Constructor: Kathryn Ladner
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH (36A: Work suggested by this puzzle's circled squares)— the opening notes of the symphony are in the circled squares (G, G, G, E FLAT); there are a smattering of other theme-related things in random positions around the grid:
Theme answers:
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This puzzle shouldn't have been published on two grounds. First, it's really rough. There's not really a theme here. One grid-spanner, a smattering of circled squares, and then some absolutely random short fill clued as if it were related, only it's *barely* related. I feel like you could find this much Beethoven "theme" material in any random grid if you really tried. The FATE thing in particular seemed like a huge stretch. And the theme stuff isn't even organized. There's no symmetry (except for DEAF and OBOE (again, !?!?!?! you can find OBOE in like 37% of all grids, how is that "theme"?!). It's just not a polished puzzle, and it's definitely not a Thursday-level puzzle (except for RIGI, which I've never heard of, the puzzle played like a Tuesday or easy Wednesday).
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- C MINOR (2D: Key to this puzzle's theme)
- LUDWIG (49D: First name of this puzzle's dedicatee, born December 1770)
- FATE (!?) (29D: What the opening motif of 36-Across is said to represent)
- OBOE (7D: Instrument featured in 36-Across)
- DEAF (56D: What 49-Down became in later life)
The Rigi (or Mount Rigi; also known as Queen of the Mountains) is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The range is in the Schwyzer Alps, and is split between the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, although the main summit, named Rigi Kulm, at 1,798 meters above sea level, lies within the canton of Schwyz.
The Rigi Kulm and other areas, such as the resort of Rigi Kaltbad, are served by Europe's oldest mountain railways, the Rigi Railways. The whole area offers many activities such as skiing or sledging in the winter, and hiking in the summer. (wikipedia)
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The second reason this never should've made it to print is that we've already had a Beethoven's birthday tribute puzzle this year. Just three short months ago. Not only that, it featured This Exact Musical Gimmick. The. Exact. One. This one. The opening notes of BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH. Only in *that* puzzle, there was an actual theme, with long theme answers and the nicknames of various symphonies "hidden" in (non-consecutive) circled squares inside those answers. And the opening four notes of the 5th symphony were a little bonus, represented in four squares in the NW, and then followed by the *next* four notes in the SE. The tricksy thing was that you had to rebus EFLAT into a single square. Tough! I didn't adore that puzzle, but now, in retrospect, after having solved this one, it looks like a work of genius. I'll link to that puzzle (by David J. Kahn, 9/10/20) now, but also I'll just show you the finished grid, here you go:
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Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
See the "EFLAT" square up there in the NW, making D(EFLAT)ED in the Down. Cute, right? And then the subsequent FFFD in the SE. And it's offered up as just a little something extra. And yet there's more theme material in those eight squares than in the entire raison d'etre of today's puzzle (the circled G G G EFLAT). And while today's puzzle offers only a ragged patchwork of barely-related theme stuff beyond those opening notes, September's puzzle had, in addition to the opening notes, An Entire Theme. It is grossly incompetent to run today's puzzle after having so recently run the September puzzle. It's unfair to today's constructor, and it's insulting to regular solvers. All I want for Christmas from now and forever is better and more careful editorial leadership at the NYTXW. Now to go dig my sidewalk out from under snow mountains big enough to hide a small YETI. Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld