Constructor: Jem Burch
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (so ... Challenging to find the trick, Easy-to-Medium after that)
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THEME: James Bond, aka "Double-O" 7 — there are seven "double-O" rebus squares in the puzzle. Theme answers are actors who have played James Bond, clued solely by the years they had the role:
Bonds:
LOL how do you leave Roger M(OO)RE out of this thing? No respect.
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (so ... Challenging to find the trick, Easy-to-Medium after that)
Bonds:
- SEAN CONNERY (17A: *1962-67)
- PIERCE BROSNAN (37A: *1995-2002)
- DANIEL CRAIG (59A: *2006-present)
Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, May 4, 1938 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the Billboard R&B chart: "Can I Change My Mind" (1968), "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" (1970), and "Turning Point" (1975).
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So, it looks like for the second day in a row we're doing letter equations, cool, cool. Conceptually, this one is very nice. I'm stunned nOOne has done it before. Seems like double-O7 is just sitting there begging to be rebused or thematized in one way or another. I have only two issues with this theme (besides the M(OO)RE omission, come on!). First, once you pick up the trick (two O's in one square), then the whole theme becomes obvious instantly (i.e. that the asterisked clues are Bond actors, that there will be seven such "OO" squares). The remaining mystery is where the "OO" squares will be, which does keep things interesting. But to be able to fill in so much of the remaining fill, and to have nothing left but the "OO" minefield, after having finished only 1/4 of the puzzle ... it took some of the wind out of the puzzle's sails. Peaked too early. Finishing felt more like clean-up. The bigger issue with the theme for me—and I guess this relates to the M(OO)RE omission, is ... why these Bonds? Yes, because they fit symmetrically, OK, but seriously, why? Though Niven and Lazenby have played Bond, they did so just once apiece, so omit them, fine. But TIMOTHY DALTON played him twice and Roger M(OO)RE played him seven (!) times. So I guess my consternation really is about M(OO)RE's absence, after all. He was in as many Bond films as SEAN CONNERY (7), more than PIERCE BROSNAN (4), more than DANIEL CRAIG (soon to be 5), he has a double-O in his dang name ... but you (double-)omit him. Baffling. Shameful, really.
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| Directed by RIAN Johnson, and featuring ... DANIEL CRAIG! |
The gimmick was hard for me to pick up at first because IGLOO fit just fine at 14A: Quarters seen in some parts of Canada (IGL(OO)S). Nothing inherently plural about "Quarters" in this sense—just means "a place." So with IGLOO snugly in its place ... yeah, trouble. Because it was clearly wrong. No three-letter bird I could think of at 4D: Bird with a mournful cry that started LO-, no depressable thing I could think of at 5D: It quits when it gets depressed that started EO-. So I had to jump over to the next little section up top, where I put in BOLT at 7D: Who has finished a 100-meter dash in under nine seconds. Then ABOVE for 6A: Winning. Put TODOS in at 15A: Ruckuses. Total mess. Ultimately saved by They/THEM pronouns (8D: They/___ pronouns), as well as by knowing the absurd word H(OO)HAS (from years and years of seeing it in puzzles, and puzzles only). Somehow pieced that section together, got SEAN CONNERY, and that was all I needed—entire theme now clear, puzzle much easier from there on out.
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| clear from here on out |
It's a solid enough grid. I think Uber is a terrible company and I have no idea about the various flavors of Uber so easily my least favorite part of the grid was trying to figure out what came after UBER- in 42A: Certain money-saving rideshare option, then having that remaining bit be a rebus bit (P(OO)L), then having that bit crash into NLER, a ghastly bit of olde-timey crosswordese I thought we'd done away with (40D: Pirate or Padre, for short). No one in baseball says it. There's so much team-changing and interleague play that the very idea of an NLER has become pretty meaningless. Stop stop stop. Also stop with the NRA (I guess if you really insist, sure, do the New Deal cluing, but that initialism is never not gonna evoke guns). I mixed up my birds and had KETREL at first at 50A: Wide-ranging seabird (PETREL) (a kestrel is a wee falcon, not a seabird at all). Never heard of TYRONE Davis, but was happy to learn about him. One of the few times where I've been like "Who!?" then looked the person up and thought "well alright alright alright... this is alright":
Wanted IN ESSE (crossword muscle memory!) and then ONLINE and then IN LIFE (?) before finally getting ON-SITE (48D: Not virtual). I guess ONLINE is, in fact, virtual, in its way, so apparently which world is reality and which world is virtual is already becoming unclear to my brain. Great. Is this The Singularity? Am I in the cloud(s)? Save me, Digital Jesus! Or ON-SITE Jesus! One of you! The virtual/actual confusion is too much. I have permanent ZoomBrain now. I'm a Zoombie. And on that weird note, I'm off to get my second shot, W(OO) H(OO)! Have a nice day.