Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: very easy (5:15)
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THEME: "Revolutionary" — four balls in the grid rotate around from left to right; four long down answers through those balls use all four letters instead of just going straight through
Theme answers:
Speaking of good puzzles: this is one, even though I'm pretty sure I've seen this theme before, as well as some other things. Sure, it's a little weird to not have the balls in the center of the puzzle—but they're all lined up, all rotate clockwise, and the starting point rotates one position each time you move from left to right, which is the sort of small detail that tells me some thought went into this. And sure, it's a little weird to have two sorta-superfluous reveals when one of your long theme answers (GETS THE BALL ROLLING) does a much better job at that, but they're not bad, and something has to go there. And sure, the puzzle certainly feels like a 15x puzzle blown up to a 21x size—cut out the two reveals, shorten the theme answers, and maybe arrange the balls in a square, rather than on one line, and a constructor who is as good as David is could probably fit this in a 15x.
And yet, this doesn't really bother me. What I'm more concerned about is whether the puzzle is done well, whether the fill is good, and most importantly, whether it was fun to solve. And this one checks all those boxes. Very little about this puzzle is difficult—almost no iffy fill, FHA, SLR, ABO, ENS, and the slightly painty TEN AM aside. And almost no tricky clues; even the few ? clues that do show up are more playful than tricky, and easily figured out (e.g. Ones generating buzz in the music world? for KAZOOS, which brought a smile to my face).
But yeah, the solving experience was very smooth and very enjoyable. There wasn't much in the way of debut entries—besides the four theme answers and the first reveal, only APPARATED, NOT SORRY, and KOTB were new, and only a few others had only appeared once or twice before. But that's not the only way to good, fun fill—things like IT GIRL, BRAVADO, UPSTARTS, KIRSCH, ROOMBA add flavor to the puzzle, even though they've been used before. And with so much of the fill being solid / good *at worst*, the overall impression gets even better.
To be fair, the grid is somewhat defensively designed, without too many large open areas or entries with lots of constraints. But I don't hold that against either David or the puzzle: part of being a good constructor is knowing how to make a grid that lets you fill it so that the solver can enjoy it, and I'll take a well-constructed, clean, enjoyable puzzle any day of the week.
Olio:
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Relative difficulty: very easy (5:15)
THEME: "Revolutionary" — four balls in the grid rotate around from left to right; four long down answers through those balls use all four letters instead of just going straight through
Theme answers:
- GOES FOR A SPIN (24A: Drives around awhile ... as suggested by this puzzle's shaded squares?)
- TURN TURN TURN (119A: 1965 #1 Byrds hit ... as suggested by this puzzle's shaded squares?)
- GETS THE BALL ROLLING (3D: Kicks things off)
- THE HOTL BALTIMORE (20D: 1973 play featuring a sign with a burned-out "E")
- ALL BARK AND NO BITE (49D: Full of empty talk)
- SMALL BUSINESS OWNER (42D: Baker or dry cleaner, maybe)
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary economic system. This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures. Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economy of the coastal peoples (see Athabaskan potlatch). A potlatch involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader's wealth and power.
Potlatches went through a history of rigorous ban by the Canadian federal government, continuing underground despite the risk of criminal punishment, and have been studied by many anthropologists. Since the practice was de-criminalized in the post-war years, the potlatch has re-emerged in some communities.
The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning "to give away" or "a gift"; originally from the Nuu-chah-nulth word paɬaˑč, to make a ceremonial gift in a potlatch. [Wikipedia]
• • •
Christopher Adams here once again, filling in for Rex while he's in NYC enjoying Lollapuzzoola (and taking home third place in the pairs division!). Meanwhile, from Twitter, I've got a bunch of FOMO, but I've also heard lots of good things about the puzzles, though, and I'm looking forward to solving them at home (and highly encourage you to do the same).Speaking of good puzzles: this is one, even though I'm pretty sure I've seen this theme before, as well as some other things. Sure, it's a little weird to not have the balls in the center of the puzzle—but they're all lined up, all rotate clockwise, and the starting point rotates one position each time you move from left to right, which is the sort of small detail that tells me some thought went into this. And sure, it's a little weird to have two sorta-superfluous reveals when one of your long theme answers (GETS THE BALL ROLLING) does a much better job at that, but they're not bad, and something has to go there. And sure, the puzzle certainly feels like a 15x puzzle blown up to a 21x size—cut out the two reveals, shorten the theme answers, and maybe arrange the balls in a square, rather than on one line, and a constructor who is as good as David is could probably fit this in a 15x.
And yet, this doesn't really bother me. What I'm more concerned about is whether the puzzle is done well, whether the fill is good, and most importantly, whether it was fun to solve. And this one checks all those boxes. Very little about this puzzle is difficult—almost no iffy fill, FHA, SLR, ABO, ENS, and the slightly painty TEN AM aside. And almost no tricky clues; even the few ? clues that do show up are more playful than tricky, and easily figured out (e.g. Ones generating buzz in the music world? for KAZOOS, which brought a smile to my face).
ANITA (40D: Baker with the 1986 hit "Sweet Love")
But yeah, the solving experience was very smooth and very enjoyable. There wasn't much in the way of debut entries—besides the four theme answers and the first reveal, only APPARATED, NOT SORRY, and KOTB were new, and only a few others had only appeared once or twice before. But that's not the only way to good, fun fill—things like IT GIRL, BRAVADO, UPSTARTS, KIRSCH, ROOMBA add flavor to the puzzle, even though they've been used before. And with so much of the fill being solid / good *at worst*, the overall impression gets even better.
To be fair, the grid is somewhat defensively designed, without too many large open areas or entries with lots of constraints. But I don't hold that against either David or the puzzle: part of being a good constructor is knowing how to make a grid that lets you fill it so that the solver can enjoy it, and I'll take a well-constructed, clean, enjoyable puzzle any day of the week.
Olio:
- I CHECK (8A: What 13-Down [KNOCK] means in poker) — Presumably this comes from casinos; unambiguous hand motions are a lot easier to detect by the eye in the sky, and thus it's a lot easier to settle debates. Still, all that aside, can we acknowledge the inherent weirdness of televised poker being a thing?
- ABLE (61A: Beginning of the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet) — This predates the NATO alphabet (which was designed to have as little chance of confusion between letters as possible) and is also the source of "roger" (as in "roger that", meaning "message received").
- OBI (66D: Something you might take a bow for in the theater?) — One of the rare difficult things in this puzzle; especially crossing ABO. It's not a bad clue, but it does stick out; especially for a crosswordese answer like this, I'd've preferred to see a more straightforward clue.
- SENATE (125A: Topic of Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution) — It gives the Senate the "sole Power to try all Impeachments", and notes that "when the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside".
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