Constructor: Ross Trudeau
Relative difficulty: EASY for many , but Medium-Challenging (3:26) for me (it's got a themeless word count (72)??? so yeah, just somewhat slower than usual for me to get through)
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THEME: Afflictions — every theme clue starts ["Affliction" suffered by ...] and then the answers are figurative afflictions describing some collective passion:
Theme answers:
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If your theme is this blah, then yeah, sure, go to town with a wide-open themeless-type grid on a Monday. Makes the solve a little slower, but not so much slower it's irksome (but I just saw someone post his personal best Monday time, so What Do I Know?). This ILENE person is pretty far afield for a Monday, but everything else felt pretty gettable. You probably had to hack at some of the longer Downs to get them to fall, but *that* kind of extra work, I don't mind. I mind slogging through crap, and while there's definitely some ugly parts to this grid, overall, I guess I'll take a simple *but coherent* theme and a grid with a lot of zingy fill over some ambitious but wonky theme that compromises the grid and makes us all suffer. I had a weird solve, where I traipsed right on down the west side of the grid and into the south without once ever getting a theme answer. I didn't even really see that there was a consistency to the theme clues until I was about halfway done. I don't recommend ignoring the themers this long. But that's just how it worked out today. My solves tend to wander where they wander, based on what seems like the most high-percentage answer to look at next, so while I generally start in the upper left and move downward, my route can go any which way depending on what gets thrown at me. It's possible I shouldn't just wander off like that, but as long as I'm having solving success, I'm loath to stop. I wish BIEBERFEVER had replaced SPRINGFEVER. It's dated, yes, but in a way I would really enjoy in 2019. But SPRINGFEVER, though plain, is fine.
NOISE LAWS (34D: Peace-and-quiet ordinances) and SANTA LETTERS (23D: Mail addressed to the North Pole) both qualify as real things, and yet I balked at both—crinkled my nose at the former and outright disbelieved the phrasing of the latter. "Letters to Santa" feels like the actual phrase, and in fact when I google ["SANTA LETTERS"], the first page of hits gets me several sites that are actually about letters written *by* "Santa." In fact the first seven (7) hits all think SANTA LETTERS come *from* the North Pole. But I see SANTA LETTERS used elsewhere to refer to letters written *to* the North Pole, so OK. Not lovin' it, but OK. As a shaved-headed person, I was not offended by BALDIE, though my sincere reaction was"oh go f*** yourself." Is that "offended"? I dunno. So many guys have shaved heads now, the idea of insulting someone with "chrome dome" or "BALDIE" seems puerile and very mid-20th-century. But whatever, if you're proud that you've debuted this stupid non-word that is also a pejorative, good for you, buddy (two constructors have used BALDY before, which is the actual spelling, but seriously, pat yourself on the back for your word debut!). Playground retorts are the worst kind of fill, and when you shove one (ARE SO) in a corner with stilted crosswordese like ASDOI, you're really not doing your job well. ITISSO, also stilted. ISOUT, just bad. But again, mostly this one was a cut-above the usual NYT Monday, just entertainment-wise. My favorite answer was EDITWAR (9D: Tussle between wiki page. modifiers). OK, bye, have a nice day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I'm told DARTs aren't actually aimed at bull's-eyes, necessarily, but this is someone else's fight to pick (25D: Missile aimed at a bull's-eye).
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: EASY for many , but Medium-Challenging (3:26) for me (it's got a themeless word count (72)??? so yeah, just somewhat slower than usual for me to get through)
Theme answers:
- BEATLEMANIA (17A: "Affliction" suffered by Fab Four devotees)
- MARCH MADNESS (27A: "Affliction" suffered by bracketologists)
- FASHION CRAZE (43A: "Affliction" suffered by clothes lovers)
- SPRING FEVER (56A: "Affliction" suffered by the winter-weary)
Jacqueline Ruth "Ilene" Woods (May 5, 1929 – July 1, 2010) was an American actress and singer. Woods was the original voice of the title character of the Walt Disney animated feature Cinderella, for which she was named a Disney Legend in 2003. (wikipedia)
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NOISE LAWS (34D: Peace-and-quiet ordinances) and SANTA LETTERS (23D: Mail addressed to the North Pole) both qualify as real things, and yet I balked at both—crinkled my nose at the former and outright disbelieved the phrasing of the latter. "Letters to Santa" feels like the actual phrase, and in fact when I google ["SANTA LETTERS"], the first page of hits gets me several sites that are actually about letters written *by* "Santa." In fact the first seven (7) hits all think SANTA LETTERS come *from* the North Pole. But I see SANTA LETTERS used elsewhere to refer to letters written *to* the North Pole, so OK. Not lovin' it, but OK. As a shaved-headed person, I was not offended by BALDIE, though my sincere reaction was"oh go f*** yourself." Is that "offended"? I dunno. So many guys have shaved heads now, the idea of insulting someone with "chrome dome" or "BALDIE" seems puerile and very mid-20th-century. But whatever, if you're proud that you've debuted this stupid non-word that is also a pejorative, good for you, buddy (two constructors have used BALDY before, which is the actual spelling, but seriously, pat yourself on the back for your word debut!). Playground retorts are the worst kind of fill, and when you shove one (ARE SO) in a corner with stilted crosswordese like ASDOI, you're really not doing your job well. ITISSO, also stilted. ISOUT, just bad. But again, mostly this one was a cut-above the usual NYT Monday, just entertainment-wise. My favorite answer was EDITWAR (9D: Tussle between wiki page. modifiers). OK, bye, have a nice day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I'm told DARTs aren't actually aimed at bull's-eyes, necessarily, but this is someone else's fight to pick (25D: Missile aimed at a bull's-eye).
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]