Constructor: Mary Lou Guizzo and Erik Agard
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (trivia just not in my wheelhouse) (high 6s)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Sue (?) (15A: Sue at Chicago's Field Museum, e.g. => T-REX) —
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Well, first off, that is not how you spell William S. Burroughs (17A: Seminal William S. Burrows novel, 1959 => "NAKED LUNCH"). It's not as bad as claiming that Harold Ramis directed "Ghostbusters" (which the NYTXW also did recently), but it's pretty bad. I will admit that I missed the error, as I was solving quickly. But then it's not my *job* to catch the error. So. Yeah. Quality control. Look into it. OK. Moving on.
This seems like a reasonably well put-together puzzle, but it just wasn't for me. The proper name trivia was (mostly) out of my wheelhouse and somewhat dully clued, and I just never got that exhilarating "ooh, cool" feeling I get with the best Fridays. I set the bar pretty high for Friday, as it is a hard day to botch. I think of Friday as breezy / fun themeless day (as opposed to grinding maybe-fun Saturday). I just couldn't find the handle on this one. Got it done in reasonable time, but only perked up at "NAKED LUNCH" and "I BLAME MYSELF." Clues often felt like they were straining for novelty / cleverness, which just left them awkward and opaque. E.g. [Ring bearers] = TOES. I mean, yeah, sure, OK, people put rings there, and I see that you're playing on the concept of "ring bearer" at, like, a wedding ceremony, but *getting* that left me feeling more "really? ... I guess ..." than "ooh, good one!" I want "ooh, good one!" as often as possible. So often the problem with NYTXW is the cluing voice (which is ultimately the editor's, though the constructors' original clues do set the tone). Clues were drab or else weirdly involved, but to no great effect. I mean, a paragraph for a CALVIN clue that wasn't even that funny? (49A: Comics title character who says "Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery"). I don't see the point. Mostly, though, this was just a bad fit. I don't care at all about reality TV, for instance (though I somehow ultimately knew PADMA LAKSHMI's name—not sure how) (5D: Emmy-nominated host of "Top Chef"), and I don't know Sue the TREX, and I forgot that those actresses played UHURA, and on and on. So I do, largely, BLAME MYSELF for my dissatisfaction today.
The most hilarious moment of my solve wasn't so hilarious when it was happening to me, but a few minutes later, in retrospect, upon reflection, with some distance, I could look back and laugh. That moment was the very last square I filled in. I looked at E_HIBITA and thought "that ... is not a thing ... that cannot be a thing ... ECHIBITA? EPHIPBITA? What in the ...? And what could someone named 'Sue' be with the letter pattern TRE_? Is she TREF? omigod is she a TREE? EEHIBITA? That can't be right ... [checks all crosses] ... nothing else is wrong, what is Happeninggggg ... . . . . oh." It's an X. X marks the spot. T [dash] REX / EXHIBIT [space] A. Wow, parsing that cross, where both answers have single-letter parts (the T in TREX, the A in EXHIBIT A) and where both answers have (to me) confusing clues ... that was a bizarrely perfect pothole. Thankfully, when I got it, I *understood* the answers in both directions, so at least I had a satisfactory feeling of completion. Sometimes you struggle and then you get your answer but you don't really *get* it, you know? It's actually amusing to me how bad I screwed that last box up. I only wish the rest of the solve was as entertaining as my own incompetence. QUIERO strikes me as too long for a foreign word. Do you JAPE ... something? (26D: Say mockingly) I think of it as an intransitive verb (or a noun, actually).
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There's not really anything in the clue for "WE'RE ALL SET" that indicates the "WE'RE" part—in fact, "ALL SET" would work perfectly as an answer for that clue all on its own—so that was a mild bummer (28D: "Good to go!"). I had ATWIRL instead of AWHIRL at first, which was awkward but not terribly consequential (43A: Spinning). EQUABLY looks like it's missing letters (i.e. I want it to be EQUITABLY, which would also mean [In an even manner]). Hoping for somewhat more joy tomorrow. See you then.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (trivia just not in my wheelhouse) (high 6s)
Word of the Day: Sue (?) (15A: Sue at Chicago's Field Museum, e.g. => T-REX) —
Sue is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found, at over 90% recovered by bulk. It was discovered on 12 August 1990, by Sue Hendrickson, an explorer and fossil collector, and was named after her. After ownership disputes were settled, the fossil was auctioned in October 1997, for US $8.3 million, the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur fossil, and is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. (wikipedia)
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This seems like a reasonably well put-together puzzle, but it just wasn't for me. The proper name trivia was (mostly) out of my wheelhouse and somewhat dully clued, and I just never got that exhilarating "ooh, cool" feeling I get with the best Fridays. I set the bar pretty high for Friday, as it is a hard day to botch. I think of Friday as breezy / fun themeless day (as opposed to grinding maybe-fun Saturday). I just couldn't find the handle on this one. Got it done in reasonable time, but only perked up at "NAKED LUNCH" and "I BLAME MYSELF." Clues often felt like they were straining for novelty / cleverness, which just left them awkward and opaque. E.g. [Ring bearers] = TOES. I mean, yeah, sure, OK, people put rings there, and I see that you're playing on the concept of "ring bearer" at, like, a wedding ceremony, but *getting* that left me feeling more "really? ... I guess ..." than "ooh, good one!" I want "ooh, good one!" as often as possible. So often the problem with NYTXW is the cluing voice (which is ultimately the editor's, though the constructors' original clues do set the tone). Clues were drab or else weirdly involved, but to no great effect. I mean, a paragraph for a CALVIN clue that wasn't even that funny? (49A: Comics title character who says "Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery"). I don't see the point. Mostly, though, this was just a bad fit. I don't care at all about reality TV, for instance (though I somehow ultimately knew PADMA LAKSHMI's name—not sure how) (5D: Emmy-nominated host of "Top Chef"), and I don't know Sue the TREX, and I forgot that those actresses played UHURA, and on and on. So I do, largely, BLAME MYSELF for my dissatisfaction today.
The most hilarious moment of my solve wasn't so hilarious when it was happening to me, but a few minutes later, in retrospect, upon reflection, with some distance, I could look back and laugh. That moment was the very last square I filled in. I looked at E_HIBITA and thought "that ... is not a thing ... that cannot be a thing ... ECHIBITA? EPHIPBITA? What in the ...? And what could someone named 'Sue' be with the letter pattern TRE_? Is she TREF? omigod is she a TREE? EEHIBITA? That can't be right ... [checks all crosses] ... nothing else is wrong, what is Happeninggggg ... . . . . oh." It's an X. X marks the spot. T [dash] REX / EXHIBIT [space] A. Wow, parsing that cross, where both answers have single-letter parts (the T in TREX, the A in EXHIBIT A) and where both answers have (to me) confusing clues ... that was a bizarrely perfect pothole. Thankfully, when I got it, I *understood* the answers in both directions, so at least I had a satisfactory feeling of completion. Sometimes you struggle and then you get your answer but you don't really *get* it, you know? It's actually amusing to me how bad I screwed that last box up. I only wish the rest of the solve was as entertaining as my own incompetence. QUIERO strikes me as too long for a foreign word. Do you JAPE ... something? (26D: Say mockingly) I think of it as an intransitive verb (or a noun, actually).
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]