Constructor: Emet Ozar
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME:"On the Hunt"— it's an Easter EGG hunt, i.e. an "EGG" rebus (there are seven "EGG" squares to "hunt" for):
Theme answers:![]()
So ... it's Easter, and the puzzle title has "Hunt" in it, and yup, there's an EGG, and ... another EGG ... we're just doing EGGs then? ... OK, so there must be a snazzy revealer somewh- ... no? OK, so do you, like, connect all the EGGs to form a picture at the end, maybe a picture of a bunny or someth- ... no? OK, well, the number of EGGs must be important somehow, surely there's gonna be a nice round, or (wink) ovate (online chuckle) number, something appropriate to EGGs, like, I don't know, a doz- ... no? Well, how many are th- ... How many? Seven? There are seven? Seven EGGs? Because seven ... oh, no reason? It's just a number. A number of ... EGGs. Ah, I see. Well ... this has been fun.
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A few more things:
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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- REGGAE BAND / PEGGED (39A: Bob Marley and the Wailers, for one / 35D: Identified)
- BOOTLEGGER / NUTMEGGED (32A: Rumrunner, e.g. / 10D: Kicked the ball between the legs of, in soccer slang)
- VEGGES OUT / YEGGS (42A: Chills / 38D: Safecrackers, in old-fashioned slang)
- LEGGO MY EGGO / ARPEGGIO / PREGGERS (64A: Breakfast brand tagline / 48D: Chord whose notes are played in succession / 54D: Expecting, in slang)
- BEGGED THE QUESTION / KEGGERS (96A: Engaged in some circular reasoning / 91D: Beer parties)
- REGGIE / WINNIPEGGER (106A: Name that rhymes with "edgy" / 73D: Resident of the capital of Manitoba)
A pencil moustache is a thin moustache found adjacent to, or a little above the lip. The style is neatly clipped, so that the moustache takes the form of a thin line, as if it had been drawn using a pencil. A large gap is left between the nose and the moustache. The line of facial hair either breaks across the philtrum, or continues unbroken. In some versions, the line of hair extends vertically along the outside of the philtrum before stopping just below the nose, leaving the philtrum unbridged. (wikipedia)
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The EGG business needs more of a sense of purpose. "Hunting" a random number of EGGs does not seem like a substantial enough premise for a damn NYTXW Sunday puzzle. The puzzle needs something more. It's just an EGG rebus. Sincerely, who cares? Nothing clever is going on here At All, unless you count the very, um, creative "EGG" words that pop up here in there. I know what nutmeg is, but not NUTMEGGED (despite my ignorance, I think this is easily the best answer in the grid). I know Winnipeg, but WINNIPEGGER (currently red-underlined by my software, unsurprisingly) is new to me. Seems like a reasonable thing to call yourself if that's where you're from, I guess. Something shorter, like a WINNIE, would've made more sense, and would've avoided the potential sexual connotation of "PEGGER," but who am I to dictate nomenclature to Canadians? VEGGES OUT looks abominable and felt abominable as I was writing in. I can accept VEG out, but somehow when you go to two "G"s it all goes to hell. Not sure how else you'd spell it, but it looks atrocious. I do like PREGGERS and BOOTLEGGER and especially ARPEGGIO. "LEGGO MY EGGO" is supposed to be the marquee answer, but it's basically product placement, so I don't Love it. Anyway, the EGG answers are the only source of interest in the puzzle. PENCIL MOUSTACHE is a great answer, though a. I thought MUSTACHE was spelled without the "O" (my software is definitely agreeing with me—angry red for MOUSTACHE), and b. PENCIL MOUSTACHE looks super dumb hanging out there in a long theme answer position with no EGG in it. Its counterpart, BEGGED THE QUESTION, has EGG. But no EGG in the m(o)ustache. Oh well. The concept feels extremely thin, and the execution wonky. Not sure what else to say.
I had no trouble solving this one, that's for sure. The EGG dropped (!) real early. Right ... here:
After you figure out that it's a rebus, there's not a lot left to figure out. I didn't struggle or get surprised by a single EGG answer. Usually, even if you know the rebus, those as yet unfound squares can cause at least a little havoc, but today: none. Zero. My mistakes were routine. LOTS OF before ATONOF (8D: Many, many). Actually, that might be my only true mistake. Nope, wait, I had one other mistake, and it was probably my favorite moment of the solve today. When faced with 60A: Bea Arthur was one before her acting career, having the "MA-" and "-E" in place, I plunked down MADAME, thinking "Wow, really!? Damn, that woman had a *life*!" Soooo disappointed to find out she was merely a MARINE. I guess the brothel-running kind of MADAM generally has no "E" at the end. I was ready to accept it as a classy variant. And then there's LON (and then there's LON!). An apt name for a landscaper because LON / "lawn" ... you get the picture.
- 69A: It's spineless (EBOOK)— I don't love EBOOK as an answer, just as I don't love most E-answers as answers, but this is still a great clue. Cute misdirection.
- 67A: Covered in long, soft hair (PILOSE) — just like the Speaker of the House
- 76A: Orchestral prelude to an opera (SINFONIA)— haha I thought this was just a foreign (Italian?) word for "symphony." Try as I might, I'll never be "cultured." It just won't take.
- 113A: Cartomancy medium (TAROT)— the movie "Cléo from 5 to 7" (d. Agnès Varda, 1962) opens with an overhead shot of a TAROT reading, in color (the only part of the movie that's in color). I'm telling you this because I just saw the movie today, for the first time, and every frame is a miracle and I'd rather watch "Cléo" again 1,000 times before I ever saw "Breathless" again.
I am slowly becoming a Varda apostle. Has she even been in the grid before??? No!?
Stunning ... only not that stunning, considering OZU has never appeared either *somehow* (what in the world are you waiting for, constructors!?)
Fun fact I just found out: OZU once sported (... drum roll ...) a PENCIL MOUSTACHE!
