Constructor: Alex Eaton-Salners
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (untimed, clipboard solve)
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THEME: Mercury and friends— clues are all [Mercury or ___, e.g.] where blanks are filled by the elements of the solar system, moving in order from the "Sun" outward to "Saturn" (skipping "Mercury" obviously):
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: Carly PEARCE (16A: Country singer Carly)—
Not a lot of time this morning, so this will be brief. (Update: this post is actually a pretty normal length—nevermind)
This puzzle is disqualified on two counts. First, the sun is not a planet. I know that you probably know this, but it's not. Anyway, because it's not a planet, and though I like the answer WNBA TEAM just fine, the single appearance of [Sun] in the clues, when every single other clue word is a planet, really clanks. But nothing clanks as hard as having The Actual Word 'Planet' In One Of The Themers. The only thing holding this clue-word set together is its solar systemness—that's the gimmick—so ... you can't just clue the planets *as planets*. That is Awful. INNER PLANET is *Awful*. Nevermind that I've never heard of the term INNER PLANET and would never group them that way, that's not the point. The point is ... PLANET, really?? That is ... just throwing up your hands. "Hey, let's just use these planets to clue ... planets? You think the rubes will notice or care?" Ugh. Also, planets are *all* (save Earth) named after gods, so the ROMAN GOD answer feels like cheating as well. This theme actually works precisely twice: with MUSICIAN and AUTOMAKE (I would've added WNBA TEAM, but ... you know ... "Sun"!?). It works for those answers because the answers steer *away* from planet names. The answers are unexpected. MUSICIAN actually elicited a vague "aha" feeling! You know, that feeling you're *supposed* to get when a themer or revealer really lands. "Aha, Freddie Mercury! Oho, Bruno Mars!" But bottom line, the theme just feels broken.
The fill was adequate, although ASTARTE (31A: Bronze Age fertility deity) and SOAKAGE (41A: Liquid absorbed by surrounding soil) = [frowny face]. ASTARTE is 7-letter crosswordese that I routinely forget (until I get a few crosses); I get it confused with AMEN RA (which is 6-letter crosswordese, and an Egyptian god whose name can be spelled with roughly a million different vowel combos). SOAKAGE, who knows? I wanted SINKAGE and then LEAKAGE (?). I guess you can tell I had the back end of that word in place first; after a while, it felt like those first four letters could be *anything*. But SOAKAGE. Great. Never heard of Carly PEARCE, which I don't feel too bad about, as she is very young and doesn't have much of a song catalogue yet. Her name was definitely the hardest thing about the grid for me. I like the three-wordness of GOALLIN (22D: Not hold back). That is, I enjoyed discovering that I was dealing with not one not two but three words. I very much enjoy both the book and the movie "TRUE GRIT" (both the John Wayne and the Jeff Bridges versions) (11D: Only movie for which John Wayne won an Oscar). Cool of HOUDINI to make an appearance (39D: Subject of the 2006 biography "Escape!"). So yeah, it's not all bad, for sure. It's just, well, the theme doesn't work. As I've said. See paragraph 1. Good day.
P.S. OPIUMS? Some things you just don't pluralize. OCELOTS, yes. OPIUMS, uh no.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (untimed, clipboard solve)
Theme answers:
- WNBA TEAM (Mercury or Sun, e.g.)
- ROMAN GOD (Mercury or Venus, e.g.)
- INNER PLANET (35A: Mercury or Earth, e.g.)
- MUSICIAN (48A: Mercury or Mars, e.g.)
- AUTOMAKE (58A: Mercury or Saturn, e.g.)
 |
| Alice PEARCE, left out again |
Carly Pearce (born Carly Cristyne Slusser; April 24, 1990) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Her material contains elements of both traditional and contemporary country-pop music. Pearce began performing professionally in her teens, appearing on several albums of bluegrass material in the 2000's. After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, she began gaining more widespread notice.Pearce first gained major recognition in 2017 when her self-penned "Every Little Thing" found acclaim on satellite radio. The song helped Pearce secure a major label recording contract and became a major hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Country Airplaychart. Her debut album of the same name debuted in the top five of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Pearce has since released new material, including the 2019 single, "I Hope You're Happy Now". (wikipedia)
• • •
Not a lot of time this morning, so this will be brief. (Update: this post is actually a pretty normal length—nevermind)
This puzzle is disqualified on two counts. First, the sun is not a planet. I know that you probably know this, but it's not. Anyway, because it's not a planet, and though I like the answer WNBA TEAM just fine, the single appearance of [Sun] in the clues, when every single other clue word is a planet, really clanks. But nothing clanks as hard as having The Actual Word 'Planet' In One Of The Themers. The only thing holding this clue-word set together is its solar systemness—that's the gimmick—so ... you can't just clue the planets *as planets*. That is Awful. INNER PLANET is *Awful*. Nevermind that I've never heard of the term INNER PLANET and would never group them that way, that's not the point. The point is ... PLANET, really?? That is ... just throwing up your hands. "Hey, let's just use these planets to clue ... planets? You think the rubes will notice or care?" Ugh. Also, planets are *all* (save Earth) named after gods, so the ROMAN GOD answer feels like cheating as well. This theme actually works precisely twice: with MUSICIAN and AUTOMAKE (I would've added WNBA TEAM, but ... you know ... "Sun"!?). It works for those answers because the answers steer *away* from planet names. The answers are unexpected. MUSICIAN actually elicited a vague "aha" feeling! You know, that feeling you're *supposed* to get when a themer or revealer really lands. "Aha, Freddie Mercury! Oho, Bruno Mars!" But bottom line, the theme just feels broken.
The fill was adequate, although ASTARTE (31A: Bronze Age fertility deity) and SOAKAGE (41A: Liquid absorbed by surrounding soil) = [frowny face]. ASTARTE is 7-letter crosswordese that I routinely forget (until I get a few crosses); I get it confused with AMEN RA (which is 6-letter crosswordese, and an Egyptian god whose name can be spelled with roughly a million different vowel combos). SOAKAGE, who knows? I wanted SINKAGE and then LEAKAGE (?). I guess you can tell I had the back end of that word in place first; after a while, it felt like those first four letters could be *anything*. But SOAKAGE. Great. Never heard of Carly PEARCE, which I don't feel too bad about, as she is very young and doesn't have much of a song catalogue yet. Her name was definitely the hardest thing about the grid for me. I like the three-wordness of GOALLIN (22D: Not hold back). That is, I enjoyed discovering that I was dealing with not one not two but three words. I very much enjoy both the book and the movie "TRUE GRIT" (both the John Wayne and the Jeff Bridges versions) (11D: Only movie for which John Wayne won an Oscar). Cool of HOUDINI to make an appearance (39D: Subject of the 2006 biography "Escape!"). So yeah, it's not all bad, for sure. It's just, well, the theme doesn't work. As I've said. See paragraph 1. Good day.
P.S. OPIUMS? Some things you just don't pluralize. OCELOTS, yes. OPIUMS, uh no.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]