Constructor: Jeff Stillman
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium to Medium (3:30)
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THEME: Interrupting MCs— familiar two-word phrases have MC- added to front of second words, creating wacky phrases that appear to be about famous(ish) people / characters with Irish last names ...
Theme answers:
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So there's an idea here, but it doesn't really have anywhere to go. Maybe there is some way to make this theme work—some way to give the themers that extra layer of coherence that they so desperately need, some way to bring the lot together with a playful revealer or something—but whatever that way is, if it exists, this constructor hasn't found it. He seems to want to bring the group together around some vague concept of Hollywood—two fictional screen characters, two actors—but that just puts us all in Uncanny Valley territory: close enough for us to see it's trying, but not close enough to be convincing. So it's just MC MC MC MC. The core gimmick is consistent, but it's slight, and who cares? Beyond that, there's not much here. Why would you put actual CRAP in your own puzzle. CRAM is approximately 2 million times better there. Maybe 3 million. Unfathomable. And I'M A MESS, too. This puzzle is literally crying for help.
Very slow to start on this one, as "adjuncts" to me (from my university setting) refers to people, not parts of classes (in this case, LABS) (1A: Science class adjuncts). All LAB clues should be required to be about dogs. I'D'VE made the clue about dogs, for sure (note: just 'cause I just used I'D'VE doesn't make it good). And then there was a horrible moment of total guessing on my part when, after SPOCK was wrong, I wrote in MCCOY, which I thought was maybe MCKOY (which now looks ridiculous to me, but mid-solve, seemed plausible). That C/K issue was In No Way resolved by the cross, which was RICKI, a name in the title of a movie I have literally never heard of before this puzzle (7D: "___ and the Flash" (2015 Meryl Streep movie)). Once you know the theme, you can see that it has to be MCCOY (though "being coy" is a very weak base phrase, imho). Also, as I say, MCKOY looks very wrong once you type it out (I was probably thinking of MCKAY). Anyway, lots of hesitation in here as I tried to make sense of what the hell was going on. Rest of the grid went Much faster.
Why would you clue OTIS as [Mayberry sot]. Aside from being super dated, it feeds into the whole tired "alcoholism is here for our amusement" thing. There are many OTISES (OTI? OTES? OTISSES?) in the world. Redding. That elevator dude. To name just two. Also, maybe make PAM an actual woman instead of a cooking spray. I see you've got MARIAH in there but Did You Know you can put more than one woman in a puzzle!? I mean, you put four dudes in the puzzle In The Themers Alone. Theme should've been tighter, fill should've been more polished. PAM and OTIS deserved better. The end.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium to Medium (3:30)
Theme answers:
- BEING MCCOY (17A: Autobiography of a "Star Trek" doctor?)
- SACRIFICE MCFLY (23A: Kill off a major "Back to the Future" character?)
- RUNAWAY MCBRIDE (51A: Film star Danny hurriedly leaving the set?)
- ICE MCQUEEN (60A: Help film star Steve recover from an action sequence?)
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He starred in the HBO television series Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, both of which he co-created with frequent collaborator Jody Hill. He has also starred in films, such as The Foot Fist Way(2006), Pineapple Express (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Your Highness(2011), This Is the End (2013), and Alien: Covenant (2017). (wikipedia)
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Very slow to start on this one, as "adjuncts" to me (from my university setting) refers to people, not parts of classes (in this case, LABS) (1A: Science class adjuncts). All LAB clues should be required to be about dogs. I'D'VE made the clue about dogs, for sure (note: just 'cause I just used I'D'VE doesn't make it good). And then there was a horrible moment of total guessing on my part when, after SPOCK was wrong, I wrote in MCCOY, which I thought was maybe MCKOY (which now looks ridiculous to me, but mid-solve, seemed plausible). That C/K issue was In No Way resolved by the cross, which was RICKI, a name in the title of a movie I have literally never heard of before this puzzle (7D: "___ and the Flash" (2015 Meryl Streep movie)). Once you know the theme, you can see that it has to be MCCOY (though "being coy" is a very weak base phrase, imho). Also, as I say, MCKOY looks very wrong once you type it out (I was probably thinking of MCKAY). Anyway, lots of hesitation in here as I tried to make sense of what the hell was going on. Rest of the grid went Much faster.
Why would you clue OTIS as [Mayberry sot]. Aside from being super dated, it feeds into the whole tired "alcoholism is here for our amusement" thing. There are many OTISES (OTI? OTES? OTISSES?) in the world. Redding. That elevator dude. To name just two. Also, maybe make PAM an actual woman instead of a cooking spray. I see you've got MARIAH in there but Did You Know you can put more than one woman in a puzzle!? I mean, you put four dudes in the puzzle In The Themers Alone. Theme should've been tighter, fill should've been more polished. PAM and OTIS deserved better. The end.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]