Hello, everyone, it’s Clare (surprise!) filling in for Rex for today. I hope that everyone is having a good March, with the start of spring in less than a week! It randomly snowed in D.C. over the weekend but now is seemingly going to stay pretty warm. I certainly hope so, at least for the sake of the cherry blossoms! In other news, I recently discovered my TV package has the Tennis Channel, which has made my productivity go wayyy down the last few days. Though, I was productive enough in a meeting last week where I had my first mediation and got called “counselor” for the first time, which was pretty fun!
Relative difficulty:Fairly easy
Theme answers:
- GREEN OLIVE (17A: Classic martini garnish)
- CASINO FLOOR (23A: Locale for baccarat or roulette)
- NASCAR TRACK (36A: Daytona International Speedway, for one)
- CONCERT HALL (50A: Philharmonic's home)
Amélie (also known as Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story of a shy waitress, played by Audrey Tautou, who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better while dealing with her own isolation. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Tautou's performance, the cinematography, production design, and writing. The film was a commercial success, grossing $174.2 million worldwide against a budget of $10 million, and is one of the biggest international successes for a French film. (Wiki)
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This puzzle was decidedly not “the pits.” This puzzle was a steady solve for me, and I quite enjoyed it (which doesn’t always happen on Tuesdays). The theme was a pleasant surprise when I got to the reveal; I was originally confused as to how GREEN OLIVE would fit alongside those other theme answers, which are all locations, but it all came together well. I really enjoyed some of the answers, and a lot of the puzzle felt fresh. NANNY CAM (36D: Home-monitoring device) is fun and something I don't think I’ve seen in a puzzle before. Same could be said for HOT DATE (20A: Reason to get gussied up) and ARE YOU OK (11D: Words of concern). 54A: Reminder to arrive with good spirits? as BYOB was quite clever. It was fun seeing Aly RAISMAN (55A) in there; she’s a fantastic gymnast and a massive inspiration for what she’s done off the gymnastics mat. And, I enjoyed the clue and answer for BO OBAMA (40D), even if the answer when it’s written out looks a tad bit strange (boobama) — I do like reading the answer as “boo, Bama,” as the Crimson Tide is far from my favorite football team.
The whole puzzle is a pangram, which is a cool feat and one that I can appreciate given that the fill was mostly very good, with some really clever clue/answer combos. Some of the three-letter fill was annoying, as they were almost all crosswordese (See: TON, OBI, SSN, IRA, EMU, IRE, REB, ETC, etc…). I particularly hate a clue like 32A: Mauna __ because you never know whether it’s going to be “kea” or “koa” or “lea” or LOA; there’s no skill in the solve, just a guess or a delay while you get the crosses. I also didn’t love the QUOTE / QUOTA crossing at 5A/5D, as it feels pretty cheap.
I had a few hang-ups in the puzzle, which slowed me down some. I can never decide whether to spell the color OCHRE (26D: Earthy pigment) or “ocher.” I completely forgot that “dogs” (11A: Dogs'"dogs") can mean feet. 28A: "Gimme a break!" annoyed me because I really wanted it to be “sheesh,” which obviously didn’t fit and was YEESH instead. I’ve actually seen a number of episodes of “The Blacklist,” but I didn’t know Christine LAHTI (52D) was in the show, so I guess I didn’t make it to her seasons! 33D: Person in a cast also spun me around a bit, but the answer being ACTOR was clever.
Misc.
Misc.
- Whoops! For 57D: Source of unwanted feedback, I had the “M” when I got to this clue, and I thought the answer was “mom”... (not MIC). Please don’t tell her I’d ever think she gives me unwanted feedback!! (I texted my sister, and she apparently did the exact same thing — sorry, Mom!)
- 57D: PC alternatives as MACS reminds me that, while I have a personal laptop, which is a Mac, my work computer is a PC, and man alive does it confuse me! I haven’t used a PC in so long that I don’t know any of the helpful shortcuts (such as taking a screen grab), and, because I switch back and forth between computers, I’m constantly pressing the wrong keys when I try to copy and paste something.
- The theme made me think of when I was in L.A. with my family a couple months ago and we realized we were passing La Brea Tar Pits on our way to see the Academy Museum, and they were absolutely fascinating, in a very morbid way. I had heard of them but had no idea that the tar pits were so sneaky – I mean, the pits, which are still there, look like friendly little ponds, but when animals wandered in for a drink they’d get stuck in the tar at the bottom.