Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: Challenging (for me, but I've been having the yips all week)
![]()
THEME: none
Word of the Day: Maui Wowie (17A: Potent Hawaiian Weed) —
![]()
Hey hey, everybody! This is Jeff Lin, long time reader, occasional commenter, first time blogger; it's also my birthday today so please be nice to me.
![]()
Though it's probably telling that even as a youngish [citation needed] solver, even I did not expect 17A: Potent Hawaiian weed to mean strain of marijuana. Maybe I'm just a square blue-haired pearl-clutcher, but I just assumed we were looking for some invasive, valueless, wild-growing plant native to Hawaii. At no point in solving did I expect the old gray lady to be printing MAUI WOWIE... not that I, an upstanding law-abiding member of society, am familiar with that sort of federal illegal controlled substance...
Phew, I think they bought that... ELAINE's buddy Ted knows what I'm talking about. N'EST CE PAS?
![]()
Bullets:
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Challenging (for me, but I've been having the yips all week)
Word of the Day: Maui Wowie (17A: Potent Hawaiian Weed) —
Maui Wowie is a Sativa-dominant landrace strain of cannabis that originated in the 1970s on the Hawaiian island for which it's named.
• • •
Hey hey, everybody! This is Jeff Lin, long time reader, occasional commenter, first time blogger; it's also my birthday today so please be nice to me.
So it's been a rough week for me puzzle-wise, some of it puzzle related (like many of you, I also have NOT been a fan of the puzzles this week), some of it nervousness (I'm very self conscious, far too self conscious to post my solving time today), and a David Steinberg Saturday did not help, though I fully expected it coming (I owe you a TACO, TW). Despite starting my solving career in senior year of HS back in [REDACTED], I still find some of these older references dubious, especially for a supposed young'n like David Steinberg. I mean come on, CANDY GIRL? You don't know that, unless he's secretly 97 years old.
Frankly, the whole puzzle was an ARCANE mix of old and new. You got Tyler the Creator's IGOR, EMOJI, and JON Snow in one corner and then Cecil B. DeMille's AMPAS, Joe NAMATH, and HITHER in another (not literally of course, as some are not in corners).
Though it's probably telling that even as a youngish [citation needed] solver, even I did not expect 17A: Potent Hawaiian weed to mean strain of marijuana. Maybe I'm just a square blue-haired pearl-clutcher, but I just assumed we were looking for some invasive, valueless, wild-growing plant native to Hawaii. At no point in solving did I expect the old gray lady to be printing MAUI WOWIE... not that I, an upstanding law-abiding member of society, am familiar with that sort of federal illegal controlled substance...
Phew, I think they bought that... ELAINE's buddy Ted knows what I'm talking about. N'EST CE PAS?
Anyhoo, I found this one to be on the tougher side with some strained and tenuous cluing, looking at you, clues for NEAR, UNDID, and LORE, and some first timers (CHUGALUG, CHITOWN, CANDYGIRL) in the long acrosses and downs. But it did come together pretty quick once those new and more obscure references are in place. Thanks for letting me do this Rex, I enjoyed it, probably more than the readers.
Bullets:
- TANLINE (34A: Vacation souvenir, perhaps) — You can get these without spending money on vacation, the key is to not be diligent about using sunblock. I'd show you my aggressive tanlines, but no one wants to see that
- EYECUP (50A: Medicine cabinet glass) — Do people still use these things or is this more proof that David Steinberg is really 97 years old? I don't wear glasses b/c I have perfect vision ::humblebrag:: so I'm genuinely curious
- PRIMERIB (12D: Steakhouse selection) — hot take: I'm more of a ribeye guy as it cuts right to the good part, but to each their own
- INDIEGOGO (62A: Alternative to Kickstarter) — It's not all negativity from me, I did like this answer. First appearance for it too. I don't have anything to plug for funding, but I'm sure there are some good and worthy causes out there.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]