Constructor: Alex Eaton-Salners
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed clipboard solve)
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THEME: SEVEN SEAS (57A: Result of connecting the circled letters in a certain way, in a punny manner) — There are seven circled "C"s, and those "C"s form the number "7" when you connect them, and every "C" is inside a word that is also the name of a "sea":
Theme answers:
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Took one look at the constructor and then another look at the grid, and thought (and perhaps said out loud) "oh god no." I associate the constructor with self-indulgent stunt puzzles that aren't actually fun to solve, and random floating circles ... they just don't bode well (OMEN!). But I dove in and was at first startled at how easy it was. I didn't second-guess or hesitate once for about the first third of the solve, then I literally swore at the puzzle when it somehow expected that I, or anyone, would have any idea what the SS ___ was at 23A. I don't even know what the White Star Line is, how in the world would I know its flagship. Totally and completely bonkers clue (which becomes semi-explainable once you grok the theme, but in the moment, hoo boy, annoying). So I was just tooling along, filling things in pretty easily, watching the "C"s go in but extremely reluctant to fill in *all* of the circles with "C"s for fear that there would be some trick, some twist in the sequence, some variation along the way. So I just worked it like a themeless until I got to SEVEN SEAS, which was, I'll be honest, a genuine, if not jaw-dropping, aha moment. In fact, there was a two-part aha. The first had me thinking "oh, right, seven 'C's form a '7,' cool" but then the next, right on its heels, was that the "C"s were all inside the names of seas. And so I am in the unfamiliar and unlikely position of saying of an particular Alex Eaton-Salners puzzle—I really like this theme. Now, there *are* a few problems. Rough seas ahead!
Let's start with the biggest problem, as I see it, which is that your entire puzzle is built around showcasing the seven-ness of the seas ("C"s) but then ... you ... you let three other "C"s into the grid? Whyyyy? "C"s are not "E"s. You don't actually need them!! And one of them is in IRENIC (and, fittingly, ICK), so please don't tell me they are here to make your grid clean, yeesh. The truly elegant move is to rid the grid of all "C"s except the seven in question. This grid has 10 "C"s. That is the basic fact of this grid that is jeering at this theme from the bleachers. The much less annoying thing about the theme is, as I say, that clue on ADRIATIC. But also the clue on CORAL, frankly. You can see that all of the clues are trying very, very hard to veer away from the sea, so that you won't see the sea ("C D C?") element until the end. I get how hard it must be to get ADRIATIC away from the sea. So you go to a boat no one knows, which is a. still sea-adjacent and b. annoying because no one knows your dumb boat. But ADRIATIC is a hard case. CORAL is not. It's a color. It's a name. You did your due diligence with the other clues, why did you throw CORAL back into the sea with its "Atoll" clue? It's like ... no one thinking through the details that make puzzles truly elegant. Good ideas are being sent out into the world unpolished. Sigh. Whatever. I still enjoyed this puzzle. I just wish that if all the Men at the NYTXW are going to keep publishing the same Men over and over and over (women constructors at a dismal 14% for the year so far), those puzzles would at least be undeniably great. Shaped with care. Spot-on. Try harder. Also, publish more women. But also also, try harder.
Six things:
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Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed clipboard solve)
Theme answers:
- CARIBBEAN (17A: Like calypso music)
- CORAL (19A: Atoll material)
- CHINA (21A: Porcelain)
- ADRIATIC (23A: SS ___, onetime flagship of the White Star Line)
- BALTIC (34A: Second Monopoly avenue)
- CASPIAN (45A: Prince of Narnia)
- BLACK (55A: Hugo ___, longtime Supreme Court justice)
Lee Ann Meriwether (born May 27, 1935) is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She is known for her role as Betty Jones, Buddy Ebsen's secretary and daughter-in-law in the 1970s crime drama Barnaby Jones. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in 1975 and 1976, and an Emmy Award nomination in 1977. She is also known for her role as Herman Munster's long-haired wife, Lily Munster, on the 1980s sitcom The Munsters Today, as well as for her portrayal of Catwoman, replacing Julie Newmar in the film version of Batman(1966), and for a co-starring role on the science fiction series The Time Tunnel. Meriwether had a recurring role as Ruth Martin on the daytime soap opera All My Children until the end of the series in September 2011. (wikipedia)
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Let's start with the biggest problem, as I see it, which is that your entire puzzle is built around showcasing the seven-ness of the seas ("C"s) but then ... you ... you let three other "C"s into the grid? Whyyyy? "C"s are not "E"s. You don't actually need them!! And one of them is in IRENIC (and, fittingly, ICK), so please don't tell me they are here to make your grid clean, yeesh. The truly elegant move is to rid the grid of all "C"s except the seven in question. This grid has 10 "C"s. That is the basic fact of this grid that is jeering at this theme from the bleachers. The much less annoying thing about the theme is, as I say, that clue on ADRIATIC. But also the clue on CORAL, frankly. You can see that all of the clues are trying very, very hard to veer away from the sea, so that you won't see the sea ("C D C?") element until the end. I get how hard it must be to get ADRIATIC away from the sea. So you go to a boat no one knows, which is a. still sea-adjacent and b. annoying because no one knows your dumb boat. But ADRIATIC is a hard case. CORAL is not. It's a color. It's a name. You did your due diligence with the other clues, why did you throw CORAL back into the sea with its "Atoll" clue? It's like ... no one thinking through the details that make puzzles truly elegant. Good ideas are being sent out into the world unpolished. Sigh. Whatever. I still enjoyed this puzzle. I just wish that if all the Men at the NYTXW are going to keep publishing the same Men over and over and over (women constructors at a dismal 14% for the year so far), those puzzles would at least be undeniably great. Shaped with care. Spot-on. Try harder. Also, publish more women. But also also, try harder.
Six things:
- 38A: Actress Graff of "Mr. Belvedere" (ILENE)— oooof. So I'm half mad at myself for forgetting this misbegotten piece of crosswordese, but more mad at the puzzle for putting it in in the first place. Would've let it go but then, in the same section, the puzzle decided to go with Yet Another Bygone Actress's First Name! This is a textbook example of why it's important to *vary* the knowledge bases you're drawing from. Asking for two bygone actress first names in the same tiny section is cruel. Luckily LEE Meriwether is a good bit more famous than ILENE Graff, so I was able to recall her, but sheeeeesh, no.
- 40A: Stain (TINGE)— had the "T," wrote in TAINT. "Stain" implies something unwanted. TINGE does not. I see how this clue is defensible, but I don't have to like it.
- 26D: Arcade fixtures (COIN-OPS) — "ooh, mom, can I have a quarter for the COIN-OPS?" asked 1980-me after I'd been taken over by some weird pod people who were bad at approximating actual human language.
- 15A: Lovefest, literally (ORGY)— Not sure if the clue writer doesn't understand the meaning of "love" or doesn't understand the meaning of "literal."
- 1A: Kind of wine drinker who might remark "I'm getting hints of unripened banana" (SNOB) — and *this* clue makes me think the clue writer doesn't understand the meaning of "snob." There is (literally!) nothing snobby about this "remark." Aficionados are not snobs, per se. Get a grip.
- 51D: And the following: Abbr. (ET SEQ.) — if you're a constructor and you're ever wondering "is this 'Q' worth it?" check to see if it's in the answer ET SEQ., in which case, no it isn't.
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