Constructor: Brad Wiegmann
Relative difficulty: Medium
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THEME:"Crossword Buff" — puns related to nudism
Theme answers:
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No time for this. The era when tehee'ing about nekkidness puns was something that might warrant a hearty chuckle has long passed, folks. This felt like a theme from times of yore. Not even a smile from me, on any of these. Why is the pit merely BOTTOMLESS if they're a "nudist club orchestra?" That's some pretty half-assed (!) nudism there. Some stuff, like FULLY RECOVERED, only connects to nudism in the most tenuous of ways. The theme is juvenile and corny, and even if I thought it was great conceptually, the clues / answers just don't land. The rest of it is just filler. A grid you might've seen decades ago. Fine, unremarkable. I remain completely baffled that the NYTXW not only doesn't turn out a *killer* Sunday puzzle every week, but can't even put a string of passable efforts together. OK, I'm just noticing that LAR (!?!?!) is an answer, so even my estimation of the fill has gone down now (9D: Choreographer Lubovitch). Wow. LAR. OK. This is the marquee puzzle, the Sunday, the Big Show! Howwwwwww do we end up with a pile of disappointment every week!?
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- BARELY MANAGING (24A: Leadership style of the nudist club president?)
- MANY MOONS AGO (41A: When the nudist club was founded?)
- RAW RECRUITS (56A: New members of the nudist club?)
- COMIC STRIPS (78A: What happens in the stand-up show at the nudist club?)
- EXPOSURE TIME (92A: Hours spent by the pool at the nudist club?)
- FULLY RECOVERED (108A: How people returned from a week at the nudist club?)
- BOTTOMLESS PIT (4D: Where the nudist club orchestra plays its concerts?)
- WINNING STREAK (59D: Victory in the annual nudist club 1K?)
Cetus (/ˈsiːtəs/) is a constellation. The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology as both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay, sometimes in English called 'the whale'. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellations: Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus. (wikipedia)
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Almost all the difficulty lay in trying to figure out what the hell the themers were trying to do, which meant over and over again, struggle was followed not by aha but by oof. Now I'm seeing MORIA? What is that? (43D: Balrog's home in "The Lord of the Rings"). Also, who / what is BALROG. I saw all those movies, and found them completely dull and forgettable. "LAR MORIA!" That's the devil's toast—roughly translated, it means "here's to your continued crossword suffering!"
Besides the themers, the only other trouble spot I encountered was the SW, generally. This is almost entirely due to the fact that I forgot CETUS, which ended up being in a weirdly crucial position, in terms of movement through the grid. CETUS and EAST gave me fits, and so my way into the SW felt a bit clogged up. I'd also never heard of RAIN-X (?) (69D: Big name in windshield wipers) or LISA Vanderpump (83D: Vanderpump of Bravo's "Vanderpump Rules"), and couldn't get to AUTO from 99D: Thermostat setting at all—needed every cross. Still, as trouble spots go, these are all pretty minor. The big issue today is that very little of any of this was interesting. I wish the news were better, but it is not. I'd really been feeling that the puzzle in general had been creeping up, quality-wise, this year. But Sunday ... bloody Sunday. I think I've liked one this year. The Paolo Pasco one from 1/3. I'm begging the good constructors, submit Sunday puzzles. Save us. Save me. Thank you. Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. The Boswords 2021 Spring Themeless League starts *MONDAY* Mar. 1, 2021. Get a taste of virtual tournament fun and then when this whole pandemic baloney has subsided, you can maybe venture into the wonderful world of 3-dimensional crossword tournaments! Actual physical space! Actual human bodies! What a concept. In the meantime, this League is very popular and people seem to really enjoy it, so give it a go. Here's a blurb from head tournament guy, John Lieb:
Registration for the Boswords 2021 Spring Themeless League is still open! The 9-week event starts on Monday, March 1 and features themeless puzzles -- clued at three levels of difficulty -- from an all-star roster of constructors and edited by Brad Wilber. To register, to view the constructor line-up, and to learn more, go to www.boswords.org.[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]