Constructor: Neville Fogarty
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (something under 5)
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THEME: LONG (71A: Word interpreted literally in completing four of this puzzle's answers) — Across answers are all two-word phrases beginning with "LONG," but instead of appearing in the grid, "LONG" is represented literally; that is, the word following "Long" is actually, physically made long by having each letter stretched over the length of two squares instead of the usual one:
Theme answers:
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Delighted to see this byline today (my birthday), as Neville is one of the loveliest people I know in the entire world of crosswords. This is an absolutely solid little ROMP (17A: Play like a puppy), even if it does have two elements that notoriously annoy the heck out of me, i.e. a [See notes] instruction when I open the puzzle file, and also just the word NATANT, yuck, why does it exist, kill it (32D: Swimming). Anyway, the puzzle notes tell me that:
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (something under 5)
Theme answers:
- VVOOWWEELL (18A: Oboe or flute sound) (i.e. "long vowel")
- IISSLLAANNDD (29A: Home to around eight million Americans) (i.e. "Long Island")
- WWIINNDDEEDD (47A: Circumlocutory) (i.e. "long-winded")
- JJOOHHNNSS (61A: Some winter wear) (i.e. "long johns")
Anna of Arendelle (/ˈɑːnə/) is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Animation Studios' 53rd animated film Frozen and its sequel Frozen II. She is voiced by Kristen Bell as an adult. At the beginning of the film, Livvy Stubenrauch and Katie Lopez provide her speaking and singing voice as a young child, respectively. Agatha Lee Monn portrayed her as a nine-year-old (singing). In Frozen II, Hadley Gannaway provided her voice as a young child while Stubenrauch is the archive audio.Created by co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, Anna is loosely based on Gerda, a character from the Danish fairytale "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen. In the Disney film adaptation, Anna is depicted as the princess of Arendelle, a fictional Scandinavian kingdom, and the younger sister of Princess Elsa (Idina Menzel), who is the heiress to the throne and possesses the elemental ability to create and control ice and snow. When Elsa exiles herself from the kingdom after inadvertently sending Arendelle into an eternal winter on the evening of her coronation, fearless and faithful Anna is determined to set out on a dangerous adventure to bring her sister back and save both her kingdom and her family. (wikipedia)
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In the print version of this puzzle, every two squares in 18-, 29-, 47- and 61-Across are joined as one.So instead of writing in the letters twice, as I've had to, you can just write them in once, and draw them all fun-house mirrory (i.e. "long"). Since I never read puzzle notes before I solve, I was left to piece together why there were repeating letters, why the first themer started VVOO-. After not being able to make anything out of it, I decided to just test the two-letter theory, so when I got a "W" I put in another "W" and so on. That led me to "VOWEL," and that led me to grasping the theme (the "o"s and "u" in the words "oboe" and "flute" are long vowels). The themers were easier thereafter, obviously, and each one easier than the next, it seemed. There wasn't much pizzazz outside the theme itself, but there was also very little garbage (NATANT notwithstanding), and I liked the cute little nod to the actual holiday that it is today, in addition to my birthday. Happy Thanksgiving! (40A: Celebrated Thanksgiving, say = FEASTED).
Neville tells me that this puzzle is really a secret tribute to actress Shelley LONG of "Troop Beverly Hills" fame. He didn't actually say that, but I want to believe that subconsciously, that is what he was trying to do here.
Ironically, the one part of this puzzle that was not a ROMP for me was the ROMP section. I wanted GATE at 1A: Info for an air traveler, but then Could Not make the first two Downs happen off the "G" and "A," so figured GATE was wrong. [Mystery writer, for short] is a cute but Brutal clue for ANON. (if the name of a writer is unknown, i.e. a mystery, then the writer is anonymous, or ANON.). I also had --EASY at 20A: Experiencing agita (UNEASY) and wanted only QUEASY. The most unlikely thing to happen today was the first thing I put into the grid was UNIX (14A: Operating system from Bell Labs). LOL I am pretty tech-stupid but somehow my brain was like "it's UNIX, put it in, *do it*!" and my brain was right. Had the usual LAVS v LOOS trouble (7D: Places to go in England), and then some EWE v. SOW confusion (9D: Female on a farm). I have never seen "Frozen" (daughter was too old by then to be overrun by the phenomenon), so the whole ANNA clue was actually baffling to me. I enjoyed remembering "Happy Days," and remembering Potsy in particular (31D: Actor Williams of "Happy Days" = ANSON). In case it's not clear, the first letter in "Gym," the "G," is a SOFT G, unlike the HARD G that starts GATE, GURU, gag order, or Gary Cooper. I hope you have a lovely, feastful day. Mwah!