Constructor: Evans Clinchy
Relative difficulty: Easy
![]()
THEME: none
Word of the Day: Pandora (1D: Pandora releases (SINS)) —
Once again, a puzzle has a problem so bad that it's the only thing I can think about upon completion. It's sad, too, because I don't think the puzzle is bad at all. It started out very rough—so rough that I took a screenshot to mark the moment when I had my first "ugh this is going nowhere" feeling:
![]()
![]()
![]()
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Easy
Word of the Day: Pandora (1D: Pandora releases (SINS)) —
In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: Πανδώρα, derived from πᾶν, pān, i.e. "all" and δῶρον, dōron, i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum—is Anesidora (Ancient Greek: Ἀνησιδώρα), "she who sends up gifts" (up implying "from below" within the earth).The Pandora myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world, according to which, Pandora opened a jar (pithos) (commonly referred to as "Pandora's box") releasing all the evils of humanity. It has been argued that Hesiod's interpretation of Pandora's story went on to influence both Jewish and Christian theology and so perpetuated her bad reputation into the Renaissance. Later poets, dramatists, painters and sculptors made her their subject. (wikipedia)
• • •
At this point I was substantially into the grid and had only boring stuff + Biblical crosswordese + legal Latin (ugh) to amuse me. And ZODIAC. That's a pretty good answer, but the rest was heralding Bad Times Ahead. But then ... zip zip whoosh, things picked up considerably:
Three long and strong answers went into the grid in quick succession, bam bam bam. This is the rush I live for on Fridays—colorful, puzzle-opening answers slashing across the grid. The puzzle peaked with this flurry, but the rest of it was not a chore to fill in. It was fine. I remember enjoying it reasonably well. But then I was done. And yet ... I was not getting the "You're Done!" sign. The "Congratulations, you have solved this puzzle correctly" message, or whatever the message says, I forget. Anyway, I get a little message, and today the message didn't show. So I figure I have a typo, and I scan. And I scan. All the answers. And I am 100% certain there are no errors. And you want to know why I'm certain: because There Are No Errors. Every Answer I Have In The Grid Works Just Fine. Every Square Works In Both Directions. So I go to his "Reveal -> Entire Puzzle" so I can see what the problem is, and I find that UHS / HOTEL is apparently "wrong"—that I was supposed to write in UMS / MOTEL. But a HOTEL is *absolutely* an [Alternative to an autocamp] and UHS are *absolutely* [Speakers' hesitations] so ... no, I not only completely reject this puzzle's rejection of my answer, I can't believe (sincerely, even at this late date in the evolution of my cynicism, Can Not Believe) that the editor let *this* cross go out with *these* clues. This should've been a giant RED FLAG to a good editor, or a good test-solver.
It is possible to clue MOTEL in a much more specifically MOTEL (as opposed to HOTEL) way, and with UMS / UHS both working perfectly in the cross, you *have* to clue MOTEL in a much more specifically MOTEL way. I see, in retrospect, how the "autocamp" part of the MOTEL clue was trying to steer solvers toward cars, and thus MOTEL ("motor + hotel") is a slightly better fit than HOTEL for this clue. But HOTEL is simply not wrong. It's a perfectly reasonable answer. And if you've got a perfectly reasonable answer that is "wrong," then at least one of the crosses should tell you so—and none of them did. The End. What a massive editing fail. I am happy to pin the blame for my various failures on my own ignorance / bad judgment when that is what's called for, as anyone who has read this blog for any length of time is well aware. But I will admit no "fault" today. The editing (specifically the clue-writing) is the problem.
The USA Today crossword got a (great) new editor a few years ago (Erik Agard). The L.A. Times crossword just got a (great) new editor (Patti Varol! The only woman editor of a major daily! Her puzzles start appearing in April!). Why am I mentioning this? Who can say? I hope you enjoyed your stay in The UMS MOTEL. I ... did not. Good day.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S.
 |
| [27D: Speakers' hesitations] from xwordinfo |
P.P.S.
HOW DID I KNOW!?
— Rex Parker 🐈🐾☕️🐾🐈 (@rexparker) March 25, 2022
:/#Friday#NYTXWpic.twitter.com/H1ZgwxLso8