Constructor: Joe Deeney
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (4:58)
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THEME: COLD OPEN (59A: Start of each "S.N.L." episode ... or a hint to the initials of the words in 17-, 24-, 35- and 47-Across) — "OPEN"ings (i.e. the initials) of the words in the themers are I.C., which, when said aloud, make "icy," which is a word meaning "COLD":
Theme answers:
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Monday concept with Thursday cluing. The result: weird and mostly unpleasant. COLD OPEN is a great idea for a revealer, but more for a Monday puzzle where all the first words of themers are cold or can follow the word "cold" (CUT, COMFORT, etc.), something like that. But "I.C."??? That's corny, and using the initials (plural) as OPEN (singular) feels awkward. The fill is all over the place, too, as the grid appears to be trying desperately to be ZANIER than your average grid (what with the "Z"s all over) but somehow it did not have a sizzling feel. Came out clunky, though that was also a result of the cluing, which was oddly (and not very cleanly) ratcheted up (I guess 'cause the theme was so straightforward). ET TU, TNUT!? NYE, NYSE! AMO, LIS! These are just random entries that I didn't care for, that seemed to pile up. The puzzle started out seeming very easy (in the NW), but then when I hit the ISOGON (?) GRAYLY (??) part, things slowed way down. Ditto the R.H. MACY part, wow, initials? (21D: Department store founder). Yeeeesh. FALSIE is a word I've heard, but Not for eyelashes (?) (26D: Fake eyelash, slangily). Anyway, INFORMED CONSENT (a fine answer) took a lot of work, and the whole middle just bogged me down in unpleasant ways. Oh, and one other thing about the themers: since when does Tennessee whiskey go in IRISH COFFEE (24A: Joe and Jack, say?). That clue was brutal, in more ways than one.
So proud to know VIZSLA, but not proud enough to spell it correctly. Even now it feels like the "S" and "Z" should switch places. That little letter transposition hurt more than it should have. I had a very very hard time parsing "NO TAKERS?" (38D: Anyone? ... ANYONE?"). It started with NOT so I wanted NOT phrases, oof. Forgot Lindsey VONN's name, which is definitely my bad (56D: Winter Olympics star Lindsey). I know the word NARY but somehow [Old-timey "not"] didn't do it for me. ["My turn"] is a terrrrrrrible clue for "I'LL GO," since "I'LL GO" is a phrase of volunteering, one you'd use when it's not clear who should be going, whereas "My turn" is a phrase of certainty. If you say "My turn" it is definitely your turn, whereas if you say"I'LL GO" it is not at all clear that it is your turn, but since no one else is stepping up, well alrighty then. If you can't hear the difference between these two phrases, I can't help you, and since I can't help you ... I'LL GO.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. huge thumbs down to not one not two but three [___ tourist destination]s (two of which are "Italian"). Write a clue, why don't you?
P.P.S. base on early Twitter chatter, I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that the VIZSLA / ZAC crossing is gonna mess a bunch of people up today (it's a very bad cross)
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Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (4:58)
Theme answers:
- IOWA CITY (17A: It served as its state's capital before Des Moines)
- IRISH COFFEE (24A: Joe and Jack, say?)
- INFORMED CONSENT (35A: Medical ethics topic)
- IRON CURTAIN (47A: "Barrier" dismantled in 1991) (the "quotation marks" are weird here)
The Slovaks (or Slovakians; Slovak: Slováci, singular: Slovák, feminine: Slovenka, plural: Slovenky) are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak the Slovak language.In Slovakia, c. 4.4 million are ethnic Slovaks of 5.4 million total population. There are Slovak minorities in many neighboring countries including Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine and sizeable populations of immigrants and their descendants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States among others, which are collectively referred to as the Slovak diaspora. (wikipedia)
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So proud to know VIZSLA, but not proud enough to spell it correctly. Even now it feels like the "S" and "Z" should switch places. That little letter transposition hurt more than it should have. I had a very very hard time parsing "NO TAKERS?" (38D: Anyone? ... ANYONE?"). It started with NOT so I wanted NOT phrases, oof. Forgot Lindsey VONN's name, which is definitely my bad (56D: Winter Olympics star Lindsey). I know the word NARY but somehow [Old-timey "not"] didn't do it for me. ["My turn"] is a terrrrrrrible clue for "I'LL GO," since "I'LL GO" is a phrase of volunteering, one you'd use when it's not clear who should be going, whereas "My turn" is a phrase of certainty. If you say "My turn" it is definitely your turn, whereas if you say"I'LL GO" it is not at all clear that it is your turn, but since no one else is stepping up, well alrighty then. If you can't hear the difference between these two phrases, I can't help you, and since I can't help you ... I'LL GO.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. huge thumbs down to not one not two but three [___ tourist destination]s (two of which are "Italian"). Write a clue, why don't you?
P.P.S. base on early Twitter chatter, I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that the VIZSLA / ZAC crossing is gonna mess a bunch of people up today (it's a very bad cross)
