Constructor: Zachary David Levy
Relative difficulty: No idea (I solved this one ... well, see below)
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THEME: IN THE BANK (61A: Guaranteed ... or where you can find the ends of 17-, 23, 37- and 50-Across)— Things you'd find ... in a bank
Theme answers:
Hello there. Sorry for the late post today. The NYTXW website was down down down all morning, and since I canceled my dead-tree subscription this summer because delivery was so unreliable, and since I don't use the "app," I had no real recourse. I'm very grateful to Colin Fowler for sending me a photograph (JPEG) of the puzzle, because it enabled me to solve the puzzle and put up a makeshift grid. I just had to get real creative about how I put letters in boxes. I used a text function and then got the font size and spacing right and just dragged Across answers into their proper place. MacGyver! MacGyver! MacGyver!
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This is a very decent Monday theme concept. Colloquial phrase semi-repurposed as a revealer in a last words-type theme. IN THE BANK is a figurative phrase, but the theme literalizes it. Great. And the theme answers are vibrant and interesting, esp. PENN AND TELLER. I want to quibble slightly with DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ... because of the "S" ... but maybe when you aren't putting "TIME" on the end, the "S" stands!? Because it's "Daylight Saving (not "-ings") Time," which I learned the hard way, having said the "S" version my whole life until, I dunno, some time in my 40s, probably. The main issue I have with the theme is that the bank things get increasingly abstract. I like the actual physical things (VAULT, TELLER) but SAVINGS is something I have to take on faith is in there, somewhere, and is likely not physically in there, and DEPOSIT, well, that's even more abstract and not sufficiently distinct from SAVINGS for my taste. The puzzle is making me think of "Dog Day Afternoon," which is possibly my favorite bank heist movie of all time, so the puzzle has done its job of making me happy, in at least one way.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: No idea (I solved this one ... well, see below)
Theme answers:
- POLE VAULT (17A: Olympic event which the world record stands at a little over 20 feet)
- PENN AND TELLER (23A: Magic duo with a 20+ year act in Las Vegas)
- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (37A: "Spring forward" and "fall back" plan)
- BOTTLE DEPOSIT (50A: Added cost of buying a soda)
Doña Inés de Asuaje y Ramírez de Santillana, better known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz[a]OSH (12 November 1648 – 17 April 1695) was a Mexican writer, philosopher, composer and poet of the Baroque period, and Hieronymite nun. Her merit as a true master of the Spanish Golden Age gained her the nicknames of "The Tenth Muse" or "The Phoenix of America",[2] for she was probably the most accomplished author of the entire history of the Spanish Americas, and a flame that rose from the ashes of "religious authoritarianism". (wikipedia)
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This is why I have no idea what the actual (relative) difficulty of the puzzle was—I had to solve and enter answers in this very bizarro way. Felt like it would've been easy under normal solving conditions, but that's just a guess. This is what I get for having *two* drinks (after running 8.5 miles earlier in the day) and then telling myself, "it's fine, I can solve and blog the Monday puzzle in the morning." Bah. Whatever, if the puzzle site is gonna go out on any day, Monday is the day for it to happen, so I've decided to count myself lucky, actually.
The fill is a little creaky (ANKA EMUS ESSO OVO EFILE APOP LEER OCHRE DYS etc.), with only SELF-PITY providing any real zing (3D: "Woe is me" feeling). But you go so fast on Monday that you're probably not likely to care too much about the non-fresh fill, given that the theme basically works and the theme answers are sufficiently grabby. I gotta get to work now. Bye.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Happy 18th anniversary to my wife, Penelope, without whom etc.
