Constructor: Jeff Chen
Relative difficulty: Challenging (6:07) (second slowest Wednesday of the year)
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THEME: PIG LATIN (66A: "Language" that explains the answers to the six starred clues) — answers don't fit clues, but if you think of them being PIG LATIN answers, then sure, they fit
Theme answers:
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This was very hard for me, largely because there are two themers in the (tiny) NW corner (where I always start), and I spent far too long up there trying to make something happen. Even the non-theme stuff up there, e.g. BRAIN (2D: Hard drive, essentially) and REDPEN (5D: Grader's tool), wasn't computing for me. Eventually I must've gotten the theme from EARTHDAY or ENTREE or ASHTRAY, and things picked up a little, but not (at all) a lot. Never heard of CHITIN, so that hurt. Never heard of EAGLE RAY, so that also hurt (had EARL GRAY there at one point—only two letters off!). Knew the name BOTHA (48D: Louis ___, South Africa's first P.M.), but only the later one (P.W., the *last* P.M. of South Africa, it turns out) (I guess they went with the Boer War hero guy (Louis) over the more-closely-associated-with-Apartheid guy, but I'm not sure that makes the name any more appealing). Kinda sorta heard of YUZU (42D: Yellow citrus fruit used in Japanese cuisine) but still needed all the crosses to be sure (had it as YUZO at one point). And then there were a bunch of "?" clues I had trouble parsing, e.g. the clues on PAN (39A: Go for the gold?) and INORGANIC (35D: Lifeless?). So my first impression was "hard," which was also my abiding impression, difficulty-wise. My other impression was "anticlimactic"—that revealer revealed nothing; it was just telling me something I already know. I was glad for the gimme, but from a solving standpoint, blecch. I already figured that *&$% out.
The difficulty isn't a problem, though. This probably should've been a Thursday (by my time, anyway), but it's fine as a tough Wednesday. The problem is ... well, its manifold. First, the theme is just plain. Ordinary. So what? But worse than that, I had an immediate feeling of "I've seen this theme lots of times." Feels like something that's been done and redone in various forms. And while sometimes these things happen, in this case, the theme is so basic, so unremarkable, that ... it feels like something the constructor should've checked against the databases. Now if you use only the constructor's *own* database (the one affiliated with his blog, which is affiliated with the NYT, which ... there's so much conflict of interest there, but let's leave that alone for now) ... as I say, if you just look at the NYTXW database, you'd say "nope, never been done before." But if you did a teeny bit more research, just opened up cruciverb.com's database and ran some of your themers, or even just your revealer, through a basic search, well then bam and bam. Done and done. There they are. Two recent puzzles with exactly the same theme. Both in the past few years (once earlier *this* year). Both times by women. Both with themers shared by today's puzzle. In short, this constructor didn't do his minimum due diligence and ended up rehashing the work of other constructors. But because he did it in the *Times* ("the greatest puzzle in the world!"), he can pretend (as we all can) that this is original, and as far as most Times solvers are concerned, it will be. I have no real problem with theme concepts being redone, if a. a lot of time has passed and / or b. the theme is executed in a newish, original way. But neither a. nor b. applies here. A veteran constructor should know better, and do better. It's especially galling that a man's gonna get credit for a theme that two *women* thought of and executed and published before him.
Here are those other PIG LATIN grids, btw: the first, "Pork Tongue," by MaryEllen Uthlaut, published by Universal, 4/12/19, and the second, untitled, by Robin Stears, published by the LA Times, 12/18/15
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Have a nice day!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Challenging (6:07) (second slowest Wednesday of the year)
Theme answers:
- EARTH DAY (i.e. dearth) (17A: *Scarcity)
- ENTREE (i.e. "Tron") (23A: *Futuristic film of 1982)
- UNDERWAY (i.e. wonder) (25A: *Amazement)
- ASHTRAY (i.e. trash) (40A: *Lay waste to)
- EAGLE RAY (i.e. regal) (53A: *Magnificent)
- OUTLAY (i.e. lout) (55A: *Oaf)
Chitin (C8H13O5N)n (/ˈkaɪtɪn/ KY-tin), a long-chain polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is a derivative of glucose. It is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The structure of chitin is comparable to another polysaccharide—cellulose, forming crystalline nanofibrils or whiskers. In terms of function, it may be compared to the protein keratin. Chitin has proved useful for several medicinal, industrial and biotechnological purposes. (wikipedia)
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The difficulty isn't a problem, though. This probably should've been a Thursday (by my time, anyway), but it's fine as a tough Wednesday. The problem is ... well, its manifold. First, the theme is just plain. Ordinary. So what? But worse than that, I had an immediate feeling of "I've seen this theme lots of times." Feels like something that's been done and redone in various forms. And while sometimes these things happen, in this case, the theme is so basic, so unremarkable, that ... it feels like something the constructor should've checked against the databases. Now if you use only the constructor's *own* database (the one affiliated with his blog, which is affiliated with the NYT, which ... there's so much conflict of interest there, but let's leave that alone for now) ... as I say, if you just look at the NYTXW database, you'd say "nope, never been done before." But if you did a teeny bit more research, just opened up cruciverb.com's database and ran some of your themers, or even just your revealer, through a basic search, well then bam and bam. Done and done. There they are. Two recent puzzles with exactly the same theme. Both in the past few years (once earlier *this* year). Both times by women. Both with themers shared by today's puzzle. In short, this constructor didn't do his minimum due diligence and ended up rehashing the work of other constructors. But because he did it in the *Times* ("the greatest puzzle in the world!"), he can pretend (as we all can) that this is original, and as far as most Times solvers are concerned, it will be. I have no real problem with theme concepts being redone, if a. a lot of time has passed and / or b. the theme is executed in a newish, original way. But neither a. nor b. applies here. A veteran constructor should know better, and do better. It's especially galling that a man's gonna get credit for a theme that two *women* thought of and executed and published before him.
Here are those other PIG LATIN grids, btw: the first, "Pork Tongue," by MaryEllen Uthlaut, published by Universal, 4/12/19, and the second, untitled, by Robin Stears, published by the LA Times, 12/18/15
Have a nice day!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]