Constructor: Ross Trudeau
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (3:31)
![]()
THEME: A-FRAME BUILDINGS (52A: 52A: Structures illustrated twice in this puzzle through both black squares and letters) — I have no idea how "black squares" illustrate anything "twice," but there are clearly two sets of "A"s forming something that looks like an inverted "V" in the center of the grid: AMERICA forms the base of one, and ANTENNA forms the base of the other
Word of the Day: JESSIE James Decker (46A: Country singer ___ James Decker) —
Two things make this a miss. They are obvious things, so ... I can't imagine that either the constructor or editor didn't notice; I'm sure they simply didn't care. Good Enough!™ So the two things in question are, 1. the revealer is not a phrase. It's just ... not a solid, stick-the-landing phrase. Here's what happens when you type "a-frame" into google:
![]()
This was predictable, because, as I said, the revealer is not a phrase. Not a phrase anyone uses. "House," yes. "Cabin," OK, yeah, I see those often enough. But "Building(s)"? Pfft. What you have there is someone thinking "well, it's 15 across, so it's perfect," instead of thinking, as one ought to, "it's the perfect phrase to describe the thing I am illustrating, so it's perfect." Then there's the A's. There is a problem with the A's. Where am I supposed to imagine that they start and end, in terms of their forming the "frame" in question. Because I don't know. The top "frame" has A's going down *three rows farther* on the left side than on the right, resulting in an asymmetrical "frame" that actually completely negates the whole concept of the "A-frame." Honestly, this stuff is so basic, I don't know why it doesn't rankle people who should know better. The concept of this puzzle is Just Fine. Make your A-frames actually symmetrical, at a minimum. Eliminate *all* non-frame A's from the grid—that would be a pretty baller move. Make your revealer something actual (AFRAMES, AFRAMEHOUSES). Anyway, this could've been executed well. Wasn't. The end.
Not there's not some nice stuff here. I admire the attempt to add some sizzle to the grid as a whole with the pairs of very long Downs in the NW and NE, and FACE PLANT is a very good and lively answer. But the those highs are very much undermined by the abundance of dreck (you can blame the A's for a lot of it (ASIAM, AMAT, ALIA) but not all of it (EENSIE, ABRA, ANDI, AS FAST). And ANNEALER is one of the more awkward and improbably -ER-suffixed words I've seen. JANDJ is a pretty awkward ampersandwich. Further, that whole eastern section, toward the bottom of the long Downs, is just a mess(i), a moraine of E's and S's, a dumping ground for common letters.
Five things:
![]()
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (3:31)
Word of the Day: JESSIE James Decker (46A: Country singer ___ James Decker) —
Jessica Rose James Decker (born April 12, 1988) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, reality television personality, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. At age 15, after auditioning for and being rejected by most of the country labels in Nashville, Tennessee, Decker began working with Carla Wallace of Big Yellow Dog Music. One of her songs attracted the attention of Mercury Records, which offered her a recording contract. She released her debut album, Jessie James, in 2009. A few years later in 2013, she starred with her husband Eric Decker, a wide receiver in the National Football League, in the E! reality show Eric & Jessie: Game On. On April 18, 2014, Decker released an EP through iTunes entitled Comin' Home. On Epic in 2017, she released a five-track EP, Gold, and released a surprise live EP on June 9, 2017 titled Blackbird Sessions. On October 13, 2017, she released her second full-length album and first for Epic Records, Southern Girl City Lights. On This Holiday, her first full-length Christmas album, was released on October 26, 2018. Decker was scheduled to release a full-length studio album in mid-March 2019. (wikipedia)
• • •
Two things make this a miss. They are obvious things, so ... I can't imagine that either the constructor or editor didn't notice; I'm sure they simply didn't care. Good Enough!™ So the two things in question are, 1. the revealer is not a phrase. It's just ... not a solid, stick-the-landing phrase. Here's what happens when you type "a-frame" into google:
Not there's not some nice stuff here. I admire the attempt to add some sizzle to the grid as a whole with the pairs of very long Downs in the NW and NE, and FACE PLANT is a very good and lively answer. But the those highs are very much undermined by the abundance of dreck (you can blame the A's for a lot of it (ASIAM, AMAT, ALIA) but not all of it (EENSIE, ABRA, ANDI, AS FAST). And ANNEALER is one of the more awkward and improbably -ER-suffixed words I've seen. JANDJ is a pretty awkward ampersandwich. Further, that whole eastern section, toward the bottom of the long Downs, is just a mess(i), a moraine of E's and S's, a dumping ground for common letters.
Five things:
- 37A: Diez minus siete (TRES)— me: "ok so twelve minus seven is five, so ... wait, what?" (confused "diez" w/ French "douze," [sad trombone sound]!)
- 12D: Et ___ (ALIA)— the literal worst solver guessing game in the world is this clue. A: both possibilities are terrrrrrible crosswordese, and B: you can't know if it's ALIA or ALII except by the crosses, fun!* (*not fun)
- 35D: Predate (ANTECEDE)— me: "ANTE ... DATE? No, that can't be right ... I got nothin'"
- 46A: Country singer ___ James Decker (JESSIE)— needed every cross there. Not the most famous JESSIE, I don't think, but that's OK. Actually, let's check w/ google again:
[well, at least she makes the list]
- 32A: ___ Amidala, "Star Wars" queen (PADME) — honestly stumbled all over this one. I still haven't fully digested anything after the initial "Star Wars" trilogy.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]