Constructor: John Wrenholt
Relative difficulty: Easy (3:42)
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THEME: DOWN THE PIPE (53A: How a perfect pitch comes ... or a hint to the missing parts of the circled answers)— circled-square answers are [word in the grid] + PIPE, which you have to mentally supply; the PIPE answers are arranged like a PIPE descending the grid in staircase fashion
"Pipe" answers:
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There's a little wobbliness to this theme, in that the overall shape of the "pipe" (from top to bottom of the grid) doesn't really suggest "pipe" that well, and a pitch that comes DOWN THE PIPE is the very opposite of the puzzle's "pipe" shape, i.e. it travels a pretty straight path. That said, I think the theme basically works. It has an admirable complexity (a missing "pipe" layer, and then an overall descending "pipe" layer) and a snappy revealer. The fill is no great shakes, but neither is it barfsome. Tending toward HO-HUM, but without causing me any SPLEEN or ODIUM. I was heading toward what felt like a record time, but then spun out with not one but two wrong answers, and so ended up with just a good time. My wrong answers: SEEDY for SHADY (33D: Of questionable repute) and CLOCK TOWER for WATER TOWER (11D: Tall landmark in many a town). I like both of my wrong answers, but particularly the latter one, as a CLOCK TOWER seems like a landmark you might actually treat like one, i.e. "meet me by the CLOCK TOWER at 7." Do people use WATER TOWERs as reference points? Anyway, WATER TOWER is a fine enough answer, I just had the misfortune of coming at that answer from underneath, i.e. I had TOWER and put CLOCK *right* in ... then it didn't work. Then I tried to move into the middle of the grid and work my way back to the NE, but that's where SEEDY was mucking things up. So, like I said, the wheels came off for a bit. But I put them back on.
Wanted SNORE at 1A: "Bor-r-ring" (HO-HUM) to start the puzzle, but then couldn't get a [Cobra feature] from S--- and then once I got DEF Leppard, I figured out the cobra had a HOOD, and then I made very few errors thereafter. I found "LET ME" a little hard to get ahold of (45D: "I can take it from here"), and I stalled briefly on both CHOWS (36A: Dark-tongued Chinese dogs) and AIRSHIPS (I had the AIR- and just blanked) (9D: Blimps and zeppelins). I had no trouble with the revealer, but I do think the clue is slightly off. A "perfect" pitch is likely not coming down Broadway; those are the kinds of pitches that tend to get clocked. I guess if you're the batter, a pitch that's DOWN THE PIPE is perfect. "Right over the plate" would've been more accurate / less ambiguous.
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See you Thursday.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (3:42)
"Pipe" answers:
- HALF (3D: Feature of a skate park)
- TAIL (24A: Muffler attachment)
- STOVE (29D: Hat worn by Abraham Lincoln)
- LEAD (45A: Weapon in Clue)
- WIND (49D: Trachea)
noun
the house and land occupied by a minister or parson.the dwelling of a landholder; mansion. (dictionary.com)
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Wanted SNORE at 1A: "Bor-r-ring" (HO-HUM) to start the puzzle, but then couldn't get a [Cobra feature] from S--- and then once I got DEF Leppard, I figured out the cobra had a HOOD, and then I made very few errors thereafter. I found "LET ME" a little hard to get ahold of (45D: "I can take it from here"), and I stalled briefly on both CHOWS (36A: Dark-tongued Chinese dogs) and AIRSHIPS (I had the AIR- and just blanked) (9D: Blimps and zeppelins). I had no trouble with the revealer, but I do think the clue is slightly off. A "perfect" pitch is likely not coming down Broadway; those are the kinds of pitches that tend to get clocked. I guess if you're the batter, a pitch that's DOWN THE PIPE is perfect. "Right over the plate" would've been more accurate / less ambiguous.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]