Constructor: John Guzzetta
Relative difficulty: Easy (5:19)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: BEREA (15D: Greek city visited by Paul before Athens) —
Thought I might be headed to a Friday record on this one after I tore through the NW and SW. Was headed up and over to the east with a pretty good pace but then I did the thing that always turns out to be the primary reason I slow way way down: I put in a wrong answer. And a long one, too. Faced with -OO----- at 35D: Clear choice for auto buyers, I put in GOOD DEAL. And that was the end of my potentially record-setting sprint. Tried to convince my self that some of the crosses "worked," like ... thought maybe 49A: Org. that penalizes carrying (NBA) was the D...EA? But mostly I just came to a shocking halt. Didn't help that stupid seldom-used dumb alleged word EMBAR (booo) (48D: Hinder) was ungettable to me from just the "E," thus preventing me from coming at that corner from the other side. ABHORS (57A: Detests) and ARP (57D: One of the first artists to incorporate random chance) ended up pulling me out of that rut. Had to change AH, ME (ugh) to OH, ME (somehow even more of an ugh) (54D: "Heavens to Betsy!"), and then I resumed my fairly torrid clip for the rest of the puzzle. But my great time was shot, and I ended up with just a good time. I get the intended wordplay on the MOONROOF clue (35D: Clear choice for auto buyers), but, uh, MOONROOFs are tinted, so I don't really love "clear" there. Yes, "clear" can mean simply translucent, but you want your "?" clues to land clean and pure and strong. When it comes to car windows of all kinds, "clear" is in fact the opposite of (or the alternative to) "tinted," so it's a boo from me, and Not just because I didn't see the wordplay the first time. The wordplay is off in this automotive context. Thank you for allowing me this time to air my picayune clue wording concerns.
This grid has a couple keepers (DEATH STARE—which I paused over, thinking it might be DEATH GLARE; "HOW RUDE"; and ULTRAHD) but overall it's pretty tepid. There's not a lot here to get excited about. Not a lot that's new or current or colloquial. TWITTERATI probably thinks it's ... something, but I've seen it before and it already feels dated (like something someone might've said in '09), and I'm not convinced people say it (or said it) much at all. Anyway, I don't think it's as hip or current or original as it thinks it is. There's nothing much wrong with the grid. It just doesn't hum and sing and dance the way a great themeless should. More ambition and creativity, please. The only difficulty I had with this puzzle, I already went over, though SWAB / IOWA was hard for me too. Again, I'm going to object to the wannabe tricksy cluing, this time on SWAB (29D: Stick in a cabinet, say). I knew immediately that 'stick' was a noun, not a verb, so the wordplay wasn't great ... I just couldn't think of what kind of "stick" (beyond maybe deodorant) one would find in a cabinet. The part of the SWAB that matters isn't the "stick" part, which is just a handle: it's the cotton part, which is decidedly non-stickish. No one would refer to SWABs as "sticks." Sigh. This clue is defensible, but still grating. Make your "?" clues perfect!! [Do a school visit, in a way?] is a pretty perfect clue for SNORKEL, for example.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I'm learning from Twitter that a lot of people don't know what BRACE means in today's clue context (47A: Pair). A BRACE of something is a pair of it. Two of it. This word feels ... not common, to be sure, but ... I just thought it was fairly normal. It's possible that a quarter century of teaching Shakespeare has skewed my concept of "normal."
P.P.S. Hey, next weekend (Sat. Aug. 17) is Lollapuzzoola, one of the biggest annual crossword tournaments in the country, and the only one (that I know of) in NYC. There are still some spaces left for those who want to participate in some hardcore, in-person nerddom (actually a very fun tournament with a low-key vibe and hundreds of lovely people). But if you just want to see what tournament puzzles are like without the fear of public humiliation*, then there's also the Solve At-Home Division of the tournament, which you should get in on. Lolla and Indie 500 (in DC) are my favorite tournaments, and the only ones I participate in regularly. So come solve and say hi. Or solve at home and wish you had. Whatever. Just sign up! INFORMATION HERE.
*there's no public humiliation except that which you heap on yourself, trust me
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (5:19)
Word of the Day: BEREA (15D: Greek city visited by Paul before Athens) —
Berea or Beroea was a city of the Hellenic and Roman era now known as Veria (or Veroia) in Macedonia, northern Greece. It is a small city on the eastern side of the Vermion Mountains north of Mount Olympus. The town is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, where the apostles Paul, Silas and Timothypreached the Christian gospel.Paul, Silas and Timothy travelled to Berea by night after fleeing from Thessalonica, as recorded Acts 17:10. They 'immediately' went to the synagogue of the Jews to preach, and the Bereans were very accepting: the writer of the Acts of the Apostles noted the difference between the Thessalonians' response to the gospel and the Bereans' response: the Bereans were 'open-minded' [1] or 'fair-minded' and willing to 'examine the scriptures to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth'. Many of the Bereans believed, both men and women, but when the Jewish Thessalonian non-believers heard about this, they came to Berea, stirring up crowds, starting riots, and ensuring that Paul, Silas and Timothy could not preach. Then the believers sent Paul to the coast, while Timothy and Silas stayed behind. Paul was taken to Athens, and word was given to Timothy and Silas to join him as soon as possible. (Acts 17:10–15) (wikipedia)
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| [here are some ARPs I saw at the Musée des beaux-arts in Montréal last week] |
This grid has a couple keepers (DEATH STARE—which I paused over, thinking it might be DEATH GLARE; "HOW RUDE"; and ULTRAHD) but overall it's pretty tepid. There's not a lot here to get excited about. Not a lot that's new or current or colloquial. TWITTERATI probably thinks it's ... something, but I've seen it before and it already feels dated (like something someone might've said in '09), and I'm not convinced people say it (or said it) much at all. Anyway, I don't think it's as hip or current or original as it thinks it is. There's nothing much wrong with the grid. It just doesn't hum and sing and dance the way a great themeless should. More ambition and creativity, please. The only difficulty I had with this puzzle, I already went over, though SWAB / IOWA was hard for me too. Again, I'm going to object to the wannabe tricksy cluing, this time on SWAB (29D: Stick in a cabinet, say). I knew immediately that 'stick' was a noun, not a verb, so the wordplay wasn't great ... I just couldn't think of what kind of "stick" (beyond maybe deodorant) one would find in a cabinet. The part of the SWAB that matters isn't the "stick" part, which is just a handle: it's the cotton part, which is decidedly non-stickish. No one would refer to SWABs as "sticks." Sigh. This clue is defensible, but still grating. Make your "?" clues perfect!! [Do a school visit, in a way?] is a pretty perfect clue for SNORKEL, for example.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. I'm learning from Twitter that a lot of people don't know what BRACE means in today's clue context (47A: Pair). A BRACE of something is a pair of it. Two of it. This word feels ... not common, to be sure, but ... I just thought it was fairly normal. It's possible that a quarter century of teaching Shakespeare has skewed my concept of "normal."
P.P.S. Hey, next weekend (Sat. Aug. 17) is Lollapuzzoola, one of the biggest annual crossword tournaments in the country, and the only one (that I know of) in NYC. There are still some spaces left for those who want to participate in some hardcore, in-person nerddom (actually a very fun tournament with a low-key vibe and hundreds of lovely people). But if you just want to see what tournament puzzles are like without the fear of public humiliation*, then there's also the Solve At-Home Division of the tournament, which you should get in on. Lolla and Indie 500 (in DC) are my favorite tournaments, and the only ones I participate in regularly. So come solve and say hi. Or solve at home and wish you had. Whatever. Just sign up! INFORMATION HERE.
*there's no public humiliation except that which you heap on yourself, trust me
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]