only 14-lane suspension bridge) (?????????? what is this clue ????????)
- IRISH WRISTWATCH (114A: *Timekeeper on the Emerald Isle)
The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arboretum of the Barnes Foundation remains in Merion, where it has been proposed to be maintained under a long-term educational affiliation agreement with Saint Joseph's University.
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Gah, I wish I had something to say about this. It's somewhat nice to see Mrs. MAISEL here, which is at least fresh, as crossword fill goes. I had no idea RUFOUS was a word (57A: Reddish). I had RUBOUS in there for a while, as rubies are red and rubicund means reddish and rubious maybe also means that, not sure ... yep, it does. RUFOUS is a name to me, though I guess that's RUFUS.
Had real trouble also with CHICHI and OWLISH and ATTICA, which I had never heard of as clued (15D: Ancient Greek state with Athens). I know the adjective "Attic," but ATTICA to me is a prison. A prison where there was an inmate uprising and a brutal police response. A prison whose name was famously chanted by Pacino.
[106A: Ham it up]
I should probably say that [Leading characters in "Mad Max"] = EMS because the letter "M" (i.e. "em") is "leading" both words in the title "Mad Max." I should probably say this because there are always a smattering of people befuddled by tricksy letter-oriented clues like this. I can hear them all now, collectively groaning. They are right to groan. Good day.
P.S. OK I want to uncast whatever aspersions I seemed to cast on Tim HERLIHY above. I want to uncast them because this exchange on Twitter dot com made me do a literal spit-take*:
*note Tim MEADOWS is in fact a "frequent collaborator with Adam Sandler," and the name I was trying to come up with until crosses made it impossible
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