Constructor: Sid Sivakumar and Brooke Husic
Relative difficulty: on the harder side, but it's oversized (15x16), so maybe it's just bigger, not harder
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: STOP-TIME (46A: Rhythmic pattern in jazz) —
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This is oversized for some reason. Usually it's a theme that drives a grid into unexpected dimensions, but I guess they couldn't do what they wanted to do in a 15x15, so here we are. More puzzle for the buck, I guess. Lots of thorniness in this one, but nothing that really dragged matters to a halt. The NW opened up pretty easily with IBM& IMS both being gimmes and then bam, BEQUEATH dropped right in (2D: Pass on after passing on), and the "Q" made SQUALL the likely first word there (17A: Narrow band of storms), and the rest of that corner just kinda fell into place. But getting into the center proved mildly challenging. Had TAKES but couldn't come up with AIM (25A: Gets ready to throw), and sadly AIM had all the letters I needed to be able to turn the corner there. I don't know what's being thrown that aim has to be taken. A dart I guess. Or an axe. I associate aiming with guns or bows or weapons like that, hence my blankness here. Also missed the turn into the center when I went with "I'M OUT" at 23D: "It's game over for me" ("I LOST"). That clue is bad, actually. It's bad to have a slangy clue and then have an absolutely plain, literal answer. Clue is idiomatic, answer should be too. "I LOST," my god it's so plain that no one actually says it. Also, the verb tense is off (present in the clue, past in the answer). Bah. And I was so proud of getting LIFER right away (24D: Die-hard fan no matter what, in slang), really thought I was gonna zoom down into the center there. But no.
Relative difficulty: on the harder side, but it's oversized (15x16), so maybe it's just bigger, not harder
Word of the Day: STOP-TIME (46A: Rhythmic pattern in jazz) —
In tap dancing, jazz, and blues, stop-time is an accompaniment pattern interrupting, or stopping, the normal time and featuring regular accented attacks on the first beat of each or every other measure, alternating with silence or instrumental solos. Stop-time occasionally appears in ragtime music. The characteristics of stop-time are heavy accents, frequent rests, and a stereotyped cadential pattern. Stop-timing may create the impression that the tempo has changed, though it has not, as the soloist continues without accompaniment. Stop-time is common in African-American popular music including R&B, soul music, and led to the development of the break in hip hop. (wikipedia)
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Everything else was pretty doable, except the SW corner, where, even after I got UNDERSTOOD *and* NEEDS, I couldn't drop the Downs. Three opportunities (UN-, NE-, DE-), three strikes. I actually wanted UNSEATS at 41D: Wins a race against, but wasn't sure. And NEUTRAL was well disguised (42D: N as in Nissan?) (NEUTRAL being a transmission setting in an automobile such as a Nissan; cute). And DEBACLE was invisible to me, as I think of people having "meltdowns" and DEBACLEs just being situations. Oh, and I also couldn't figure 49A: I, for one (SUBJECT), even with -JECT in place. That's bad on my part. Shoulda seen that. So I had to dive into the unknown and build my way back out of that corner. Luckily TALE was right! (worried it might be DUST) (62A: Fairy ___), as was SLEW, and so building my way back out of that corner was less painful than I feared. Slowed a little by not knowing the word that was supposed to go before RISE at 63A: Order in the court. My brain just kept shouting "ALL." Me to brain: "It doesn't fit!" Brain: "ALL!" Me: "Stop it." Brain: "... ... ... try ALLLLL!" Me: "omg shut up."
PEACES is one of those slang terms I know exists but that I don't hear much, probably because it seems like it would be really easy for others to think you were saying something else. "Peace out!" has the "out" indicating departure. And if you are signing off or leaving, saying "PEACE" makes sense. But as a verb in the 3rd-person present indicative, it's awkward-feeling. But I'm old so he PEACES she PEACES it PEACES great whatever, go to town. Only bad things in this puzzle were ET ALIBI (I have some experience looking at bibliographies and yikes I can't remember ever seeing this—the term I'm familiar with is passim), and -TUPLE, up there with the worst suffixes ever to grace a grid (with the understanding that suffixes never truly "grace" anything) (51D: Mathematical suffix). Much of the rest was fun and entertaining. I was very excited to see PLUOT, which I guessed straight off (32D: Hybrid fruit also known as an aprium). Proudest, tastiest, happiest moment of the puzzle. Those things are delicious. I miss summer already. Let's see, any tricksy clues need explaining? [Pings] = IMS = "contacts someone via internet messaging" ("ping" comes from "the name of the sound a sonar makes when it detects another vessel"). Everything else seems reasonably straightforward. I'd like to thank Anna Karenina for teaching me about TATARs (48D: Siberian native). Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]