Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel
Relative difficulty: Easy (2:45)
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THEME: OUT OF DANGERS (59A: Safe ... or how the last words of 16-, 23- and 49-Across are made?) — last words of themers are anagrams of DANGER:
Theme answers:
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This is one of the best NYTXW puzzles I've done in a while, and I'm only just realizing today how much seeing Zhouqin Burnikel's name on a puzzles feels with that increasingly rare feeling of hope. She has a long track record of solid puzzles, and lately, in the past year or two, I feel like the quality of her work has ticked up significantly. Maybe even more than the word "ticked" suggests. If it's a Monday or a Tuesday, I want her on the job. This puzzle is simple and elegant, and it's the latter bit that people might not notice, given how easy the puzzle is, and how basic the theme concept seems. I mean, anagrams ... I've seen "last-words-anagrammed"-type puzzle before. But there are a couple of features to this puzzle that I want to highlight, because they are the difference between this puzzle's being adequate and boring, and this puzzle's being what it is, which is delightful. First, the theme is light. That is, there are just four answers. Now, with this theme, the number of themers is kinda locked in, but still, there is something to be said for a very tight theme in just three or four theme answers. If every one of them hits the mark, then you've got the pleasure of a satisfying, complete-feeling theme *and* you've got breathing room to make a clean, even enjoyable grid. Next, look at those themers—all real things. All good phrases / names. COVENT GARDEN is especially nice. There's nothing wobbly about any answer in this set. It. All. Works. Bing bing bang. Further, the cluing on the themer makes it perfect. We don't get just DANGER as our revealer, we don't get some other phrase ending in DANGER with some other weird revealer pointing to the anagramminess of it all. Instead, we get the a solid stand-alone phrase with a clue that ties everything together Perfectly. Burnikel's work reminds me of Lynn Lempel's: prolific, disciplined, artful, playful. Just what I want to begin my solving week.
I want to say something also about the way the grid is built, because it is actually a bit bold and daring. In an alternate universe, there's a grid with these same themers but with a more conventional staircase of 5-letter answers through the heart of the grid. Imagine the initial "E" in ESTREET and the the second "A" in GALA turned black, and the adjacent black squares turned white ... and then do the same on the other side of the grid for symmetry's sake. Something like this:
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In that universe, the grid is probably somewhat easier to fill. It's also almost certainly more boring, because the center is self-contained, cut off from the NW and SE corners, and full only of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter words. Here, however, we get ROADRACE to ESTREET to TIMELAGS, 8, to 7 to 8, which not only gives us a nice interconnected set of answers, but gives a more open overall feel to the grid. It's a 78-worder (the max) but it *feels* more open because in addition to the (nifty) long Downs in the NE and SW (PAVLOV'S DOG is especially great), you've got this 8-7-8 combo linking the NW to the SE. And, on top of this, there's no apparent compromise in the fill. It's clean. Everywhere. Theme tight and clever, fill clean overall, with augmented sparkly long stuff. Give this constructor some f***ing credit, because she deserves it, and she especially deserves it on a Monday, when the easiness of the solve probably leads most of us to underrate the complexity and craftsmanship of the endeavor. The End.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. special thanks to Mike Nothnagel, a veteran constructor who is also currently my house guest and with whom I just had a long conversation about this grid. We got into the weeds about stuff like themer spacing, the difficulty of handling 12s, etc. He's very smart and nerdy in the best way. Anyway, he's the one who specifically brought up the issue of how the center of the grid is constructed and how unusual (and bold) it actually is.
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Relative difficulty: Easy (2:45)
Theme answers:
- TAKE A GANDER (16A: Look (at))
- ARIANA GRANDE (23A: Singer with the 2018 #1 hit "Thank U, Next")
- COVENT GARDEN (49A: Locale for London's Royal Opera House)
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museumand the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. (wikipedia)
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I want to say something also about the way the grid is built, because it is actually a bit bold and daring. In an alternate universe, there's a grid with these same themers but with a more conventional staircase of 5-letter answers through the heart of the grid. Imagine the initial "E" in ESTREET and the the second "A" in GALA turned black, and the adjacent black squares turned white ... and then do the same on the other side of the grid for symmetry's sake. Something like this:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. special thanks to Mike Nothnagel, a veteran constructor who is also currently my house guest and with whom I just had a long conversation about this grid. We got into the weeds about stuff like themer spacing, the difficulty of handling 12s, etc. He's very smart and nerdy in the best way. Anyway, he's the one who specifically brought up the issue of how the center of the grid is constructed and how unusual (and bold) it actually is.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]