Constructor: Peter Gordon
Relative difficulty: Medium (I was slow because of sleepiness and typo) (3:56)
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THEME: Actors who share their initials with a signature role they played —
Theme answers:
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So a recurring pattern in my solving, of late (and possibly of forever) is sputtering in, or possibly even mangling, the NW corner (always my starting point), after which I come reeling out of said corner, right myself, and torch the rest of the grid. I just wish I could find a way to make my puzzle entry a little ... smoother. It's not that surprising, this pattern. I mean, *of course* I have the most trouble with the grid at the beginning—the point at which I have literally the least amount of information to go on. Still, there has to be a way to close the time between when I start and when I have my bearings, both themewise and just general gridwise. Actually, the gridwise part is the most important. I can often move very swiftly through a grid before I've any idea what is going on with the theme. But I also think I'm theme-negligent at times, possibly to my detriment. Stopping or slowing down to cogitate on the nature of the theme feels time-wasteful. I figure it'll shout at me or it won't, and if I really have to stop and think about it, well then I will.
Today, had only a slight idea of the theme, even after I finished. I never got past the initial (ha) stages of the theme—that is, I just looked took it as an "actor with these initials" theme, never fully grasping that the initials were from roles they'd played. That latter bit might've helped, but maybe not. Anyway, could not come up with a MARK R- actor at all, and never saw "Spotlight" (though I guess I do know MR was in that, now that I think of it). Without RUFFALO, the upper middle was weirdly hard for me. OFF too vague to get (6D: Not working), DEARTH unexpectedly SAT-ish (8D: Lack), and OLDIE very weirdly clued (6A: Any classic vinyl record)—what is this clue doing? "Classic" is going the "old" work for you, so why is "vinyl" in there? It's like you want "vinyl" to signify "old," but you've semi-redundantly got "classic" in there because of course there are still vinyl records being made, so you get an awful clue. Any "classic" anything is an OLDIE. Also, an OLDIE is a singular song, and I do not think of '45s as "vinyl records" (though they are). That clue just feels botched. I have a lot of "vinyl records," so maybe I'm taking it all too personally. Also, "Any" classic vinyl record???? Just ... pick one? OOF that clue is OFF.
When I managed to get out of the corner, things took off, and I ended up liking the puzzle reasonably well. The actors and roles are all famous enough; this could easily have resulted in at least one actor or (more likely) role that was, let's say, less than iconic. But these hold up. The fill is crosswordesey in perhaps a few too many places, and ASALARK is really icky, but I enjoyed BIKERBAR and OTHERWISE and even UNWRITTEN, though holy moly I Could Not process the clue, entirely because of "only." [Oral only] sounds ... it sounds ... it sounds like its context is something other than storytelling. Like a clue in a much bluer kind of puzzle. Just baffling to me. Also, we humans call him JIMMY STEWART (which would've fit, come on!). I no-looked both NORMALCY and JOHN BELUSHI. Had their last few letters and just threw the rest of the answer across. Very risky behavior, but it paid off today. Wrote in MINGLED instead of MINGLES at 48D: Is sociable at a party), which was a dumb and costly mistake. Ended up with DUE ME at 72A: "So I was wrong."Sounded vaguely sexual. Like [Oral only], kinda.
I'm out of here for the next ten days or so. Headed out to (Denver, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Moab!!). Seeing my mom and sister, and doing a little side road trip with my wife. Lots of different people are gonna be filling in for me, many of them first-timers, so who knows what the hell they'll do. Things could get nuts. Or they could stay very even-keeled. We'll see. Please tune in and support my gracious guest hosts. I'll see you again soon.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (I was slow because of sleepiness and typo) (3:56)
Theme answers:
- MARK RUFFALO (17A: Actor with the same initals as Michael Rezendes, his role in "Spotlight")
- LIZA MINNELLI (11D: Actress with the same initals as Linda Marolla, her role in "Arthur")
- JAMES STEWART (25D: Actor with the same initials as Jefferson Smith, his role in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington")
- JOHN BELUSHI (62A: Actor with the same initials as Jake Blues, his role in "The Blues Brothers")
Erin go Bragh /ˌɛrɪnɡə ˈbrɑː/, sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, Éirinn go Brách, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever." (wikipedia)
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Today, had only a slight idea of the theme, even after I finished. I never got past the initial (ha) stages of the theme—that is, I just looked took it as an "actor with these initials" theme, never fully grasping that the initials were from roles they'd played. That latter bit might've helped, but maybe not. Anyway, could not come up with a MARK R- actor at all, and never saw "Spotlight" (though I guess I do know MR was in that, now that I think of it). Without RUFFALO, the upper middle was weirdly hard for me. OFF too vague to get (6D: Not working), DEARTH unexpectedly SAT-ish (8D: Lack), and OLDIE very weirdly clued (6A: Any classic vinyl record)—what is this clue doing? "Classic" is going the "old" work for you, so why is "vinyl" in there? It's like you want "vinyl" to signify "old," but you've semi-redundantly got "classic" in there because of course there are still vinyl records being made, so you get an awful clue. Any "classic" anything is an OLDIE. Also, an OLDIE is a singular song, and I do not think of '45s as "vinyl records" (though they are). That clue just feels botched. I have a lot of "vinyl records," so maybe I'm taking it all too personally. Also, "Any" classic vinyl record???? Just ... pick one? OOF that clue is OFF.
When I managed to get out of the corner, things took off, and I ended up liking the puzzle reasonably well. The actors and roles are all famous enough; this could easily have resulted in at least one actor or (more likely) role that was, let's say, less than iconic. But these hold up. The fill is crosswordesey in perhaps a few too many places, and ASALARK is really icky, but I enjoyed BIKERBAR and OTHERWISE and even UNWRITTEN, though holy moly I Could Not process the clue, entirely because of "only." [Oral only] sounds ... it sounds ... it sounds like its context is something other than storytelling. Like a clue in a much bluer kind of puzzle. Just baffling to me. Also, we humans call him JIMMY STEWART (which would've fit, come on!). I no-looked both NORMALCY and JOHN BELUSHI. Had their last few letters and just threw the rest of the answer across. Very risky behavior, but it paid off today. Wrote in MINGLED instead of MINGLES at 48D: Is sociable at a party), which was a dumb and costly mistake. Ended up with DUE ME at 72A: "So I was wrong."Sounded vaguely sexual. Like [Oral only], kinda.
I'm out of here for the next ten days or so. Headed out to (Denver, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Moab!!). Seeing my mom and sister, and doing a little side road trip with my wife. Lots of different people are gonna be filling in for me, many of them first-timers, so who knows what the hell they'll do. Things could get nuts. Or they could stay very even-keeled. We'll see. Please tune in and support my gracious guest hosts. I'll see you again soon.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]