Constructor: Brian Thomas
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed on the clipboard, so I'm not sure, but I got the theme early and never struggled)
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THEME: STICK 'EM UP (59A: "Hands in the air!" ... or a literal hint to 17-, 23-, 37- and 46-Across)— the "'EM" part of familiar phrases sticks ... up (i.e. the "M" hops above the "E" before the rest of the answer CONTINUES as normal...)
Theme answers:
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Fell asleep very early and so woke up very early (2:30am!) and so decided I'd just print the puzzle out and solve it on the clipboard with a cup of hot water & lemon. (Actually I solved with a pencil, like a fairly normal person). Anyway, I finished before the kettle boiled. Or ... maybe it finished boiling, it turns itself off automatically, but my point is I finished quickly, without trying to go particularly fast. If there were trouble areas, I don't know where they are. Possibly the NE, where there's a cluster of proper nouns. That's the only place I got slowed down at all, and that was all due to CUTCO, a brand I am not familiar with at all (10D: Kitchen utensil brand). I was also uncertain about MT. COOK, which is slightly odd as I've actually seen it in person (it's mostly called AORAKI there now, which ... you know, put that in your grid and smoke it!). Briefly thought the "only nation named for a woman" was St. KITTS. Even so, that corner wasn't exactly hard, and it was the hardest thing I encountered. As for the theme ... it's an interesting attempt to make something out of that revealer phrase. But when you stick 'EM up, turns out not much happens on the page. The solving experience = "well, it's 'Hang 'Em High,' so is this a rebus? ... nope, the Down is definitely T-MEN, so ... ???" and then a little later you catch sight of the revealer clue and it all becomes clear. Once I knew I was going to be getting all "'EM" phrases, the puzzle got even easier. Having a singular ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM ROBOT in the grid was really sad. The robots are a pair. They go together. Fixed in an eternal cyberboxing match. There is never a singular robot. They were not sold separately. That answer really really needs to be plural.
The fill was fine, I thought, though I see people grousing online a bit. I could always do without the RRN (random Roman numerals) (see 34A: XCI) and short gunk like DAK and ACH, but nothing grated on me too much today. "WHAT A TOOL!" left me oddly cold. Usually colloquial exclamations are very much my thing, but that one felt harsh and borderline profane and just not ... tight enough to fly. Really wanted "WHAT A JERK!" Still do. I was disappointed in the clue for CHIN MUSIC, since that is a fantastic baseball term (for a high and inside fastball), but I have never heard it used to mean [Chitchat] (though the dictionary says that is indeed its primary meaning). CHIN-WAGGING, I am familiar with. But not CHIN MUSIC. Not in this context.
Three cheers for the non-leering BRA clue (30D: Clothing item with hooks); "HOOK" is actually in the grid, and you generally avoid using clue words that are also grid words, but today I didn't notice or care, and the "hooks" are so different that I don't mind. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed on the clipboard, so I'm not sure, but I got the theme early and never struggled)
Theme answers:
- HANG 'EM HIGH (17A: 1968 Clint Eastwood western with six nooses on its poster)
- HOOK 'EM HORNS (23A: Cheer at a Texas football game)
- ROCK 'EM SOCK 'EM ROBOT (37A: Toy boxer in a classic two-player game)
- KNOCK 'EM DEAD (46A: "Show the world what you've got!")
Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height since 2014 is listed as 3,724 metres (12,218 feet), down from 3,764 m (12,349 ft) before December 1991, due to a rockslide and subsequent erosion. It lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination,[3] it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. Aoraki / Mount Cook consists of three summits, from South to North the Low Peak (3,593 m or 11,788 ft), Middle Peak (3,717 m or 12,195 ft) and High Peak. The summits lie slightly south and east of the main divide of the Southern Alps, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the southwest.There was a large rock fall in 1991 that turned the summit into a knife-edge ridge and reduced the height of the mountain by an estimated 10 m or so at that time. Aoraki / Mount Cook was measured in 2013 to be 3724 m, which is 30 m down from its pre-1991 rock-fall measurement. (wikipedia)
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The fill was fine, I thought, though I see people grousing online a bit. I could always do without the RRN (random Roman numerals) (see 34A: XCI) and short gunk like DAK and ACH, but nothing grated on me too much today. "WHAT A TOOL!" left me oddly cold. Usually colloquial exclamations are very much my thing, but that one felt harsh and borderline profane and just not ... tight enough to fly. Really wanted "WHAT A JERK!" Still do. I was disappointed in the clue for CHIN MUSIC, since that is a fantastic baseball term (for a high and inside fastball), but I have never heard it used to mean [Chitchat] (though the dictionary says that is indeed its primary meaning). CHIN-WAGGING, I am familiar with. But not CHIN MUSIC. Not in this context.
Three cheers for the non-leering BRA clue (30D: Clothing item with hooks); "HOOK" is actually in the grid, and you generally avoid using clue words that are also grid words, but today I didn't notice or care, and the "hooks" are so different that I don't mind. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]