Constructor: Matthew Sewell
Relative difficulty: Easy (4:24 at 5 in the a.m.)
![]()
THEME: two-letter words >>> two-letter initialisms — familiar phrases clued as if one of the two-letter words in that phrase is really two initials:
Theme answers:
![]()
I think the only thing that truly slowed me down today was the stunned, blinking surprise I had on discovering that ... that was it. It's just a two-letter word imagined as a two-letter initialism. The End. Feels like it should've been a Wednesday theme. Certainly my solving time was more Wednesday than Thursday. Pretty basic, pretty old-fashioned, pretty generic, but OK. The themers actually mildly amused me. Well, THE WIZARD OF I.D. did—that one's smashing. And THIS IS U.S. still has me smiling, primarily because of the clue, which is completely absurd. I always say, if you're gonna go wacky, go big or go home, and "big" can include "flat-out ridiculous." Honestly, just trying to imagine the context in which anyone would say this answer and then go "... and that's Canada!" (exclamation point!) is pretty entertaining. Probably not great to have IT in the grid (31D: IS IT?) when "IT" is one of your central themer words. Also, "I'M" is bugging me as a base word. It's a contraction. Feels ... off. Like cheating. I'm not being fair, there, as I'M is clearly a word and clearly has two letters, but somehow the apostrophe's being in there makes it an outlier in my eyes. Biggest actual solving struggle today was APTNO (8A: Metropolitan address abbr.)."Metropolitan" threw me, and also ... isn't the abbr. usu. just APT.? Do you really write out "APT. NO. 2B?" At one point my brain wanted APTWO (it was thinking "apt. 2," to the extent that it was thinking at all). Also, the cross there (NOT) did NOT mean anything to me (11D: What "!" can mean in computer programming).
Five things:
![]()
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (4:24 at 5 in the a.m.)
Theme answers:
- THE WIZARD OF I.D. (20A: Bouncer who can always spot a fake?)
- LIFE OF P.I. (30A: Backstory for T.V.'s Magnum?)
- I.M. A BELIEVER (35A: Advice for how the pope can reach out online?)
- THIS IS U.S. (42A: Statement before "... and that's Canada!"?)
- SOME LIKE I.T. HOT (53A: Certain people prefer their computer specialists to be attractive?)
Julián Castro (/ˌhuːliˈɑːn/ HOO-lee-AHN, Spanish: [xuˈljan]; born September 16, 1974) is an American Democratic politician who was the youngest member of President Obama's Cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017.Castro served as the mayor of his native San Antonio, Texas from 2009 until he joined Obama's cabinet in 2014. He was mentioned as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Castro is the twin brother of Congressman Joaquin Castro.On January 12, 2019, Castro launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020 in San Antonio. (wikipedia)
• • •
Five things:
- 24A: Cinephile's channel (TCM)— I'm so used to the NYTXW's getting this wrong that I actually wrote in the wrong answer, TMC, at first. TCM is in fact the correct answer to this clue. No one even watches The Movie Channel, do they?
- 5A: Projecting arm of a crane (JIB) — just learned this from some other puzzle I just did. Also wasn't at all sure I remembered it correctly and had to use all the crosses to confirm it.
- 49D: Half-laugh (TITTER) — I thought "well at least it's too long to be TE(E) or HEE."
- 36D: What B and C (but not A) may represent (ELEMENTS) — my god I'm bad at these types of clues. It's a stock clue type, and my only hope is just hacking the crosses until a word appears.
- 35D: Biometric reading (IRIS SCAN) — I wrote in IRIS SIZE ... I figured it was something like ... measuring pupil dilation? ... maybe? ... anyway, I was looking for a specific measurable, not a reading *type*.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]