Constructor: Alex Bajcz
Relative difficulty: Medium (10-something)
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THEME:"Oh, Fourpeat's Sake!" — repeating four-letter strings ... yes, that is all:
Theme answers:
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***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS!*** This is the last day of my annual week-long fundraising effort for the blog. It's been a weird week, to say the least. An assault on the Capitol—did not see that coming. I spent the week being buffeted back and forth emotionally, with the horrible news out of DC dragging me down, but then the generosity and kind messages from blog readers lifting me up. It's been so nice to hear from readers this week, and to be reminded of what a big, weird, wonderful world crossword solverdom is. People have been particularly complimentary of (and desirous of) the Alfie postcards my daughter designed (see below). Many of you have asked whether they were available for purchase as a complete set. As of now, they are not, but that may change. I'll let you know. Anyway, it's been very gratifying to hear from readers. So often writing the blog feels a bit like shouting into the void, so it's nice to be reminded the void isn't such a void after all. I can't thank you enough for your readership and for seeing the value in what I do here, whether that's explaining the themes, or helping you understand tricky clues, or just giving you a feeling of commiseration when you, too, are disappointed in or furious at or madly in love with the puzzle. It's about community. Feeling less alone in this otherwise (mostly) solitary endeavor. I see you out there. And I'm grateful.
Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905
All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I. Love. Snail Mail. I love seeing your gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my awful handwriting. It's all so wonderful. And my thank-you postcards this year are really special. They are portraits of my new cat Alfie (a bright spot of 2020), designed by artist Ella Egan, a.k.a. my daughter. And they look like this:
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Wow, well, I guess karmically things have to even out eventually. Last Sunday's puzzle was so nice ... and we now return you to our regularly scheduled program of Sunday tedium. This was somehow both way, way too straightforward (you can tell just from the title and looking at the grid how the theme is going to express itself) and confoundingly forced and tortured. Some of these themers are just painful, first among them being BAHAMA MAMA MIX. It's the MIX that really gets me. There's a mix?? I barely know this cocktail exists, and you are telling me there is a mix. You use a mix. A mix? A mix. Margarita mix, hell yeah, I got you. Bloody Mary mix, OK, sure. Daiquiri mix? Yes, we're still friends. BAHAMA MAMA ... MIX? Come on now. I'm not saying there isn't such a thing, but come on. Further, ALUMINUM INGOT!?!?!? Look, these themers should be things, real things, actual things, not some preposterous theoretical thing that you would never ever ever accept in a puzzle as a self-standing answer. "WELCOME HOME, HON!?!?!?!" I had "SON," which at least you can imagine someone saying. Presumably a SON might've been away for a long time. Possibly he doesn't live with you any more. But a HON has maybe just been at work? Or the store? I don't know, but it's not the '50s, what is with this weird formal "WELCOME HOME, HON?" Again, son comes back from, I don't know, war, maybe, it's an Event. The formality of the phrasing makes sense. HON, my word. INGOT, dear gracious everloving wow. What are these themers? And the SAUCE is just sitting out there in that last themer, the only word in alllll the theme answers not touching any of the fourpeated letter strings. Sad. In the end, this is a bland concept, ridiculously executed.
Relative difficulty: Medium (10-something)
Theme answers:
- NO MAN IS AN ISLAND (22A: Classic saying originated by John Donne)
- BAHAMA MAMA MIX (31A: Aid for making a tiki bar cocktail)
- "WELCOME HOME, HON" (48A: "Glad to have you back, dear!")
- PRIMETIME TV (62A: Most expensive block)
- "WHERE WERE WE?" (72A: Post-interruption question)
- KING KAMEHAMEHA (87A: First ruler of a united Hawaii)
- ALUMINUM INGOT (103A: Relatively light foundry product)
- ROMA TOMATO SAUCE (118A: Potful in some Italian kitchens)
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, and activist. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent who moved to the United States and researched and raised awareness of the great contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Americans have made to society. He was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Over the years, he collected literature, art, slave narratives, and other materials of African history, which were purchased to become the basis of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, named in his honor, at the New York Public Library (NYPL) branch in Harlem. (wikipedia)
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The PayPal button and snail mail address are always sitting over in the blog sidebar, but otherwise, that's it for fundraising pitches for the next 51 weeks. Really REALLY hope they're better than the past 52. Happy New Puzzling Year, everybody.
Here are the annual contribution options one last time.
First, Paypal:
Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905
And heck, why don't I throw my Venmo handle in here too, just in case that's your preferred way of moving money around; it's @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which they did that one time someone contributed that way—but it worked!)
He's eating kale in that middle one, in case you're wondering. Anyway, these cards are personally meaningful to me, and also, I believe, objectively lovely. I can't wait to share them with the snail-mailers. Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership and support. Now on to today's puzzle...
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The MIX thing was really gahhhh because I couldn't make sense of the "X"—the cross was FEDEX, and I ... guess I just have a different idea of what "overnighting" means (18D: Overnighting option). See now it refers to shipping, but the "-ing" isn't even strictly necessary, and makes it seem like camping or other kind of sleeping arrangement is the context. What else? I misspelled Hans Christian ANDERSEN of course ("-ON") (90D: Giant in fairy tales?). Had AMEN RA because as I've said before that damn second vowel can go all kinds of ways (40A: Supreme Egyptian deity). "Circular arrow button" doesn't mean anything to me—I don't even know where that is, or what context I'm supposed to be imagining. Very unevocative. So RELOAD, pfft, needed a bunch of crosses (10D: Click the circular arrow button, say). Had HEAT before RIOT (2D: ___ shield) (sidenote: RIOT shield, maybe not a direction I would've taken the puzzle this week). STOMP before STAMP (25A: Really put one's foot down).CAF remains very much not a thing you order. It's regular or decaf, those are the options. You could order a half-CAF. But no one is like "gimme a CAF!" Stop with this tone-deaf nonsense cluing! (80D: Quick pick-me-up?) ("Quick" because it's an abbrev.). Haven't seen "R.U.R." in a very long time. Old school crosswordese. Seeing it again ... honestly, not TERRIF. Still, not as painful as the EMS clue (43D: Mammal's head and heart?) (its "head and heart" because it starts with an "M" and has two "M"s in its middle, GET IT!?!?!). For pete's sake, somebody submit some decent Sunday puzzles to the NYTXW. Your marquee puzzle should not be batting below the Mendoza line.
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]