Constructor: Nam Jin Yoon
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (will vary highly depending on your knowledge of the proper nouns, or lack thereof)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Scoville scale (53A: They rate very high on the Scoville scale => HABANEROS) —
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I like a puzzle that reviews itself at 1-Across. I like the confidence. If I had to nominate a Themeless Constructor of the Year, which thankfully I don't, Nam Jin Yoon would be it. He appeared suddenly, as if from nowhere (which I guess is how most novice constructors appear to most of us), and immediately started laying down perfect puzzles. I don't think I've done anything but rave about everything he has put out. His grids are clever, playful, clean, and ... yes, like I said up front, confident. The level of polish on his grids puts most other constructors to shame. The only thing that made me grumble even briefly was ETS, and that's only because they went with the standardized testing corporation (boo) instead of actual extraterrestrials (always go with the aliens, man). That's it. That was the height of my dissatisfaction. Otherwise, I had no ASKANCE glances for this one. For starters, there's the unusual grid, the unusualness of which maybe you don't notice at first. That giant NW corner, where three 9s run into three other 9s, is not echoed in the SW corner ... that's because you don't have conventional rotational symmetry. Instead, you've got mirror symmetry along the NW-to-SE diagonal, making the NW a kind of fat arrowhead of white space, or the giant head of some odd bird. It's whimsical and I love it, both for its look and for the overall feeling of *flow* that it allows. You can zoom around this grid; even when you get stuck, as I did repeatedly, you never get trapped. Plus, the difficulty comes largely from genuine clever cluing and SLY misdirection as opposed to niche trivia. Now, I say this as someone who knew all the "trivia" cold: HENRI de Toulouse-Lautrec and ANDIE MacDowell and ELLE WOODS and Elena KAGAN and H.G. WELLS. It all felt like general knowledge to me. The one moment where I was very aware of having a slight advantage over certain (non sports-fan) solvers was at ELIAS Sports Bureau, keeper of STATS. I know them from my erstwhile baseball fandom, but they're the official keeper of stats for the NBA, NFL, and other pro leagues as well. So that answer was slightly niche, and knowing it double-helped the same way that not knowing it probably double-hurt. But mostly, this puzzle felt warm and open and welcoming and inclusive.
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (will vary highly depending on your knowledge of the proper nouns, or lack thereof)
Word of the Day: Scoville scale (53A: They rate very high on the Scoville scale => HABANEROS) —
The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency (spiciness or "heat") of chili peppers, as recorded in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicinis the predominant component. The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, whose 1912 method is known as the Scoville organoleptic test. The Scoville organoleptic test is the most practical method for estimating SHU and is a subjective assessment derived from the capsaicinoid sensitivity by people experienced with eating hot chilis. [...] In the Scoville organoleptic test, an exact weight of dried pepper is dissolved in alcohol to extract the heat components (capsaicinoids), then diluted in a solution of sugar water. Decreasing concentrations of the extracted capsaicinoids are given to a panel of five trained tasters, until a majority (at least three) can no longer detect the heat in a dilution. The heat level is based on this dilution, rated in multiples of 100 SHU. [...] A weakness of the Scoville organoleptic test is its imprecision due to human subjectivity, depending on the taster's palate and number of mouth heat receptors, which vary widely among people. Another weakness is sensory fatigue; the palate is quickly desensitized to capsaicinoids after tasting a few samples within a short time period. Results vary widely (up to ± 50%) between laboratories.
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| My local CYBER CAFE, now no more... |
The puzzle just handed me a bunch of answers, which is the one substantial aspect of the solve that I almost want to fault it for. BORN AGAIN was a gimme. ANDIE, HENRI, ELLEWOODS, SADE, all gimmes. The sheer volume of handouts meant that I was never in danger of getting truly stuck. But while it's true that being on the easy side always makes a puzzle a little easier to love, this puzzle has far more to offer than mere doability. Wide-ranging fill, tricky clues, right on-the-money colloquial phrases ("SAY NO MORE""NOTE TO SELF..."). I don't know what more you want.
I started this one out with a miss. Wrote in BOIL at 5D: Sterilize, in a way (SPAY). I knew 20A: Overdrawn account? was going to involve some kind of tale or story, but I couldn't get there with BOIL in place. I ended up inferring KISS at the end of 1A: [Perfection!], used that to get KAGAN, then saw BORN AGAIN, and the whole corner just bloomed from there. Wanted SKIMPED before STINTED (8D: Wasn't generous) (lots of shared letters) but that didn't slow me down much. After that, the only part of the grid that had me even semi-stuck came down below, when I wanted NO PET instead of NO FEE at 61A: Like many apartment rentals. I haven't rented an apartment in forever so I don't really understand the concept here. I don't remember paying fees for my rentals. Anyway, the crosses for FEE (where I had PET) were "?" clue followed by "?" clue (53D: Printmaker? followed by 41D: Masked warning?), so I floundered slightly. But only slightly. There are just too many opportunities for toeholds in this one. I had DROLL before DRYLY (47D: Deadpan), but not much else went wrong. Hardest answer for me, weirdly, was SIT-IN (43A: March alternative). I just ... couldn't find the right meaning of "March," and even -ITI- wasn't helping me. At all. I was stuck in the realm of music. Or months. Or "Little Women." Military-type walking occurred to me, but the protest angle just didn't surface at all. Sometimes our struggles seem head-shakingly bizarre in retrospect.
What else?
- I enjoyed writing in AC/DC, briefly scuttling it for ABBA, and then returning to AC/DC at 23D: Rock group whose name came from letters found on a sewing machine. I think band-themed sewing machines could spawn a sewing revival. I know I'd want an ABBA sewing machine, especially if it played music. "If you change your mind / I'm the first in line / Honey I'm still free / Sew some pants on me"
- I did not know CHINOS had anything to do with an "Asian country." I think I thought CHINOS had something to do with the fabric (??). Had no idea they were named after Laos.
- A DÍA is a Spanish day, and there are many Spanish days in a Spanish month (mayo) (33A: Bit of mayo?)
- An INDEX"points" you to where you want to go in the book (18A: List of pointers)
- The BASES are highly unlikely to be "loaded with singles," especially not in today's game, where singles are increasingly rare, but maybe the clue wanted me to think wallets. Or bars. Anyway, it's baseball (45D: Thy might be loaded with singles)
- Love the clue on ERS, a bit of unlikeable fill made interesting by an unexpected (and misdirective) clue. I thought the "transcripts" were related to student records, but they're court transcripts, where the uhs and ums and ERS are sometimes omitted I guess.
Enjoy your Saturday.