Constructor: David Kwong
Relative difficulty: Medium (12-something minutes)
![]()
THEME: GENUS (.... edition of Trivial Pursuit...) (107D: Original edition of this puzzle's theme) — color rebus where color squares represent wedges in original trivial pursuit game. Oh, also ... there's this whole trivia layer where clues + fill-in-the-blank answers lead you to the answers that contain the colors ... even though crosses also contain colors and they are somehow *not* part of the trivia game ... I don't know, it's all wayyyyy too fussy for me, man:
![]()
Theme answers:
![]()
It's hard to explain how much I disliked solving this. There were periods of time where I was stuck and didn't care. Didn't want to continue. Look here, look there, this answer is a clue, or part of a clue, now deal with allllllll this short (often painful) fill ... all for a visual surprise (?) that I had to construct for myself. Apparently if you solved on the app some fun colorful thing happened, but suck it, everyone who solves on paper and (like me) AcrossLite, I guess. The only revealer is ... GENUS? That's it? This is a textbook example of the Gimmick-At-All-Costs puzzle. All the cross-referencing was just exhausting, and I was pretty much done with this thing at the first themer (when I finally go it). I just keep looking at ALWAYSHASFOLIAGE ... that's an answer. In a crossword puzzle. I just ... HIGH SCHOOL, sure, SECRET CODE, fine, those can stand alone, but ... ALWAYSHASFOLIAGE!???!?!! I would've ragequit right there if I didn't have this thingie to write. David Kwong is a genius and a lovely man and you should Definitely go see his show, "The Enigmatist," at the High Line Hotel (through March). I feel terrible for really not liking this puzzle but I really did not.
EVAH is basically the same word as EVER, and yet somehow they cross (!???) in this grid (30A/30D). NO USE and USE TO are practically next door to each other (83D & 103D). The proper nouns are weirdly dated, including TOM [GREEN], whom I haven't thought of in ... 15 years? Does he still do things. The RONELY / BORAT / TIMON / TAYE section felt particularly densely dated to me. I get that if you like Trivial Pursuit (I liked it fine as a kid) and you did it on the app and got a zingy colorful effect, you might enjoy this, but for me it was all the things I don't want puzzles to be wrapped into one. I do recognize that the final design, with the colors all in their proper places, is a very nice touch. A great way to end—if you've got the computer doing the coloring for you. If not, not. Extremely not. *ON* RICE? (44D: How chicken teriyaki is usually served). YECCH. Phrasing (it's "over"). People know the song "I'M [BLUE]"??? Not me. Had to run the colors until I remembered to look back at what the HEN answer was an answer to (again, so much fussiness, working backward, etc.), and I actually knew [BLUE]HEN. I definitely had to run the colors for DAN [BROWN], whose work I have never and would never read. Totally forgot his name. The bread clue was oddly totally unhelpful, as virtually every bread I've ever eaten is some shade of brown and I honestly have never heard of the category [BROWN] BREADS. I was prepared to put [WHITE] BREADS in there, which *is* a category I've heard of. But then BROWN came to me.
INESSE NOLO AMAT ANIS SHH. The non-theme stuff provided no entertainment, and was barely keeping its head above water acceptability-wise. Solving pleasure just can can can can *not* be sacrificed for the Big Gimmick. I mean, it can, but I'm never gonna like it. ETAPE!?Sakes alive ...
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (12-something minutes)
- 22A: What kind of tree ALWAYS HAS FOLIAGE / EVER[GREEN] (33A)
- 66A: What 1986 HIGH SCHOOL romantic comedy got its title from a song by the Psychedelic Furs? / PRETTY IN [PINK] (85A)
- 68A: Who wrote a 2003 best seller about a SECRET CODE / DAN [BROWN] (82A)
- 113A: What DELAWARE NICKNAME comes from a farm bird? / [BLUE]HEN STATE (46A)
- 13D: Where were battleships sunk in an 1894 JAPANESE VICTORY (!?!?!?) / [YELLOW] SEA (48A)
- 39D: What annual game have the OKLAHOMA SOONERS won more than any other team? / [ORANGE] BOWL
DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 – February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist who served as a United States Senator, Mayor of New York City and sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison. (wikipedia)
• • •
EVAH is basically the same word as EVER, and yet somehow they cross (!???) in this grid (30A/30D). NO USE and USE TO are practically next door to each other (83D & 103D). The proper nouns are weirdly dated, including TOM [GREEN], whom I haven't thought of in ... 15 years? Does he still do things. The RONELY / BORAT / TIMON / TAYE section felt particularly densely dated to me. I get that if you like Trivial Pursuit (I liked it fine as a kid) and you did it on the app and got a zingy colorful effect, you might enjoy this, but for me it was all the things I don't want puzzles to be wrapped into one. I do recognize that the final design, with the colors all in their proper places, is a very nice touch. A great way to end—if you've got the computer doing the coloring for you. If not, not. Extremely not. *ON* RICE? (44D: How chicken teriyaki is usually served). YECCH. Phrasing (it's "over"). People know the song "I'M [BLUE]"??? Not me. Had to run the colors until I remembered to look back at what the HEN answer was an answer to (again, so much fussiness, working backward, etc.), and I actually knew [BLUE]HEN. I definitely had to run the colors for DAN [BROWN], whose work I have never and would never read. Totally forgot his name. The bread clue was oddly totally unhelpful, as virtually every bread I've ever eaten is some shade of brown and I honestly have never heard of the category [BROWN] BREADS. I was prepared to put [WHITE] BREADS in there, which *is* a category I've heard of. But then BROWN came to me.
INESSE NOLO AMAT ANIS SHH. The non-theme stuff provided no entertainment, and was barely keeping its head above water acceptability-wise. Solving pleasure just can can can can *not* be sacrificed for the Big Gimmick. I mean, it can, but I'm never gonna like it. ETAPE!?Sakes alive ...
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]