Hi, everyone! It's Clare back for the last Tuesday (and last puzzle) of 2019! Hope you all had happy holidays. I've been spending my holiday break out in sunny California and also got to see my sister's Cal Bears win their Bowl game yesterday. So, going back to DC may be a bit of a rude awakening; the weather will likely be much worse, and I'll also have to start law school classes back up in less than a week... Oh, well! On to the puzzle...
Constructor: Evan Kalish
Relative difficulty:Easy-medium
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THEME: LOSE WEIGHT (61A: Common New Year's resolution -- as hinted by the answers to the four starred clues) — Each theme answers drop a letter (or "weight") from the word "pound":
Theme answers:
John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches.He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King… Among his best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America), "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps), "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post". (Wiki)
On the whole, I thought the long downs were the best part of the puzzle. The fill were words that you usually don't see in many crosswords, which made the solve quite refreshing. A few particular favorites of mine: MAROONED; TEAM COCO (even if I had no idea Conan O'Brian had such loyal fans that they get their own nickname!); ARIGATO; TRICOLOR; BOOGIE. I also particularly love the words NARY (19A) and SHIRKS (1D). They're just fun words that I'd love to incorporate more into my day-to-day vocab. The award for weirdest but maybe most inventive clue ever goes to 45D: Like some teeth, pork and punches for PULLED.
If I had to nitpick a little, I thought NEAL (16A: Actress Patricia of "Hud") was a tad obscure for a Tuesday, and I didn't love the clue for ERRS (21A: Makes a boo-boo). But, overall, I'd say this was a pretty good final puzzle for the year!
Bullets:
Signing off for 2019,
Clare Carroll
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Constructor: Evan Kalish
Relative difficulty:Easy-medium
Theme answers:
- IRISH POUND (17A: Currency replaced by the Euro)
- KOI POND (31A: Decorative garden feature with a fish)
- TWO PEAS IN A POD (37A: Almost-identical pair, figuratively)
- RIVER PO (43A: It flows through Turin)
John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches.He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King… Among his best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America), "Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps), "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post". (Wiki)
• • •
Overall, I quite enjoyed this puzzle. While I didn't especially love the theme, I thought the strength of the fill — the long downs, especially — was a highlight. First, with the theme, the best word I have to describe it is a favorite of mine: Meh. The dropping a letter has been done before and will be done again. I guess some points do go to the constructor for tying it into a New Year's theme? And, architecturally, each of the "pound" words is its own word, which makes the theme consistent. I did like TWO PEAS IN A POD as an answer. But, IRISH POUND is nothing special — lots of currencies have been replaced, and this definitely was not even the first currency I thought of. RIVER PO is also not a great answer. You should be able to call it just "Po." You don't say "River Thames" or "River Mississippi," necessarily. So, why not just "Po"?On the whole, I thought the long downs were the best part of the puzzle. The fill were words that you usually don't see in many crosswords, which made the solve quite refreshing. A few particular favorites of mine: MAROONED; TEAM COCO (even if I had no idea Conan O'Brian had such loyal fans that they get their own nickname!); ARIGATO; TRICOLOR; BOOGIE. I also particularly love the words NARY (19A) and SHIRKS (1D). They're just fun words that I'd love to incorporate more into my day-to-day vocab. The award for weirdest but maybe most inventive clue ever goes to 45D: Like some teeth, pork and punches for PULLED.
If I had to nitpick a little, I thought NEAL (16A: Actress Patricia of "Hud") was a tad obscure for a Tuesday, and I didn't love the clue for ERRS (21A: Makes a boo-boo). But, overall, I'd say this was a pretty good final puzzle for the year!
Bullets:
- Oops. I was even with my dad as I did this crossword puzzle, and I still initially guessed that 68A: Common first word would be "mama" instead of DADA. My bad!
- "SEE MEafter class" (69A)... Words that no student ever wants to hear!
- 25D: Sentence shortener for PAROLE —It's only a sentence shortener if someone is actually granted parole, which is really, really hard to get!
- Not gonna lie — I either never knew or just forgot that NESTLE (49D) was also a bottled water company; I only think of it as being all about the chocolate.
- I particularly love seeing ELENAKagan (53D) in crossword puzzles. From hearing many people talk about her in law school, it seems like she's incredibly smart. Someone who argues often in front of the Supreme Court told my class that you always have to prepare for her questions in particular because she consistently asks the best, most probing questions that are the hardest to answer.
- Maybe watching Godfather for the first time over break helped me get 34D: Mafia bosses as CAPOS! I've just gotta watch the second Godfather now (which I hear is even better).
Happy New Year's!!
Clare Carroll
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]