Constructor: Alan Arbesfeld
Relative difficulty: Medium (2:55)
![]()
THEME: animal-y phrases— themers are familiar phrases that have a first word that starts with an animal and ends in "Y":
Theme answers:
![]()
I'm gonna try to keep this simple, which will not be easy, as there are so many issues with this puzzle I want to scream. Or at least speak quite sternly. First, it's a Monday and we are subjected to a 72-worder ... why? To be clear, 72 is a word count you'd expect to see on Friday or Saturday. It's *low*. Themed puzzles are almost never that low ... For Reasons. Namely that the theme already exerts a pretty strong pressure on the grid, and keeping your word count up around 76 or 78 (the max) keeps that pressure from overwhelming the grid and forcing you to use junky fill. 72 words on a Monday is a completely unnecessary stunt, one which we all pay for in the form of, let's see ABBR ORONO ERG ERNO GIAN (!) INRE ASPERSE YORBA LECAR (dear lord) TSKED ALBEE *and* AGEE (somehow) YAPAT and INE. And that's only the obviously regrettable stuff. Yes, it's true, I *am* having fun shouting "YORBA LE CAR" to myself as I pretend to be a character in a crime film who speaks some kind of imaginary pidgin English, but that kind of whimsy only takes you so far. It's bonkers to not go for a higher word count and cleaner fill, esp. considering the longer fill here isn't any great shakes—unless "MY, IT'S LATE" pushes your "Fresh!" button. Does it!?!?! Does it, you monster?!
I don't know how I feel about the theme itself. It's a Monday, there are animals whatever. What I *do* know about this theme is that, with the exception of a single letter, it is *identical* to one Liz Gorski did ... last century. Seriously, 1999. A long time ago, but still in the Shortz era, though, and ... look, if you're making a puzzle, and especially if you are, you know, *editing* a puzzle, you can run your themers through a database real quick to see if they've been used before, and if so, if they've been used in *exactly* the way that you were planning on using them. The idea that Will did this to Liz ... a constructor whose name you don't see in the NYT any more (maybe you should wonder about that...) ... and that this guy, with this dated, warmed-over, last-century junk heap, is getting paid many many times over as much as Liz ever got paid for a daily (remember, he's getting the *veteran* pay rate, and getting it for essentially copying a woman's (grrr) work from two decades ago. It's insulting on top of insulting. If you're gonna do something that someone else has already done, at least improve it, modernize it, Something! I mean, YORBA LE CAR, for GIAN's sake! Sigh. Fire everyone. Burn it down. Rip it up and start again. The NYTXW needs new leadership, and even people inside that org. know it.
Ok, that's all. Liz Gorski rules. Gorski now, Gorski forever (check out her themeless puzzles at the New Yorker puzzle website every fifth week or so!) (or get her easy themed Crossword Nation puzzles by subscription, sent to your Inbox every Tuesday). Byeee.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. It's "kitty-corner" and it will never not be "kitty-corner" #TeamKitty
P.P.S. here's the Gorski grid—there's some shaky fill in here, too, but this is *20 years ago*
![]()
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (2:55)
Theme answers:
- DOGGY BAGS (17A: Containers for leftovers)
- BULLY PULPIT (25A: Prominent position from which to pontificate)
- CATTY CORNER (44A: In a diagonal position (to))
- PIGGY BANK (58A: Savings repository for a kid)
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city in Angola, It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative centre. It is also the capital city of Luanda Province. Luanda and its metropolitan area is the most populous Portuguese-speaking capital city in the world, with over 8 million inhabitants in 2019 (a third of Angola's population). Among the oldest colonial cities of Africa, it was founded in January 1576 by Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais, under the name of São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda. The city served as the centre of the slave trade to Brazil before its prohibition. At the start of the Angolan Civil War in 1975, most of the white Portuguese left as refugees, principally for Portugal. Luanda's population increased greatly from refugees fleeing the war, but its infrastructure was inadequate to handle the increase. This also caused the exacerbation of slums, or musseques, around Luanda. The city is currently undergoing a major reconstruction, with many large developments taking place that will alter its cityscape significantly. (wikipedia)
• • •
I don't know how I feel about the theme itself. It's a Monday, there are animals whatever. What I *do* know about this theme is that, with the exception of a single letter, it is *identical* to one Liz Gorski did ... last century. Seriously, 1999. A long time ago, but still in the Shortz era, though, and ... look, if you're making a puzzle, and especially if you are, you know, *editing* a puzzle, you can run your themers through a database real quick to see if they've been used before, and if so, if they've been used in *exactly* the way that you were planning on using them. The idea that Will did this to Liz ... a constructor whose name you don't see in the NYT any more (maybe you should wonder about that...) ... and that this guy, with this dated, warmed-over, last-century junk heap, is getting paid many many times over as much as Liz ever got paid for a daily (remember, he's getting the *veteran* pay rate, and getting it for essentially copying a woman's (grrr) work from two decades ago. It's insulting on top of insulting. If you're gonna do something that someone else has already done, at least improve it, modernize it, Something! I mean, YORBA LE CAR, for GIAN's sake! Sigh. Fire everyone. Burn it down. Rip it up and start again. The NYTXW needs new leadership, and even people inside that org. know it.
Ok, that's all. Liz Gorski rules. Gorski now, Gorski forever (check out her themeless puzzles at the New Yorker puzzle website every fifth week or so!) (or get her easy themed Crossword Nation puzzles by subscription, sent to your Inbox every Tuesday). Byeee.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. It's "kitty-corner" and it will never not be "kitty-corner" #TeamKitty
P.P.S. here's the Gorski grid—there's some shaky fill in here, too, but this is *20 years ago*
