Constructor: Julian Lim
Relative difficulty: Medium (11-ish)
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THEME: "West-Southwest"— W's are (mostly) turned into SW's creating wackiness clued wackily forever and ever ad infinitum dear lord make it stop:
Theme answers:
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I just don't understand who these puzzles are for? Who is cheering for this? Who is excited by this? This absolutely tepid letter-change / wacky-clue banality, where is this fan base? I guess if you have a captive audience that doesn't really know that things can be different, can be way, way less stale than this, then you can just churn out mediocre Sunday fare like this, week after week after week. "Oh, Rex hates everything." I hate this. And you should too. "Hate" is maybe too strong. I'm just exhausted by this oversized unimaginative never-ending parade of Sunday madness. The title alone tells you that no one is trying very hard. It's just ... a literal description of the letter change? You change west (W) to southwest (SW). But the phrase "West-Southwest" doesn't mean much except a random direction. Who cares? Who!? And so a loooongtime constructor gets max pay for what is essentially filler. People were making puzzles exactly like this, exactly this exciting, actually, probably more exciting, in the 80s and 90s. And actually you can still do a simple theme like this today if the results are stellar, or if your revealer or title is really clever, or really ... if you've got any angle that makes it exceptional. But this is just drudgery. And not even consistent drudgery. You've got a "W" in that center themer that you *don't* change to SW ("WANT")—the only themed "W"word that doesn't change. It's a jarring, ugly inconsistency. You've also got "SW" answers in non-theme positions (e.g. SWAN LAKE), which just makes the whole theme execution seem ragged and inelegant. I have no more time for this thing. I have trick-or-treaters that need tending to. If this were a novice constructor, I still wouldn't like the puzzle very much, but I'd feel less indignant than I do now, when I see a veteran churning this kind of stuff out (and the editor continuing to accept it). This is worse than you deserve. I'm not lying about this.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Medium (11-ish)
Theme answers:
- SWAY UP HIGH (23A: What an unsteady tightrope walker may do?)
- SUMMER SWEAR (29A: "It's just too $%#@ hot!," e.g.?)
- SWARM RECEPTION (40A: What a beekeeper receives at work?)
- FOR SWANT OF A BETTER SWORD (67A: Why the knight went shopping?)
- SPARKLING SWINE (94A: Hogs, after being scrubbed clean?)
- SWEPT FOR JOY (111A: What the ecstatic janitor did?)
- SWISH LISTS (117A: "Michael Jordan's Top 10 Free Throws" and others?)
: a dive of an airplane accelerated by the power of the engine (merriam-webster.com)
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There's lots of green ink right in the center of my printed-out puzzle because POP ___ coulda been soooo many things (34D: Beyoncé, for one) (STAR!? IDOL?!), and then END OFF, what on god's green earth is that? I can't imagine ever saying that ever in any context (43D: Conclude (with)). And both of those cross SEADOVE, what the f (62A: Little auk, by another name). So that was unpleasant. Forgot how to spell (crosswordese) UMIAK (17D: Boat sometimes built around a whalebone frame). I think I had UBIAK (?). Also had trouble up there in the NE with CRAWL (I had CREEP) (15D: Go at a glacial pace), and GENRE, which had a very ambiguous clue (18D: Soul, e.g.). No idea about Spike's sister JOIE (112D: Screenwriter Lee, sister of Spike). Really struggled with the cutesy SHORT U (92A: Upfront?) (get it? ... because the "front" of "up" is a SHORT U sound? Hey, here's another SHORT U sound for you: UGH (9D: "Yuck!"). Not much else to say about this one. Praying for a kinder, more ambitious, and more exciting November, puzzlewise. Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld