Constructor: Sam Ezersky
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: none
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Word of the Day:"SAW V" (34A: 2008 horror film sequel) —
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Started this with seven correct guesses in a row: CUTEST APRS LAPUP SPA GAGS GARETH ASIT. Only hesitation there, ironically, was GARETH (ironic because I teach Arthurian literature—had the GA- and thought "GALAH- ... no, GAWAI- ... no. What the ...? Oh, right, GARETH. Deep cut!") (GARETH is one of Gawain's four brothers, killed by his childhood idol Lancelot during the latter's bizarrely heedless rescue of Guinevere near the end of Le Morte D'Arthur). The puzzle opened so easily, I was kind of surprised. Gave me the front end of MERRIAM-WEBSTER (easy), and parts of the front ends of all the top Acrosses. I was having an OK time until I was asked to piece together a hybrid instrument I did not know existed until (checks watch) today. Just now. GUITARLELE is ... and I'm sorry if you're an aficionado ... the dumbest-sounding thing I've ever heard of. Literally awful coming out of your mouth. The sounds don't flow right. The ukulele is already like a mini-guitar, what are you even doing? (I know, string count, whatever.) It just looks so dumb in print. It is not great from a solving standpoint when the letters you have to piece together from crosses are "-LELE." Was that supposed to produce joy? Well, I hope it worked on you. This answer was lethally crossed by LETHALLY, which has the dumbest clue ever written: 3D: Bad way to be poisoned. Me: "... all of the ways?" What are the good ways to be poisoned? So GUITARLELE with that LETHALLY clue chaser, oof. Trying way too hard to be novel in the first place, and then ... was that LETHALLY clue trying to be funny? I don't know. It all just kind of stank. I slowed down in that part of the puzzle, but only from disgust, not from true difficulty.
Relative difficulty: Easy
Word of the Day:"SAW V" (34A: 2008 horror film sequel) —
Saw V is a 2008 horror film directed by David Hackl (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the fifth installment in the Saw film series. The film stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Julie Benz, Carlo Rota, and Meagan Good. The plot follows FBI Agent Peter Strahm, who pursues Detective Mark Hoffman after discovering his identity as one of the Jigsaw Killer's apprentices and successor, while Hoffman begins designing his own Jigsaw "games" to test people and tries to frame Strahm to keep his identity secret. The film also explores Hoffman's backstory and explains how he became Jigsaw's apprentice, while continuing several story lines started in Saw IV. [...] The film received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 13% based on 76 reviews, with a weighted average of 2.92/10. The site's consensus states "If its plot were as interesting as its torture devices, or its violence less painful than its performances, perhaps Saw V might not feel like it was running on fumes." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 20 out of 100, based on 13 reviews. (wikipedia)
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Also very let down by OBAMA SUPPORTER. The SUPPORTER part, actually, It was easy to get, but it was also so weak-seeming. I got OBAMA and thought, "well, that can't just be SUPPORTER, because then really you could put any politician's name in the grid and follow it with SUPPORTER." So even though SUPPORTER was the first thing that sprang to mind, I didn't write it in. This led to my only (short-lived) experience of being stuck in this puzzle: could not get either M--ON or --DE from their clues. I figured I'd get one of those, and then I'd know if SUPPORTER were right. But neither made any sense to me. So I just abandoned that area and went back to the west and got going again over there. Flew down and around the south, with only CORNISH PASTY holding me up at all (and only because the clue was vague). Finished at perhaps the most disappointing square in the grid: the EASTON (?) / BUSHEY (???) crossing. Two inconsequential place names, crossing each other, fantastic. Luckily I've heard of EASTON. BUSHEY ... is just an excuse for you to gratuitously wedge a Harry Potter clue in here? Why? Why would you do that? If *that* is BUSHEY's claim to "fame," maybe it isn't ... famous? Enough? By the way if you want a good EASTON clue, try ["Morning Train (9 to 5)" singer Sheena ___]. Oh ... wow, I just found out that Sheena EASTON was (hold on to your tams) NÉE ORR. That's some prime crossword DNA. She deserves to be the only EASTON clue. I am now a SHEENA SUPPORTER (where EASTON clues are concerned).
The answers up top are delightful, and I especially enjoyed the clue on MUSEUM EXHIBIT (13A: Remains to be seen, say).TIDEPOD weirdly dates the puzzle (well, the clue does, anyway) (11D: It was once a challenge to eat). UNPAIR is a word that I hate (so ugly) but love (so current and in-the-language). Gratuitous poker reference on my favorite number (NINES) was deeply unwelcome (46D: Wild cards in "baseball" poker). It was all over pretty fast. Have a nice day.