Constructor: Ryan McCarty
Relative difficulty: Easy (6:00 on an oversized 16x15, *with* a head cold, thankuverymuch!)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: SIGILS (20A: Ancient symbols of magic) —
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Well this was unexpected. And by this I mean "my ability to finish a Saturday puzzle with facility despite having a head cold that has recently entered what can only be described as the Repulsive stage. Early in a cold, you remain physically presentable, you just feel terrible. Later in the cold, you feel somewhat better, but are probably best kept indoors, out of public view, among loved ones who are legally required to abide your physical repulsiveness. Anyway, I'm on the mend, but disgusting, and I crushed this puzzle. There are many things to like about this puzzle. The longer answers in particular all seem quite solid. I just think you absolutely kill "DEAR EVAN HANSEN" by giving it that absolutely dreadful nondescript clue (32A: Musical that won six Tonys in 2017). I get that you want to make it hard, what with its being Saturday and all, but something, literally anything that might give a sense of the musical, any detail, any color, would've been Welcome. I got the answer easily—largely because I had -ANSEN before I even looked at the clue—but still, that clue is unimaginative and undermines the JOY that that kind of answer is supposed to bring into the solving experience.
The other thing that cut against enjoyment was a handful of truly grating (to my ear) answers. Let's start with AUTOPEN, which I really want to be a magical floating pen that just writes your signature over and over again real fast and then floats away on some kind of FLYING CARPET, but I doubt that's what it is (16A: Device for mass-producing signatures). It seems it's used by lazy famous people who want to send "signed" photos etc. to all of the people who request them? I dunno. The pic I'm staring at looks prehistoric. I mean, the wikipedia article on AUTOPEN mentions Truman, so ...
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy (6:00 on an oversized 16x15, *with* a head cold, thankuverymuch!)
Word of the Day: SIGILS (20A: Ancient symbols of magic) —
2: a sign, word, or device held to have occult power in astrology or magic (merriam-webster.com)
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The other thing that cut against enjoyment was a handful of truly grating (to my ear) answers. Let's start with AUTOPEN, which I really want to be a magical floating pen that just writes your signature over and over again real fast and then floats away on some kind of FLYING CARPET, but I doubt that's what it is (16A: Device for mass-producing signatures). It seems it's used by lazy famous people who want to send "signed" photos etc. to all of the people who request them? I dunno. The pic I'm staring at looks prehistoric. I mean, the wikipedia article on AUTOPEN mentions Truman, so ...
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| look at this dumb thing (it was Kennedy's) |
I've never heard of this *and* it seems dated, so it grated (rhyming!). EXTRA ONE also grated, since people only ever say EXTRA and then the ONE is implied. Do you have a spare? Do you have an extra? Spare = Extra. Spare one = EXTRA ONE. I'm just not that thrilled about that answer as a stand-alone. Most grating off all answers was ECOTAGE, ugh, what, I mean, I got it because I've seen that stupid term in crosswords (and *only* in crosswords) before. I guess it's for when you saboTAGE the ECOsystem or something? Dumb. I wanted ECOCIDE, which is equally dumb, and which I equally have seen exclusively in crosswords, nowhere else, ever. ECOTAGE sounds like it's trying to be fancy. Like when you commit environmental extremism in an ascot or something. ECOCIDE is just so déclassé. It's all ECOTAGE these days among the environmental extremist jetset. After the fromage and decoupage—ECOTAGE! Long and short of it is I hate this answer. Most other stuff in this grid seems just fine, and I mostly enjoyed the solve. I was very very weirdly on the puzzle's wavelength, just blowing through potentially thorny things like SIGILS, MOTTST, SANDP, ELEVENTY, BEL AMI (after I discarded BONAMI), even ECOTAGE (after I ruled out -CIDE). Just lucky today, I guess. Gotta go get some hot water with lemon and honey and then lie under a blanket watching basketball til I fall asleep. More than you need to know, perhaps, but so be it.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]