Constructor: David J. Kahn
Relative difficulty: Medium
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THEME — I.M. PEI tribute puzzle
Word of the Day:I.M. PEI [Subject of this puzzle (1917-2019)] —
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Theme answers:
So: this puzzle. I would be remiss if I did not begin this review without mentioning (arguably) the greatest Twitter account of all time, @PeiCheck. For months, they tweeted this:
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And every day, I would know that I.M. Pei was still alive. Then, a few months ago, this:
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Simply crushing. RIP to I.M. PEI.
Back to the puzzle!
Tribute puzzles are tough to construct. They really are. Most are a jumbled mass of trivia held together with crossword glue. They're often done terribly, sometimes done exceptionally (looking at Liz Gorski's Guggenheim puzzle which may not exactly be a tribute puzzle, but it's architecture-related and executed perfectly, so I'm going to include it here anyway). I think this one is somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, so many noteworthy buildings to draw from, a testament to his career. There's a lot to work with. However, several of the theme-answers are split up between acrosses and downs, which was necessary but awkward. The intersecting themers are nice, but I imagine they make an already constrained grid tougher to fill.
Speaking of the fill...I did not enjoy it. GILA is not something I'm every going to remember in any context aside from the monster. Technically it looks like a TREETOAD is real, but TREEFROG is more ubiquitous, right? Is KALE (27D: Moolah)? Apparently!
Particularly, the SE and NW corners were a rough solving experience, with a fair amount of glue. AFTS (56D: When soaps normally air, informally) are afternoons? Really? And right next to SKUA (54D: Arctic seabird), which is about as crosswordese-y as it gets. GILA IRAE abutting each other in the NW is tough and, again, extremely crosswordese-y. I don't know how possible it is to improve those words with cluing, but I don't think GILA (3D: River to the Colorado) is the way to do it.
Bullets:
Signed, Brian Herrick, 104th Runner Up, Local Track, Lollapuzzoola 2018
PS Are you going to Lollapuzzoola? I'm going to Lollapuzzoola! If we've met on the internet, I'd love to meet you in person. Plus, I will have another year of solving under my belt but also will be a few weeks into parenthood. Will I do better or worse than in 2018? Stay tuned! And if you want to meet on the internet, I'm here.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME — I.M. PEI tribute puzzle
Word of the Day:I.M. PEI [Subject of this puzzle (1917-2019)] —
Ieoh Ming Pei (Chinese: 貝聿銘), FAIA, RIBA[2] (English: /joʊ.mɪŋ.ˈpeɪ/ yoh-ming-PAY[3][4] 26 April 1917 – 16 May 2019) was a Chinese-American architect.
• • •
Theme answers:
- DALLAS (16A: ___ City Hall, 36-Across-designed building (1978))
- ROCKANDROLLHALLOFFAME (24A: With 10-Down, 36-Across-designed museum (1995))
- IMPEI (36A: Subject of this puzzle (1917-2019))
- LOUVREPYRAMID (14D: 36-Across designed Paris landmark (1989))
- STARCHITECT (44A: Portmanteau for 36-Across)
- BANKOFCHINATOWER (59A: With 26-Down, 36-Across-designed Hong Kong skyscraper (1990))
So: this puzzle. I would be remiss if I did not begin this review without mentioning (arguably) the greatest Twitter account of all time, @PeiCheck. For months, they tweeted this:
And every day, I would know that I.M. Pei was still alive. Then, a few months ago, this:
Simply crushing. RIP to I.M. PEI.
Back to the puzzle!
Tribute puzzles are tough to construct. They really are. Most are a jumbled mass of trivia held together with crossword glue. They're often done terribly, sometimes done exceptionally (looking at Liz Gorski's Guggenheim puzzle which may not exactly be a tribute puzzle, but it's architecture-related and executed perfectly, so I'm going to include it here anyway). I think this one is somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, so many noteworthy buildings to draw from, a testament to his career. There's a lot to work with. However, several of the theme-answers are split up between acrosses and downs, which was necessary but awkward. The intersecting themers are nice, but I imagine they make an already constrained grid tougher to fill.
Speaking of the fill...I did not enjoy it. GILA is not something I'm every going to remember in any context aside from the monster. Technically it looks like a TREETOAD is real, but TREEFROG is more ubiquitous, right? Is KALE (27D: Moolah)? Apparently!
Particularly, the SE and NW corners were a rough solving experience, with a fair amount of glue. AFTS (56D: When soaps normally air, informally) are afternoons? Really? And right next to SKUA (54D: Arctic seabird), which is about as crosswordese-y as it gets. GILA IRAE abutting each other in the NW is tough and, again, extremely crosswordese-y. I don't know how possible it is to improve those words with cluing, but I don't think GILA (3D: River to the Colorado) is the way to do it.
Bullets:
- RIFLE (24D: Rummage (through)) — I appreciate this being clued as verb, not the gun
- STARCHITECT (44A: Portmanteau for 36-Across) — I learned this word a few weeks ago from an architect friend on our way to see the USWNT play their final sendoff series game as we walked through the Oculus NYC. (GO GO USA!)
- UCLA (11D: Sch. near Hollywood) — In trivia a few weeks ago, my friend put UCLA (the wrong answer) instead of ACLU (the correct answer). This is never not funny.
- IONIC (30D: Kind of column) — I don't remember everything from high school Latin, but I sure do remember the columns.
Signed, Brian Herrick, 104th Runner Up, Local Track, Lollapuzzoola 2018
PS Are you going to Lollapuzzoola? I'm going to Lollapuzzoola! If we've met on the internet, I'd love to meet you in person. Plus, I will have another year of solving under my belt but also will be a few weeks into parenthood. Will I do better or worse than in 2018? Stay tuned! And if you want to meet on the internet, I'm here.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]