Good morning, and thanks for joining me on the final Malaika MWednesday of the month! Before jumping in to the puzzle, I wanted to call out that the two constructors (+ Rachel Fabi, friend-of-the-blog) have edited a pack of sixteen puzzles that you can enjoy with a donation of $15 that will help people get access to safe and affordable abortion care. After all, abortion is health care! More info is here.
Relative difficulty: Medium (I hardly got stuck, 15:44)
Word of the Day: JOYCE (___ Bryant, 20th-century singer/civil rights activist) —
What a lovely Friday puzzle! I am very partial to themeless puzzles with 72 words and stacked answers, like this had in NE and SW. I think there's something magical about piling those long entries on top of each other, and having the shorter crosses fit into place.
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Third, it felt like a lot of language clues. In reality, there were only four: MANO (hand, in Spanish) and HOSE (pants, in German) and SANS (without, in French) and TORO (bull, in Spanish). These stood out to me because two could have been clued as English words. What did y'all think about this cluing decision?
Bullets:
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Joyce Bryant (born October 14, 1927) is an American singer and actress who achieved fame in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a theater and nightclub performer. With her signature silver hair and tight mermaid dresses, she became an early African-American sex symbol, garnering such nicknames as "The Bronze Blond Bombshell", "the black Marilyn Monroe", "The Belter" and "The Voice You'll Always Remember". (Wikipedia.)
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Three things stood out to me while solving:
First, this was such a conversational, colloquial puzzle. It felt like the grid was trying to chat with me. Truly jam-packed with fun, in-the-language phrases: BEST CHANCE, ONE AT A TIME, ON THE BACK BURNER, POINT TAKEN, SO TO SPEAK, ON TIPPY TOE (this was easily my favorite entry in the grid), NO SLOUCH, I CAN RELATE, and WANNA TRADE ([Exchange words] was such a brilliant clue for that).
Second, there were a few entries that seemed to have the "Will Shortz Voice." I think that [Attractively bold-faced self-assuredness] is a hilariously clunky way to clue SWAG. Similarly, I associate STARTER KITs (great entry!!) with this meme, which was nowhere to be seen in the clue [Basics to build with].
Third, it felt like a lot of language clues. In reality, there were only four: MANO (hand, in Spanish) and HOSE (pants, in German) and SANS (without, in French) and TORO (bull, in Spanish). These stood out to me because two could have been clued as English words. What did y'all think about this cluing decision?
Bullets:
- Did BLTS (Things stuck with toothpicks) need an Abbr. indicator?
- [Like the more interesting twin, some would say] is a delightful clue for EVIL
- Power USER is a term I am very familiar with, but I'm not sure how common it is among other ages. I associate it with Microsoft Excel....
- Ideas on the clue [Cross products] for PENS? I think it refers to the fact that a pen is a product that can be used to make an X, but let me know if that's wrong.
- I have never heard of an "undercard," but Google tells me that it lists matches (that is, BOUTS) at a boxing event.
- Is the clue for BATS (They may emit as many as 200 beeps per second) referring to echolocation? In my very, very limited reading about echolocation (it's all from Gregor the Overlander lol) I've heard people talk about clicks, not beeps.
- Garfunkel and OATES was new to me, but upon reading the Wiki page, I do actually know Kate Micucci who was a Ukulele Girl back when Ukulele Girls were.... happening. Do y'all know what I'm talking about? That was a thing, right? Sort of in the Zooey Deschanel Era.
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