Constructor: Tracy Gray
Relative difficulty: Medium (probably easy, but I've had a couple ... (drinks, I mean drinks))
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THEME:"On the Up and Up"— themers all contain a word followed by "up"; instead of "up"'s being in the grid, the word that precedes "up" actually goes up, i.e. vertically (in circled squares)
Theme answers:
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Really thought I was killing this one, but I've been drinking (lightly, but still), and so ... my sense of time, and my own prowess, were both a bit off. My time was average. Also, this puzzle was average. I've seen gimmicks like this many times before. This one was no better and no worse than all of those. The title was both unnecessarily helpful (I got theme easily, without even noticing the title) and misleading (there's just ... the one "up" per themer, so having "up and up" in your title is very dumb). I've heard of a reverse phone book, or something like it, but the exact phrase REVERSE PHONE LOOK-UP feels awkward to me. Not as awkward, however, as STEP-UP TRANSFORMER. Actually, that one's not so much awkward as "???????" LOL at the idea that I am familiar with all the types of "transformers" there are in the world. I've never even seen the movie "Transformers," how in the world am I supposed to know what a STEP-UP TRANSFORMER is. Absurd, that one. I have used a SIT-UP BENCH at the gym, and yet I still don't like it as an answer. The others all feel very much in the language. Just fine. Not exciting, but adequate. Fitting. Apt. This puzzle feels like an inoffensive placeholder. Nothing much to recommend it, but nothing much to make you throw your computer across the room either.
Question-mark clues once again are making me want to heave them bodily from the room. 31D: A quarter to four? (ONE). ONE is a quarter *of* four. A quarter *to* four (as in, the relationship of 1/4 to 4) is ONE SIXTEENTH. I like KERI as the actress on the amazing show "The Americans," far far less as .... some kind of lotion (although I can hear the ads: "KERI is so very ..."):
POW does not "come with a sock" unless you are illustrating comic books. I had TOE here. EWASTE remains the worst, no matter how valid it is. LISA Lopes clue is missing the *crucial* "Left Eye" part (38A: Lopes of R&B's TLC). She's LISA"Left Eye" Lopes, dang it. Leaving that out feels blasphemous. TORNMCL is some "look at my wordlist" fill. Of course you can tear your MCL, just as you can tear a bunch of things, but iconically (i.e. crossworthily) you tear your ACL. I thought a zebu had a distinctive HORN (95D: Distinctive part of a zebu) (HUMP). I thought an [Act of self-aggrandizement] was EGOTISM. I took Latin for a couple years and still thought SANCTI was too Latin-y (for a crossword) (unless it appears in the phrase "... et spiritus SANCTI" and even then, I dunno. The clue on YASMINE was precisely zero help (16D: Woman's name that's one letter off from a fragrant flower). I doubt that many people have heard of the yasbine flower. Unfair!* OK, I'm done with this. See you tomorrow.
Oh, and happy birthday to my brilliant and beautiful daughter, who is nineteen today and does not read my blog, god bless her
*I'm kidding, there's no such flower as the yasbine. The flower in question is obviously the gasmine**
**Still kidding, please don't send me explanatory emails
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (probably easy, but I've had a couple ... (drinks, I mean drinks))
Theme answers:
- (KEEP) [UP] APPEARANCES (25A: Maintain the impression of well-being)
- KISS AND (MAKE) [UP] (39A: Reconciled, as a couple)
- (SIT) [UP] BENCH (41A: Ab-targeting exercise equipment)
- REVERSE PHONE (LOOK) [UP] (67A: Method for identifying mystery callers)
- (PIN) [UP] GIRLS (91A: Some cheesecake photos)
- HIGH-SPEED (DIAL) [UP] (95A: Accelerated alternative to broadband)
- (STEP)-[UP] TRANSFORMER (108A: Voltage-increasing eelctrical device)
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window is a form of roof window.Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space in a loft and to create window openings in a roof plane.[2] The term "dormer" is commonly used to refer to a "dormer window" although a dormer does not necessarily contain a window. A dormer is often one of the primary elements of a loft conversion. As a prominent element of many buildings, different types of dormer have evolved to complement different styles of architecture. When the structure appears on the spires of churches and cathedrals, it is usually referred to as a lucarne.
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Question-mark clues once again are making me want to heave them bodily from the room. 31D: A quarter to four? (ONE). ONE is a quarter *of* four. A quarter *to* four (as in, the relationship of 1/4 to 4) is ONE SIXTEENTH. I like KERI as the actress on the amazing show "The Americans," far far less as .... some kind of lotion (although I can hear the ads: "KERI is so very ..."):
POW does not "come with a sock" unless you are illustrating comic books. I had TOE here. EWASTE remains the worst, no matter how valid it is. LISA Lopes clue is missing the *crucial* "Left Eye" part (38A: Lopes of R&B's TLC). She's LISA"Left Eye" Lopes, dang it. Leaving that out feels blasphemous. TORNMCL is some "look at my wordlist" fill. Of course you can tear your MCL, just as you can tear a bunch of things, but iconically (i.e. crossworthily) you tear your ACL. I thought a zebu had a distinctive HORN (95D: Distinctive part of a zebu) (HUMP). I thought an [Act of self-aggrandizement] was EGOTISM. I took Latin for a couple years and still thought SANCTI was too Latin-y (for a crossword) (unless it appears in the phrase "... et spiritus SANCTI" and even then, I dunno. The clue on YASMINE was precisely zero help (16D: Woman's name that's one letter off from a fragrant flower). I doubt that many people have heard of the yasbine flower. Unfair!* OK, I'm done with this. See you tomorrow.
Oh, and happy birthday to my brilliant and beautiful daughter, who is nineteen today and does not read my blog, god bless her
*I'm kidding, there's no such flower as the yasbine. The flower in question is obviously the gasmine**
**Still kidding, please don't send me explanatory emails
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]