Hi, everyone! It's Clare. I'm coming to ya a day later than usual because it was Rex's birthday yesterday. (Happy birthday, Rex!) And, to all of you: Happy almost Turkey Day! I know I'm planning on making lots and lots of pies and bread rolls and mashed potatoes. (Carbs for the win.) Studying for finals can wait a few days, right? Anywho, doing a write-up on a Wednesday is gonna be a bit different for me, but here it goes!
Constructors:Jeff Chen and Matthew Sewell
Relative difficulty:Pretty challenging for a Wednesday
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THEME: GROWTH POTENTIAL (55A: Ability of a company to expand ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme) and POT (65A: Herb garden vessel ... as depicted four times by black squares in this puzzle) — Black squares in the puzzle represent pots that have circled letters sitting in them that spell out "seed," which have the potential to grow into herbs that are shown in the shaded squares.
Theme answers:
Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her first husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language cinema, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a jaded aristocrat in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). She also played the murderous and sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963). (Wiki)
I wish I had nice things to say for my first time writing for a Wednesday, but... I don't... I generally like when constructors try to be creative with the theme and the structure, but I felt like this theme just didn't work. There was so much going on with the seeds — well, "seed," but that's a different issue — and growth potential and the pots and the structure that I felt it got too chaotic. Trying to figure out how to write the above description for the theme was legitimately the hardest part of this write-up and the hardest time I've ever had describing a theme. Overall, my biggest gripe was that the picture in the grid as the theme created some ugly fill. Sure, there were some nice, long downs in the puzzle, but the black pots or whatever they were created a lot of ugly three-letter fill, especially in the bottom of the puzzle. It's like the constructors tried to throw every single possible three-letter crossword-y word into the mix. (See: GAP; RHO; OAT; AHA; POT; IMP; ABE; LAW; MBA; PEW).
I also feel like there should be some sort of dictionary for how to consistently spell words in crosswords. It seems like there should be, oh, I don't know, an editor or something whose job it is to create a generic style. Like, I definitely think that NAN (25A: Tandoori bread) should be spelled "naan" every time. When I Google "nan brea," it even suggests I spell it like "naan" instead and only gives me results to spell it that way. Also, I think that UPSY daisy (18A) is much more commonly spelled like "oopsy daisy" or "oopsie daisy." Mostly, I'd really just love some consistency.
Misc.:
Signed, Clare Carroll, an excited Thanksgiving baker
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Constructors:Jeff Chen and Matthew Sewell
Relative difficulty:Pretty challenging for a Wednesday
Theme answers:
- PECCADILLOES (2D: Minor indiscretions)
- MESSAGE BOARD (10D: Where trolls may lurk)
- ARCHIVE SITE (23D: Where records of old web pages can be accessed)
- IM IN THE ZONE (24D: Declaration from someone on a hot streak)
Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her first husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language cinema, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a jaded aristocrat in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). She also played the murderous and sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963). (Wiki)
• • •
I wish I had nice things to say for my first time writing for a Wednesday, but... I don't... I generally like when constructors try to be creative with the theme and the structure, but I felt like this theme just didn't work. There was so much going on with the seeds — well, "seed," but that's a different issue — and growth potential and the pots and the structure that I felt it got too chaotic. Trying to figure out how to write the above description for the theme was legitimately the hardest part of this write-up and the hardest time I've ever had describing a theme. Overall, my biggest gripe was that the picture in the grid as the theme created some ugly fill. Sure, there were some nice, long downs in the puzzle, but the black pots or whatever they were created a lot of ugly three-letter fill, especially in the bottom of the puzzle. It's like the constructors tried to throw every single possible three-letter crossword-y word into the mix. (See: GAP; RHO; OAT; AHA; POT; IMP; ABE; LAW; MBA; PEW).
I also feel like there should be some sort of dictionary for how to consistently spell words in crosswords. It seems like there should be, oh, I don't know, an editor or something whose job it is to create a generic style. Like, I definitely think that NAN (25A: Tandoori bread) should be spelled "naan" every time. When I Google "nan brea," it even suggests I spell it like "naan" instead and only gives me results to spell it that way. Also, I think that UPSY daisy (18A) is much more commonly spelled like "oopsy daisy" or "oopsie daisy." Mostly, I'd really just love some consistency.
Misc.:
- In my opinion, VAN GOGH is the best artist ever. Side note: I highly recommend watching the episode of "Doctor Who" about Van Gogh ("Vincent and the Doctor"). You will cry in the final scene (where Van Gogh gets to travel to present day to see the impact he's had).
- I enjoyed the little "legal" bits of the puzzle with PLEA at 15A and LAW at 61D.
- FIAT (53A: Diktat) is something other than a car? Who knew?
With that, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]