Constructor: Jack Murtagh
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed, but only the (initially) inexplicable themers posed a significant challenge)
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THEME: Element-ary! — themer clues have to be reimagined as [Chemical symbol] + [remaining letters in the clue]; thus:
Theme answers:
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Well, there was no [Clicking sound?]. Never got an AHA out of this one. Not while I was solving, anyway. This one played like an easy, Tuesday-ish puzzle with five absolutely random, may-as-well-have-been-unclued long answers plunked down in the middle of it. I just waited for the themers to look like actual phrases and then filled them in. Didn't bother to stop (for more than a few seconds) to think about how I was supposed to get from the clue to the answer. Figured the more I solved, the more it would become clear, but it never did. It only took me about thirty seconds, probably, after I was finished to figure out the theme, which ... thank god. If I finish the puzzle and have no idea what was going on theme-wise, the clock is ticking, and the longer it ticks, the more enjoyment ebbs out. Luckily I caught this one soon enough to be impressed by the cluing cleverness. I'm never going to adore a puzzle where the *entirety* of its interestingness is in the clue writing, but as that type of puzzle goes, this seems a fine example. I am quite aware, however, that much of the reason I am able to appreciate what the puzzle is trying to do is because the puzzle was a. very easy to handle, and b. not laden with gunk fill. If a puzzle is doable and the grid is polished, the puzzle has a lot of leeway to get loopy with the theme. If you allow me to get through it without grueling effort and you don't throw garbage in my face along the way, I will follow where you lead.
Relative difficulty: Easy (untimed, but only the (initially) inexplicable themers posed a significant challenge)
Theme answers:
- SILICON CHIP (16A: Siding?) ("Si" = symbol for SILICON, "ding" = CHIP)
- OXYGEN SUPPLY (27A: Oration?) ("O" = symbol for OXYGEN, "ration" = SUPPLY)
- IRON MAN (36A: Female?) ("Fe" = symbol for IRON, "male" = MAN)
- SILVER BULLET (43A: Aground?) ("Ag" = symbol for SILVER, "round" = BULLET (think ammo))
- CARBON-DATED (57A: Cold?) ("C" = symbol for CARBON, "old" = DATED)
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Unsurprisingly, the hardest part of the puzzle for me happened around the oddest theme phrase: CARBON-DATED. I still don't know if it's an adjective or verb. I am going with adjective. Before I figured out the theme (but after I'd finished the puzzle) my first thought was "oh, CARBON-DATED, that's one letter off from "carbonated," maybe that's something ..." (it wasn't). Anyway, the DATED part was hard for me, especially the last letter. Since the clue on it meant nothing to me at that point, I was just trying to make a real phrase. CARBON ... DATES? DATER? It's clear now that DATED is the best option, but you see, that "D" runs through the hardest clue in the entire puzzle: 52D: A constant celebration? (PI DAY). Because "Pi" is a constant and you "celebrate" it (really, do you?) on Mar. 14 (i.e. 3/14 i.e. 3.14 ugh it's so dumb). Anyway, at first pass I ended up with PISAY in that slot. Checked all the crosses, realized the "S" was the problem, ta da. End of puzzle. Beyond that, my only missteps were writing in SAUDIS before SOMALI (14A: Like some residents on the Gulf of Aden) and writing in EAR CANDY before EAR CANAL (22A: Sound track?). No SAUDIS on the Gulf of Aden unless they're visiting Yemen, which ... ugh, let's not go there today (or, what the hell, go there if you like). Not too thrilled that something that looks like a themer (8-letter Across) and has a "?" clue like the other themers ended up Not being a themer. Unnecessary confusion, bad editing. Made it weird when I got to TALK SHOP and ... no "?" clue (49A: Discuss work outside of work, say). But this didn't hold me up too much, so no big deal. Best wrong guess on the themers (which, again, I had to build entirely from crosses, having no idea how the clues worked): I had the -VERBU- in the middle of 43A: Aground? and the first plausible thing my brain rolodexed to was GO OVER BUDGET. SILVER BULLET is better.