Constructor: Tracy Gray
Relative difficulty: Easy (4:38)
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THEME: WATCH YOUR STEP! (39A: "Tread carefully!" ... or a hint to four dangers in this puzzle) — parts of the long (Across) theme answers turn down for a bit, and the part that turns down forms a word that describes a hazard you might fall into or trip on (if you don't WATCH YOUR STEP):
Theme answers:
Apparently if you solve in the app, the grid *tells you* where the theme material is, which ... I would find horribly insulting and intrusive. Get your dumb tech out of my way and let me solve my damned puzzle. I solved without any such visual help and it was solidly in the Easy category. No need to hold the solver's hand. Solvers should have to opt *in* to crap like that. I'm all for giving novice solvers some kind of purchase in the Thursday puzzle, but for regular solvers ... the puzzle should keep its training wheels to itself.
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But to the puzzle—this theme type is old, and always looks kinda dumb in the grid (with Across answers that look like nonsense), *but* this particular iteration of the partial-drop theme is actually quite cute—the parts that fall are all things you might actually fall into if you don't WATCH YOUR STEP. Nice. I got a nice, genuine little aha out of that realization at the end. I guess you don't fall into the GAP so much (except in old ads for The GAP, where that is apparently what you were supposed to do)
GAP is a bit of an outlier, but I don't mind. The overall concept really works here. And the grid ... well, it's OK. Excited to see DEMO CREWS (2D: Opposite of builders) and MOMBASA (55A: Kenya's second-largest city) and (weirdly) "CSI: MIAMI" ("weirdly" because I don't like, in fact have never watched, the show—I just like how the title looks in the grid) (40D: Long-running series whose lead role was Lt. Horatio Caine). The fill gets dicey in places. ENTS over AGEE over LSAT is some pretty dense gunk at the bottom of the grid. NEBS ETAT ROOS SLO AOKI REOS ULTA, all less than pretty. Normally wouldn't like ASONE but the Lennon clue (on his birthday) (well, when I solved, last night, it was his birthday) is a nice touch so I'll allow it (12D: Last two words of John Lennon's "Imagine") ACEH, not great (26D: Banda ___ (2004 Indonesian tsunami site)). Like, really hard. The only way 99% of Americans are gonna know that is because of that horrible tsunami, and even then, spelling it, yikes. NON-PC, ugh, always very very terrible (see also UN-PC, and basically the entire concept of "PC"). So the grid could be a little cleaner, and little more polished, a little less stuffy and musty, but it's got a few highlights, and the theme actually works, so hurray.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (4:38)
Theme answers:
- NOCHOLESTEROL (18A: What margarine has, unlike butter) (19D: Metaphor for indebtedness)
- CREDITCHECK (29A: Part of a tenant screening report) (30D: Abandon)
- TOGAPARTY (50A: Classic "Animal House" scene) (51D: Parent company of Athleta and Old Navy)
- HOSPITALSTAY (62A: Requirement after a surgery, perhaps)
Syosset /saɪˈɒsɪt/ is a hamlet and census-designated place (Syosset) in Nassau County, New York, United States, in the northeastern section of the Town of Oyster Bay, on the North Shore of Long Island. Syosset is an affluent community, well known for its school district, and is served by the Syosset railroad station, the Syosset Post Office, the Syosset Central School District, the Syosset Public Library, the Syosset Fire Department, and the Jericho Water District. The population was 18,829 at the 2010 census. Syosset is located approximately 32 miles (50 km) east of Midtown Manhattan, 14 miles (20 km) east of eastern border with Queens, 23 miles (40 km) southeast of the Throgs Neck Bridge, and 168 miles (270 km) southeast of Albany, the state capital. It is also in close proximity to beaches, with Jones Beach only 19 miles (30 km) south of the town. It borders Oyster Bay and Laurel Hollow to the north, Woodbury to the east, Plainview and Hicksville to the south, and Jericho to the west, Service is accessible to New York City by the LIRR and the Long Island Expressway by car. (wikipedia)
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Apparently if you solve in the app, the grid *tells you* where the theme material is, which ... I would find horribly insulting and intrusive. Get your dumb tech out of my way and let me solve my damned puzzle. I solved without any such visual help and it was solidly in the Easy category. No need to hold the solver's hand. Solvers should have to opt *in* to crap like that. I'm all for giving novice solvers some kind of purchase in the Thursday puzzle, but for regular solvers ... the puzzle should keep its training wheels to itself.
GAP is a bit of an outlier, but I don't mind. The overall concept really works here. And the grid ... well, it's OK. Excited to see DEMO CREWS (2D: Opposite of builders) and MOMBASA (55A: Kenya's second-largest city) and (weirdly) "CSI: MIAMI" ("weirdly" because I don't like, in fact have never watched, the show—I just like how the title looks in the grid) (40D: Long-running series whose lead role was Lt. Horatio Caine). The fill gets dicey in places. ENTS over AGEE over LSAT is some pretty dense gunk at the bottom of the grid. NEBS ETAT ROOS SLO AOKI REOS ULTA, all less than pretty. Normally wouldn't like ASONE but the Lennon clue (on his birthday) (well, when I solved, last night, it was his birthday) is a nice touch so I'll allow it (12D: Last two words of John Lennon's "Imagine") ACEH, not great (26D: Banda ___ (2004 Indonesian tsunami site)). Like, really hard. The only way 99% of Americans are gonna know that is because of that horrible tsunami, and even then, spelling it, yikes. NON-PC, ugh, always very very terrible (see also UN-PC, and basically the entire concept of "PC"). So the grid could be a little cleaner, and little more polished, a little less stuffy and musty, but it's got a few highlights, and the theme actually works, so hurray.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]