Constructor: Christina Iverson
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium - ~2 minutes below my average Tuesday
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THEME: STARTUP CAPITAL (38A: With 40-Across, money required to open a business ... or a hint to 18-, 24-, 47- and 57-Across) — Theme answers each start with capital cities.
Theme answers:
This was a solid Tuesday puzzle. I'm always a fan of puzzles that have seemingly unrelated theme answers and a nice AHA moment with the revealer and this one delivered on that. Like many Tuesdays, it wasn't the most exciting, but certainly an enjoyable solve overall. I did spend some time after solving trying to figure out why these specific cities, but it doesn't seem like there was a reason for these choices beyond the grid.
Theme-wise, RIGAMAROLE was my favorite, and also probably the hardest for me to get - I kept trying to parse it as several words and even when the word clicked I was unsure of the spelling, but once it settled in there it was a great start. ROMEOROMEO feels an O short, but works for the theme, and this proud theater geek will never be mad about a Shakespeare reference. My feelings about BERNIESANDERS aside, he's a timely entry and a great city selection. PARISHPRIESTS feels a little green paint to me, but it suits the theme perfectly well.
(47A and CARDI B together!? - it would be a crossword crime not to post this)
Non-theme thoughts - some really excellent bonus fill happening in the puzzle, with SNOWSUITS, BABYBUMPS, ITGIRLS, and DREAMON among my favorites. These long downs made up for some of the gluey fill in the puzzle which I was never bothered too much by because each section had its bright spots that made me smile. The clue for FOXIER (36A: More cunning) seems wrong to me - I suppose it's definitionally accurate, but I'm not sure I've every heard someone use FOXY that way in real life, so even when I knew that's what the puzzle wanted, I hesitated to enter it. I've also never heard the phrase GIN UP -is this a thing people say?
Fav Clues of the Day:
Before I go - some shameless promotion - if you're in California and a fan of crosswords and comedy check out Zach Sherwin's Crossword Show - it is a show like nothing else you've ever seen and the grid is by yours truly.
[Follow Rebecca on Twitter]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium - ~2 minutes below my average Tuesday
THEME: STARTUP CAPITAL (38A: With 40-Across, money required to open a business ... or a hint to 18-, 24-, 47- and 57-Across) — Theme answers each start with capital cities.
Theme answers:
- RIGAMAROLE (18A: Petty set of procedures)
- PARISH PRIEST (24A: Local officials in dioceses)
- BERNIE SANDERS (47A: Longest-serving Independent member of Congress in U.S. history)
- ROMEO ROMEO (57A: Part of a Juliet soliloquy)
Horus is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists.[2] These various forms may possibly be different manifestations of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncreticrelationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality.[3] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner falcon or peregrine falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.
• • •
Rebecca Falcon here, filling in for Rex today. Thrilled to see a woman constructor - and even more excited to learn that today is Christina Iverson's debut puzzle! On to the puzzle!This was a solid Tuesday puzzle. I'm always a fan of puzzles that have seemingly unrelated theme answers and a nice AHA moment with the revealer and this one delivered on that. Like many Tuesdays, it wasn't the most exciting, but certainly an enjoyable solve overall. I did spend some time after solving trying to figure out why these specific cities, but it doesn't seem like there was a reason for these choices beyond the grid.
Theme-wise, RIGAMAROLE was my favorite, and also probably the hardest for me to get - I kept trying to parse it as several words and even when the word clicked I was unsure of the spelling, but once it settled in there it was a great start. ROMEOROMEO feels an O short, but works for the theme, and this proud theater geek will never be mad about a Shakespeare reference. My feelings about BERNIESANDERS aside, he's a timely entry and a great city selection. PARISHPRIESTS feels a little green paint to me, but it suits the theme perfectly well.
Non-theme thoughts - some really excellent bonus fill happening in the puzzle, with SNOWSUITS, BABYBUMPS, ITGIRLS, and DREAMON among my favorites. These long downs made up for some of the gluey fill in the puzzle which I was never bothered too much by because each section had its bright spots that made me smile. The clue for FOXIER (36A: More cunning) seems wrong to me - I suppose it's definitionally accurate, but I'm not sure I've every heard someone use FOXY that way in real life, so even when I knew that's what the puzzle wanted, I hesitated to enter it. I've also never heard the phrase GIN UP -is this a thing people say?
Fav Clues of the Day:
- TENNIS— 4D: Something you'll have to go to court for?
- SNAP— 66A: Lead-in to chat or dragon
- BDAYS— 9D: They're almost always shared by twins, informally
- DENT— 42A: Feature of many an old car
And I know I can't be the only one with this stuck in my head thanks to FANTA (36D: Fruity soda brand) - I bet you can hear the song before even pressing the play button.
Congrats to Christina on a great debut!
Signed, Rebecca FalconBefore I go - some shameless promotion - if you're in California and a fan of crosswords and comedy check out Zach Sherwin's Crossword Show - it is a show like nothing else you've ever seen and the grid is by yours truly.
[Follow Rebecca on Twitter]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]