Constructor: Jacob Stulberg
Relative difficulty: Easy (2:43 even with a tenacious, stupid typo)
![]()
THEME:"IT'S ALL RELATIVE"(52A: "Let's put things in perspective" ... or a title for this puzzle) —"blanker THAN blank" phrases, i.e. phrases expressing relativity:
Theme answers:
The one thing I like about this puzzle is that all the themers are 14s. That is bizarre. Like ... no one likes to touch 14s, they're hard to work with. You see how you get all those three-letter answers under/above the black squares at the ends of the 14; how the grid is super-segmenty because the black squares wrap around the ends of the 14s in an "L" shape because otherwise you'd have real serious white-space problems? Yeah, that's because 14s are hard as hell to manage cleanly. They're ungainly. So ... this puzzle uses only 14s, which is bold. Beyond that, though, I don't really get it. I mean ... blanker than blank. That's it. The revealer isn't even that punny. I mean, usually, like on "Jeopardy!" or whatever (classically, if "Friends" has taught me anything), the category IT'S ALL RELATIVE means you'll be dealing with, like, aunts and uncles and cousins and what not. You know: relatives. But here, these are just relative phrases. THAN is a preposition that follows a comparative adjective. It's awfully literal, and not much fun. Also, because of the aforementioned hyper-segmented grid, most of the fill is short, so there's not even cool long bonus answers to break the monotony. PAD THAI. That's what this puzzle has for me. And while I like PAD THAI (YUM!)... I need more. A little GLUG GLUG, metaphorically speaking, if you know what I'm saying (full disclosure: I'm no longer sure exactly what I'm saying).
Relative difficulty: Easy (2:43 even with a tenacious, stupid typo)
Theme answers:
- LIGHTER THAN AIR (20A: Capable of floating, as a balloon)
- HOLIER THAN THOU (32A: Sanctimonious)
- LARGER THAN LIFE (39A: Imposing and then some)
Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials (such as self-adhesive labels), apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a member of the Fortune 500 and is headquartered in Glendale, California. // The company was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1935 as Kum Kleen Products [ed: !!!!], a partnership of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Stanton Avery. (wikipedia)
• • •
But wow was it easy. I flopped and slid around in the SE corner for what felt like a very long time because I wrote in LOBSE instead of LOBES (59A: Brain divisions) and so the Down crosses were all weird, and when I get going very fast, my brain sometimes doesn't really register simple mistakes like that ... and still I came in at 2:43, which is very fast for me. 10-20 seconds under my Monday average, and 10-20 seconds is a *lot* of time on a Monday. I had a bit of an IRMA / ERMA hesitation, I guess, but guessed correctly so didn't have to stop to fix anything (27A: Soul singer Thomas). Didn't really know MARTA but had MART- before I ever saw the clue (14A: Atlanta train system). MARTA is the first name of one of the creators of "Friends" (MARTA Kauffman). Did I mention that I'm in the middle of (re-)watching all of "Friends"? Speaking of IT'S ALL RELATIVE, we just watched the one where Rachel dates the guy who's a little *too* into his own sister. OK, bye!