Constructor: Patrick Berry
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Lawrence KASDAN (7A: Lawrence who co-wrote "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi") —
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So … it's January, the time when I make my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to this blog. Actually, I didn't make the pitch last year. I used last January to raise money for other causes instead (and it was my pleasure to do so). But this year I once again ask you (especially you regular readers) to consider what the blog is worth to you on an annual basis and give accordingly. As I've said before, as much as I love writing this blog, I treat it like a job— answers and commentary go up every day, without fail, usually at 12:01 am, but certainly by 9am at the very latest. This has been true for seven straight years. I know that some people are opposed to paying for what they can get for free, and still others really don't have money to spare. Both kinds of people are welcome to continue reading my blog, with my compliments. It will always be free. I have no interest in cordoning it off, nor do I have any interest in taking advertising. I value my independence too much. Anyway, if you are so moved, there is a Paypal button in the sidebar, and a mailing address here:
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Rex Parker
℅ Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton NY 13905
Maybe I'll stick a PayPal button in here for the mobile users. Let's see...
For people who send me actual honest-to-god (i.e. "snail") mail, I have this great new set of thank-you postcards that I'm hoping to burn through: "the iconic Pantone color chip design in 100 brilliant colors." Who will be the lucky person who gets … let's see … Pantone 19-2025: Red Plum? Ooooh, elegant. It could be you. Or give via PayPal and get a thank-you email. That's cool too. Anyway, whatever you choose to do, I remain most grateful for your readership. Now on to the puzzle …
Update: I got my first snail-mail donation on Tuesday—look at the cuteness:
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THE FRIDAY PUZZLE: This puzzle is so insanely well made that I'm going to make a point of finding all its faults. Otherwise, my review would just be me shaking my head in awe. So, here are the ways in which this puzzle sucks:
OK, enough of that. In reality, what you have here is a 64-worder that is so smooth that it almost seems unremarkable. There was nothing odd or tortured or alien, not even a decent candidate for Word of the Day. What did it have? A cavalcade of long answers, almost all of them perfectly in-the-language phrases, five of them Right Alongside One another. That center is so fat and so white and he drove CHEAT SHEETS (a fantastic answer) right through it!? Honestly, it's not fair. I guess the grid doesn't have many Scrabbly letters. You could knock it for that. But let me tell you, constructors revere this guy for a reason—his grids exhibit a high level of difficulty, but without pretension and (most importantly) with flawless execution. I can't find any real crap, even in the short stuff. My only (genuine) complaint was that it was too easy. I was done in 4:38. Too smooth. I've seen more superficially dazzling themelesses, but I've never seen someone go under 68 words with such ease. Almost nonchalance. Most people's grids start to buckle somewhere, sometimes pretty badly, when you start to get down into those depths. But this thing isn't even breaking a sweat. Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Easy
Word of the Day: Lawrence KASDAN (7A: Lawrence who co-wrote "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi") —
Lawrence Edward Kasdan (born January 14, 1949) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Kasdan has been confirmed to be co-writer for the upcoming third trilogy of Star Wars.[1]He is the father of directors Jake Kasdan and Jon Kasdan, and the father-in-law of musician Inara George. (wikipedia) (wait … there's someone named INARA???)
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THE PITCH — [You can scroll down if you've already read it]
℅ Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton NY 13905
Maybe I'll stick a PayPal button in here for the mobile users. Let's see...
For people who send me actual honest-to-god (i.e. "snail") mail, I have this great new set of thank-you postcards that I'm hoping to burn through: "the iconic Pantone color chip design in 100 brilliant colors." Who will be the lucky person who gets … let's see … Pantone 19-2025: Red Plum? Ooooh, elegant. It could be you. Or give via PayPal and get a thank-you email. That's cool too. Anyway, whatever you choose to do, I remain most grateful for your readership. Now on to the puzzle …
Update: I got my first snail-mail donation on Tuesday—look at the cuteness:
• • •
THE FRIDAY PUZZLE: This puzzle is so insanely well made that I'm going to make a point of finding all its faults. Otherwise, my review would just be me shaking my head in awe. So, here are the ways in which this puzzle sucks:
- MACHOS? (35A: Domineering men). Really, a noun? The dude sang "Macho, macho man"… but he did also sing "I want to be a macho!" Damn it! OK, scratch #1.
- IN A PET? No one has beenIN A PET since the '50s, and even then no one liked it. The only person who can properly be said to beIN A PET is a vet, during surgery or perhaps certain routine examinations.
- OATERS? What year is it? We're still pretending this is current!? [but even as I write this I'm noticing it's Right Beneath CRACK SHOT, which is so perfect … Damn it!]
- EPPS and TERI are modern(ish) crosswordese and, despite being marginal and far apart from one another, together they nearly destroy the whole puzzle.
- Barry Manilow.
- KRISS KROSS should clearly have been clued as the youthful rap group who pioneered the Backwards Clothes Movement of the early '90s. So what if they actually spell their name KRIS and not KRISS? I think my point is still valid. Actually, I just want to play this:
OK, enough of that. In reality, what you have here is a 64-worder that is so smooth that it almost seems unremarkable. There was nothing odd or tortured or alien, not even a decent candidate for Word of the Day. What did it have? A cavalcade of long answers, almost all of them perfectly in-the-language phrases, five of them Right Alongside One another. That center is so fat and so white and he drove CHEAT SHEETS (a fantastic answer) right through it!? Honestly, it's not fair. I guess the grid doesn't have many Scrabbly letters. You could knock it for that. But let me tell you, constructors revere this guy for a reason—his grids exhibit a high level of difficulty, but without pretension and (most importantly) with flawless execution. I can't find any real crap, even in the short stuff. My only (genuine) complaint was that it was too easy. I was done in 4:38. Too smooth. I've seen more superficially dazzling themelesses, but I've never seen someone go under 68 words with such ease. Almost nonchalance. Most people's grids start to buckle somewhere, sometimes pretty badly, when you start to get down into those depths. But this thing isn't even breaking a sweat. Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld