Constructor: Peter A. Collins
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: LEO V (28A: Byzantine emperor known as "the Armenian") —
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Woof. Not a pleasing weekend of themelesses, which is very disappointing, as Friday and Saturday are (statistically) my favorite days by far. This one had a few decent longer answers (e.g. RABBIT HOLE, PR NIGHTMARE), but most of the longer stuff was either fairly dull (DINNER PLATE, ONION ROLLS), or colloquially wobbly ("LET'S GET ON IT") (I had "TO IT"), or else extremely off-putting (CHLORINE GAS ... I mean, chemical weapons? geeeez louise, what's next, POGROMS?) (fun (?) fact: POGROM last appeared in the NYT crossword in 1981). Speaking of off-putting, the puzzle's really pushing Woody Allen this week, and while you may feel however you feel about him, it's pretty clear to anyone paying attention that he is a source of unpleasant feelings for a huge portion of the solving populartion. Maybe, I dunno, spread your references out? Maybe make sure the rest of the puzzle is somewhat more upbeat and bouncy and full of good feelings than CHLORINE GAS? Isn't someone supposed to be overseeing this kind of stuff?
Oh *THE* NHL, well la di dah! PRESSMAN feels archaic, like he and the town crier drink ales from STEINs when their shifts are over (34D: Certain newspaper employee). NEMEAN is crosswordese, and it somehow doesn't seem any less crosswordesey when it appears in long form with LION attached. As for LEOV ... let's LEOV that one alone. The grid shape today is really unbecoming; I don't mean that the black/white pattern itself is aesthetically unpleasing, I mean that from a solving standpoint, those NW / SE corners are terrible. Secluded and impossible to fill in any kind of interesting way. Just two chunks of 6x4 garbage. Sequestered dead weight. Shoving Z's in there isn't fooling anyone. There is not interest there, and there can't really be interest there, because the grid is not built in a way that would allow interest there. IMAGED? THENHL? ICER? I do like the word ERSATZ, but still, in a themeless, where the whole point is to sparkle, these dank corner holes where no light can shine are really a bummer.
My main screw-ups were in that NW corner, where I had STAIR (?) for 19A: End of a flight, say (ATTIC), and TAO for ZEN (27A: Discipline of some masters). Really bad solving on my part. Once I got out of there, the rest of the grid was pretty pliable. And once I got CHLORINE GAS (again, ugh), I got ATTIC and finished that NW corner up without any trouble. I hope Sunday comes through, but ... honestly, that so rarely happens, I'm not getting my hopes up. But you never know. See you tomorrow to find out!
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I know some of you are wondering, "How is [Bore] STOOD?" Think "withstood."
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: LEO V (28A: Byzantine emperor known as "the Armenian") —
Leo V the Armenian (Greek: Λέων ὁ ἐξ Ἀρμενίας, Leōn ho ex Armenias; 775 – 24 December 820) was Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals, who succeeded him on the throne. (wikipedia)
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Oh *THE* NHL, well la di dah! PRESSMAN feels archaic, like he and the town crier drink ales from STEINs when their shifts are over (34D: Certain newspaper employee). NEMEAN is crosswordese, and it somehow doesn't seem any less crosswordesey when it appears in long form with LION attached. As for LEOV ... let's LEOV that one alone. The grid shape today is really unbecoming; I don't mean that the black/white pattern itself is aesthetically unpleasing, I mean that from a solving standpoint, those NW / SE corners are terrible. Secluded and impossible to fill in any kind of interesting way. Just two chunks of 6x4 garbage. Sequestered dead weight. Shoving Z's in there isn't fooling anyone. There is not interest there, and there can't really be interest there, because the grid is not built in a way that would allow interest there. IMAGED? THENHL? ICER? I do like the word ERSATZ, but still, in a themeless, where the whole point is to sparkle, these dank corner holes where no light can shine are really a bummer.
My main screw-ups were in that NW corner, where I had STAIR (?) for 19A: End of a flight, say (ATTIC), and TAO for ZEN (27A: Discipline of some masters). Really bad solving on my part. Once I got out of there, the rest of the grid was pretty pliable. And once I got CHLORINE GAS (again, ugh), I got ATTIC and finished that NW corner up without any trouble. I hope Sunday comes through, but ... honestly, that so rarely happens, I'm not getting my hopes up. But you never know. See you tomorrow to find out!
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I know some of you are wondering, "How is [Bore] STOOD?" Think "withstood."
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]