Constructor: Andy Kravis and Erik Agard
Relative difficulty: Medium (6:06)
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THEME: STATE LINE (60A: Geographic demarcation that separates the two possible answers in this puzzle's circled squares) — one of two state codes, from abutting states, can be used in each of the circled squares (I guess you're supposed to put them both in there, next to each other)
Theme answers:
[There is a factual error in this puzzle. Ivan Reitman directed "Ghostbusters," not Harold RAMIS. It was co-written by RAMIS, and co-starred RAMIS, but RAMIS was absolutely positively not the "director." Between this mistake, and having FORM crossing FORMED in yesterday's grid, it has not been a banner week for editorial competence over at the NYTXW.]
[Update: I am told that the clue has been fixed in the app—I'm assuming the bad clue made it to print]
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I solved this in a .puz file (downloaded onto my laptop), as I always do, and this one came with a note (which appears as a little yellow rectangle in the upper left of the interface, which you have to click on to read). I resent notes so I don't read them. Solved this one just fine without knowing the contents of the note, and in the end, the note didn't tell me anything I didn't already know: that the puzzle works better visually in the print edition, where the theme squares are slashed so you can write in the state codes of both states. I just entered the state code for one of the two and hoped that that would work. And it didn't. But then I just hit "Reveal All" and the only squares that came up "wrong" were the theme ones, where ... I don't know what you were supposed to actually put in those squares. Whatever. The point is, the note was unnecessary and distracting. Looks like the app has a similar message about the theme being better experienced in print. In the end, it didn't matter much. The thme was easy to uncover and I knew what was going on and sure it would've been aesthetically pleasing to see the two state codes abutting one another in the grid the way the states abut IRL, but I didn't miss the visual much. And the puzzle is good! I've seen state code-based puzzles a jillion times over the years, and I've seen Schrödinger puzzles before (the BOBDOLE / CLINTON one comes to mind), but this combination of these two familiar theme elements is quite original. And the quality of the fill overall is really marvelous. (Sidenote: Erik Agard is the editor of the USA Today crossword puzzle now and man you should really be doing them, they are remarkable and very much worthy of your time)
P.S. to all of you complaining about the METZ / ZYNGA crossing ... you are correct to complain. Two proper nouns crossing at a very-hard-to-infer letter is not a thing you ever want to have in your grid. I'd argue that "Z" makes most sense, so it is, in some sense, inferrable, but ... it's still a very, very rough cross. If you said it was a "Natick," I would not disagree with you.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (6:06)
Theme answers:
- 1A: Club fee / "Hell no!" (COVER / NEVER) / 1D: Dale Evans, for one / Zooey Deschanel TV series (COWGIRL / "NEW GIRL") (Colorado and Nebraska)
- 17A: Executive's perk, maybe / It might fit in a tight spot (COMPANY CAR / COMPACT CAR) / 15D: "Volunteers?" / Play's start ("ANYONE?" / ACT ONE) (New York and Connecticut)
- 47A: Smacks hard / Types (SWATS / SORTS) / 23D: Obstructing / On paper (IN THE WAY / IN THEORY) (Washington and Oregon)
- 49A: "Ghostbusters" director Harold / Pours (RAMIS / RAINS) / 51D: Move / Unappreciative person (MIGRATE / INGRATE) (Michigan and Indiana)
Christine Michelle Metz (born September 29, 1980) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Kate Pearson in the NBC drama This Is Us, for which she has earned Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards (2017) and Golden Globe Awards(2017 and 2018). (wikipedia)
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[There is a factual error in this puzzle. Ivan Reitman directed "Ghostbusters," not Harold RAMIS. It was co-written by RAMIS, and co-starred RAMIS, but RAMIS was absolutely positively not the "director." Between this mistake, and having FORM crossing FORMED in yesterday's grid, it has not been a banner week for editorial competence over at the NYTXW.]
[Update: I am told that the clue has been fixed in the app—I'm assuming the bad clue made it to print]
- 18A: "Sh" or "wr" (DIGRAPH)— two characters, one phoneme. I wanted DIGRAM. I was happy to see that a DIGRAPH ... is a DIGRAM, they're the same thing.
- 53A: Mac platform (OS/X) — fully blanked on this. Wanted IOS. The fact that I'm currently working on a Mac that runs OS/X ... yes, that is humorous.
- 67A: Owner of Words With Friends (ZYNGA) — I both resent dumb corporate names being in my puzzle aaaaaaand was really proud of my brain for remembering this one
- 33D: Not as much (LESS SO) — this is one of those answer where I got the first part and the answer felt complete, but I still had more squares to fill. Me: "LESS ... that's it! That's the answer! What are these other squares doing here!"
- 46D: Takes off (EXITS) — so ambiguous. So many possible meanings. I think I had OMITS in here. I must've had the -ITS. Even then, EXITS didn't occur to me.
P.S. to all of you complaining about the METZ / ZYNGA crossing ... you are correct to complain. Two proper nouns crossing at a very-hard-to-infer letter is not a thing you ever want to have in your grid. I'd argue that "Z" makes most sense, so it is, in some sense, inferrable, but ... it's still a very, very rough cross. If you said it was a "Natick," I would not disagree with you.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]