Constructor: Samuel A. Donaldson
Relative difficulty: Medium (4:10) (felt much harder)
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THEME: E-stuff— Theme clues are that I guess are actual things starting with an E-prefix (E-waste, really??), and then answers are just an example of the post-E part of the clue in which all the vowels are "E"s:
Theme answers:
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Wow, this was terrible. I haven't felt so completely put off by every facet of a puzzle like this in a good long while. I mean, everywhere I turned, the fill was atrocious; there was no escape. And the theme, which, in retrospect, might've been at least reasonably well executed, ended up being way too dense, resulting in two bad themers that probably could've been done away with *entirely*, which would've resulted (probably?) in much, much, much cleaner fill. So we get too much of a bad thing, which ends up wrecking everything else. This should've been sent back for serious revisions if the theme ... tickled ... the editor so much. What is E-waste? Whatever it is, it is not remotely as much of an in-the-language thing as all the other E-terms. Chuck that clue and answer in the sea. And TERM SHEET, ugh. There's a term only a lawyer could love. Wife and I had never heard of it. I guess it gets ... filed? And "THE SECRET" ... is your E-book? I barely remember that book. What ... was it? Feels Y2K / magical thinking-ish. Am I in the ballpark? Hang on ... Well, a bit later than Y2K, but otherwise, yeah, garbage:
Lastly, I was racking my brain for an answer that made sense for [City south of Yosemite] ... only to find it was the City I Grew Up In. No one, but no one, would describe FRESNO that way. It is certainly geographically true (lots of cities are south of Yosemite), but it is hours away, in (and I can't stress this enough) an entirely different eco-system, i.e. a valley that is a desert that ... look you're gonna have to trust me here, if I wanted to orient you to FRESNO, I might use Bakersfield or Sacramento or maybe the Sierra Nevadas generally, but Yosemite?? LOL, no. My god I just saw OOX again, so I am nauseated and have to stop. To sum up: theme might've worked OK at four answers; at six, it's a disaster—theme stretched too thin, and grid absolutely rekt. Ugh, SCH. Why? Bye.
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Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (4:10) (felt much harder)
Theme answers:
- "THE SECRET" (18A: E-book?) (because "The Secret" is a book title in which all the vowels are "E"s...)
- DELETED SCENE (20A: E-waste?)
- TERM SHEET (27A: E-filing?)
- REFERENCE LETTER (37A: E-mail?)
- ENTER HERE (45A: E-sign?)
- SEVENTEEN (58A: E-mag?)
A term sheet is a bullet-point document outlining the material terms and conditions of a business agreement. After a term sheet has been "executed", it guides legal counsel in the preparation of a proposed "final agreement". It then guides, but is not necessarily binding, as the signatories negotiate, usually with legal counsel, the final terms of their agreement. (wikipedia)
• • •
The Secret is a best-selling 2006 self-help book by Rhonda Byrne, based on the earlier film of the same name. It is based on the belief of the law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a person's life directly. The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages. // Critics have claimed that books such as this promote political complacency and a failure to engage with reality, and that "it isn’t new, and it isn’t a secret". Scientific claims made in the book have been rejected by a range of critics, pointing out that the book has no scientific foundation. (wikipedia)Speaking of garbage: the fill. From the ridiculous gunk of ESTD EOS SCH to the alphabet soup of FTC ATF to the never-welcome OOX (a noxious answer whose noxiousness is compounded by its faux-cutesy "aint-I-a-stinker?" cluing, ugh) (35A: It's for naught in noughts-and-crosses) (n.b.: "noughts-and-crosses" is British for "tic tac toe"), to, well, everything. Is it INURES or ENURES, who cares, no one, but you still gotta guess! Sorry, you guessed wrong (41A: Accustoms). Plural DNAS. AS NEAR?? EERO ENRY and the ERN ERA! Then there was SHE-CAT, which ... stop. It's just a cat. OPEN FIRE is super-grim in this ERA of mass shootings.
Lastly, I was racking my brain for an answer that made sense for [City south of Yosemite] ... only to find it was the City I Grew Up In. No one, but no one, would describe FRESNO that way. It is certainly geographically true (lots of cities are south of Yosemite), but it is hours away, in (and I can't stress this enough) an entirely different eco-system, i.e. a valley that is a desert that ... look you're gonna have to trust me here, if I wanted to orient you to FRESNO, I might use Bakersfield or Sacramento or maybe the Sierra Nevadas generally, but Yosemite?? LOL, no. My god I just saw OOX again, so I am nauseated and have to stop. To sum up: theme might've worked OK at four answers; at six, it's a disaster—theme stretched too thin, and grid absolutely rekt. Ugh, SCH. Why? Bye.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]