Constructor: Jake Halperin
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: boating puns— yes, you read that correctly; actually, it's "place to store your boat" puns:
Theme answers:
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Grim. The fact that all the boating words are actually *boat storage* words gives the theme set a sort of consistency, but that is really all I can say in praise of this theme, which combines a super-corny, super-old-fashioned theme type with a topic I don't care about at all. The latter issue isn't really relevant, but really are we still just using bad puns as the basis for themes. And on a Thursday—the day when the puzzle is supposed to be its sassiest and most innovative? Profound disappointment. The puns aren't even that, uh, splashy. "WHAT'S UP, DOCK!" and FOREVER MOOR are particularly weak, with hardly any change involved in that first one, and with the base phrase ("forever more???") being so tenuous in the second. And speaking of FOREVER MOOR, I had serious pronunciation issues with this puzzle. I think I say "MOOR" with a long "U," not a long "O" sound. For me "MOOR" rhymes with "tandoor" or "Roger Moore." The pronunciation is still close enough to work for the pun to work reasonably well for me, but it's a little off. As opposed to the QUAY in QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC, which was way way off for me. I've apparently been hearing a regional variant my whole life, because *that* word, as I've known it, is pronounced "kay"! Here, read this, from "Grammarphobia":
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I liked "YOU GOT THIS!" (31D: Encouraging words), both because it feels fresh and in-the-language, and because it genuinely threw me for a bit: I figured the phrase of encouragement started, "YOU GO, ... someone!" Alas "GIRL" wasn't long enough to complete the answer, so I was briefly left wondering who was being cheered on, but then I was forced to reparse the answer (YOU GOT, not YOU GO) and boom, there it was. I don't mind being fooled when the resulting answer is strong (and, in retrospect, aptly clued). Most of this grid felt laded (!) with oldish familiarish fill. I won't list it all, but there really is a lot. A lot a lot. I mean, just start at the AÇAI / ICE-T crossing in the NE and work your way out from there, you'll see. It's a lot. I really only accept CAP'N if it's followed by Crunch, and the ART I clue just takes weak fill and makes it weird (7D: Beginning of the Constitution: Abbr.). Enough about this puzzle, I think.
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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- A PIER ON THE SCENE (17A: Weary boater's welcome sight?) (from "appear on the scene")
- WHAT'S UP, DOCK! (27A: Cry on arriving for a boating trip?) (from "What's up, Doc?")
- FOREVER MOOR (49A: Completely retire from boating?) (from "forever more")
- QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC (63A: Boaters, collectively?) (from "key (!) demographic")
Colonel Rosa Klebb is a fictional character, the main antagonist in the James Bond1957 novel and 1963 film From Russia with Love, in which she is played by Lotte Lenya. Her name is a pun on the popular Soviet phrase for women's rights, khleb i rozy (Cyrillic: хлеб и розы), which in turn was a direct Russian translation of the internationally used labour union slogan "bread and roses". (wikipedia) (my emph.)
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So, since there are recognized standard variant pronunciations, that means that the great climax to this boating pun puzzle was a pun I absolutely didn't understand. That is, I didn't know what phrase was being punned on. Looked up "K demographic" and "Kay demographic" (lotta Kay Jewelers fans out there...) before somehow realizing that the base phrase I was looking for was "key demographic." Pfft. I would not be surprised if I'm in the minority here, pronunciation-wise, but I will be gobsmacked if I'm the only one who looked at "QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC" and thought "I'm sorry, what?" So that was a less than ideal way to complete the theme, which, as I've said, I didn't care much for to start with. Oh well. Well at least they didn't try to pull off "STAR WHARF" or "RETURN OF THE JETTY."
I liked "YOU GOT THIS!" (31D: Encouraging words), both because it feels fresh and in-the-language, and because it genuinely threw me for a bit: I figured the phrase of encouragement started, "YOU GO, ... someone!" Alas "GIRL" wasn't long enough to complete the answer, so I was briefly left wondering who was being cheered on, but then I was forced to reparse the answer (YOU GOT, not YOU GO) and boom, there it was. I don't mind being fooled when the resulting answer is strong (and, in retrospect, aptly clued). Most of this grid felt laded (!) with oldish familiarish fill. I won't list it all, but there really is a lot. A lot a lot. I mean, just start at the AÇAI / ICE-T crossing in the NE and work your way out from there, you'll see. It's a lot. I really only accept CAP'N if it's followed by Crunch, and the ART I clue just takes weak fill and makes it weird (7D: Beginning of the Constitution: Abbr.). Enough about this puzzle, I think.
One important puzzle event to promote today:
"These Puzzles Fund Abortion" is a pack of 14 puzzles edited by Rachel Fabi and featuring an all-star list of constructors to benefit the Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF). BAF provides financial assistance to people who live in or travel to Maryland for abortion care. The puzzles are currently available for preorder through a donation to BAF here. Donors who choose to donate anonymously can forward their receipt to the email address listed on the fundraiser page in order to receive the puzzles (they will not be sent automatically). Puzzles will be sent this weekend, and everyone who preorders by Friday, April 9 will be guaranteed to receive them first.
The constructor slate really is top-notch (Erik Agard! Robyn Weintraub!), and having been a test-solver, I can say that the puzzle quality is really quite high—far more polished and entertaining than your average daily crossword. Do yourself and others a favor and go get these puzzles. And if you could spread the word, that would be great. Thank you.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. big thanks to Will Shortz for the glowing recommendation in his NYT interview yesterday:
