Constructor: Stephen McCarthy
Relative difficulty: Medium (?)
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THEME: "Resettling Letterings" — Clues contain anagrams of answers:
Theme answers:
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Legitimately stunned at how remedial this theme is. I keep thinking I must be missing something, because this seems like a theme you might have seen some variation of a thousand times, 30 years ago, in outlets far less prestigious than the NYT. It's anagrams. That's it. It's ... it's anagrams. There is nothing here. There's nothing clever. There's no joy. There is some measure of difficulty, I guess, as you have to sit there moving letters around in your mind for a bit, but ... it's a kid's placemat of a puzzle, ultimately. Mind-blowing that the highest-profile puzzle outlet in the country serves up *this* as its marquee puzzle of the week. I wish I had more to say. It's anagrams. It's anagrams. Eight anagrams. It's got MIZZENS, I guess that was weird enough to be noteworthy. And MAGLEV TRAIN, which ... I don't even know what that is, to be quite honest, but at least it's unusual. RIGHT ON CUE and BLEARY-EYED are fine longer answers. I can't give any credit to ZOOM BOMB because as someone who taught on Zoom for seemingly ever (actual time: 2.5 semesters), I can't find any pleasure in Zoom anything. But it's not an inherently bad answer. Still ... even if you throw ZOOM BOMB onto the "Good" side of the ledger ... that's not a lot of "Good," especially for a Sunday. There was 3 to 4x as much goodness in the much smaller Saturday grid. Ooh, BANH MI, something else I like ... I'm really trying here. It's just that the theme is dismal. It's hardly there at all. I don't understand how the NYTXW has so few decent Sunday submissions that it has to resort to this. "OLDIES," indeed.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Medium (?)
Theme answers:
- "MEAN GIRLS" (23A: 2004 film about a group of MALIGNERS)
- GREASE PAINT (25A: It might be put on for stage PAGEANTRIES)
- MAGLEV TRAIN (42A: You might be MARVELING AT this as it whizzes by)
- CATECHISM (46A: Sort of SCHEMATIC for Christian education)
- DATING SITE (64A: Many relationships are INSTIGATED on one)
- WHITE BREAD (68A: Healthy eaters may give this a WIDE BERTH)
- LIONESSES (90A: They can be NOISELESS while stalking prey)
- ADVENTURERS (93A: Explorers of the UNTRAVERSED)
- CALLIGRAPHY (111A: Writing done GRAPHICALLY)
- GIFT HORSE (115A: The Trojans lacked the FORESIGHT to turn this down)
Maglev (from magnetic levitation) is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of magnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage of the lack of friction. Along certain "medium-range" routes (usually 320 to 640 km [200 to 400 mi]), maglev can compete favourably with high-speed rail and airplanes. (wikipedia)
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No idea who ALAN BEAN is, so that was by far the toughest part of the grid for me. I guess I know who the [House Republican V.I.P....] is, since she's a rep from my state, but she's such a vile dishonest fascist supporter of disinformation and sedition that I'm not even mentioning any part of her name, you'll notice. Not sure what this crossword editor's fascination is with "both sides" of the political aisle, but he's clearly really committed.
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| [NYT, May 14, 2021] |
Is the mule carrying a KILO of coke? (79A: Valuable load for a mule). I am guessing (only guessing) that it's gold, but it's not the 19th century, so the clue is a little confusing. What is PAP? Is that like CUD? Soft food, maybe ... I think? Anyway, [You can chew on it] is about as unhelpful a clue for PAP as I can imagine. I had RERIG before REFIT (102D: Make over, as a ship) and "AYE AYE" before "AYE, SIR" (101A: "On it, captain!"), so I was really whiffing on the nautical stuff today (which there was a weird lot of). I've heard the French cry "Mon DIEU!" but "DIEU merci!" I couldn't really place. The rest of this grid ... happened. I'm quite done. Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. if you want to remind yourself what good puzzles look like, go order the puzzles from yesterday's Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament. Just do it.
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[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]