Constructor: David Kwong
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:16)
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THEME:"Could You Repeat That Number?" — All double-numbered Acrosses (e.g. 11A, 22A, 33A, etc.) require you to mentally supply "Double" at the front of the clue:
Theme answers:
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A Sunday with just four themers? That is what I assumed. I finished this puzzle with (almost) no idea what was going on. I got the "Double" thing, but only for the longer Acrosses (you know, the ones that looked like themers). I did not see that all those longer answers had double numbers for their clues until well after I'd finished, and I didn't see that the double-number thing applied to Every double-numbered Across clue in the grid until I asked on Twitter how in the hell [Dealers do this] equals LIE. So many issues with this theme, but let's start with the fact that you really only have four (traditional, longer) theme answers and yet ... with a Sunday-sized grid, you expect ... more. And if not more by volume, well then you expect much more interesting things to be happening in the shorter fill. With just four (apparent) themers, I expect the grid to *sing*, and this one just sort of sat there. Not bad, but again, your theme is barely there, real estate-wise, so why isn't there more, and more interesting, stuff going on?
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:16)
Theme answers:
- ROPES (11A: Dutch requirements) (Double dutch)
- RBI (22A: Result, maybe, in brief) (Double result) (!?!? phrasing ?!?!)
- "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" (33A: 07 film) ("Double" 07)
- VEE (44A: U preceder) (double "U" i.e. "W")
- LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY (55A: Day competitor) (Doubleday)
- ONO (66A: "Fantasy" Grammy winner) ("Double Fantasy")
- TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE (77A: Play combo of old) (double play)
- LIE (88A: Dealers do this) (double-dealers)
- INTERCONTINENTAL (99A: Tree alternative) (Doubletree)
Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978), known professionally as Karen O, is a South Korean-born American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is the lead vocalist for American rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. [...] O and Spike Jonze collaborated on a 2005 Adidas commercial, Hello Tomorrow, after Jonze had directed the video for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 2004 single "Y Control". O composed all songs on the soundtrack of Jonze's film Where the Wild Things Are (with the exception of a cover of the Daniel Johnston song "Worried Shoes") in collaboration with Carter Burwell. She is listed on the soundtrack as "Karen O and the Kids". The song "All Is Love", written by O and Nick Zinner and included in this soundtrack, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, a songwriter's award, at the 2010 Grammy Awards. // O also contributed "The Moon Song" to Jonze's 2013 film Her. O and Jonze were nominated in 2014 for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Moon Song". (wikipedia)
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I also found the theme kind of muddled, in that it tries to do two things, when the title is really only referring to the *one* thing, which is the structural (clue-number) thing, which lots of people aren't going to notice (I mean, I didn't notice it at first, and didn't grasp the big idea of the theme without help, so ... if I'm alone, I'm alone, but that seems unlikely). Instead, people are going to wonder why the title is "Could You Repeat That Number?" when the theme *answers* have nothing to do with repeating a *number* — well, that first long one (double 07) kinda does, but then the rest do not, so ... yeah, it's baffling. I was baffled for something like 5-10 minutes after I finished, wondering what the hell "number" had to do with anything. And then I wondered "why are there only four themers? And then, just for visual reference for myself, I circled the (apparent) themer clues—and bam: 33, 55, 77, 99. All "double" numbers. Later (thanks, Eric Berlin), I learned that lots of short double-numbered Acrosses followed this same pattern. I'm sure this is a very impressive feat of construction, but as usual, feats like this often don't register with people, and even if/when they (eventually) do, they don't add in any way to a solver's actual solving enjoyment. So I guess we're supposed to clap for the feat, but as usual, I don't feel much like clapping for something that didn't make the solve better. The themers, as a set, seem fine, though if you don't know (old) baseball, then woe unto you I guess with TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE. And if you don't know hotels, then woe unto you as well. Woe unto me, actually. If I had to name a hundred hotel names, I would never have come up with INTERCONTINENTAL. First I'm hearing of it.
Today I learned that EULER was from the 18th century!??! (118A: "Elements of Algebra" author, 1770). LOL, I learned his name from crosswords, but in my head he was a much, much more recent figure. Like, 20th-century recent. Wow. The only things I really grooved on in this puzzle (besides the baseball themer) was KAREN O and TOM FORD (6D: American fashion designer who once served as the creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent). Those seem pretty original. I remember putting KAREN O in a puzzle I made ... I forget where / for whom ... like a decade ago. She's kind of an irresistible 6-letter answer, with that terminal "O." I don't really know who TOM FORD is, but his name burrowed into my brain somehow, thank god. Struggled some with DWELT, COPTO, and "I CRIED," and obviously I struggled with the short "themers," which I just wrote off as "strange clues I don't really get" (except for the clue on VEE, which, as written, without the "Double" in front of it, is demonstrably wrong) (44A: "U" preceder). But mostly I found the fill, as I said up front, kind of listless. P.E. RATIO is never, ever gonna light my fire (13D: Equity valuation stat), and that's one of the more *lively* non-theme answers in the grid. Having to have a puzzle's theme (partially) explained to me is never a great feeling, and after having it explained, yes, I'm mad at myself I didn't see it, but seeing it isn't making me like it any more. So I'll grant you that some of the problem lies with me, but I wonder if the lack of clarity isn't something other solves will feel (and not particularly appreciate) as well. We'll see. Enjoy your day.