Constructor: Addison Snell
Relative difficulty: Medium
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THEME: I AM— people associated with phrases that contain the words "I am" (or "I yam"):
Theme answers:
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Only two of these five "I (Y)AM" phrases resonated for me at all, so this had no real chance of being a puzzle I'd enjoy much. I guess I can see how there might be something amusing about lining up a bunch of different "I (Y)AM" phrases like this, but for me the solve was slightly awkward, slightly confusing. The first problem was not the puzzle's, but my software's—it can't do italics and so all the theme clues were in quotation marks, which meant *double* quotation marks on every clue (since the clues are all quotations to begin with). But leaving that technical glitch aside, there are a few other problems. The main one, the huge one, the absolutely glaring one, is that GLORIA / GAYNOR is famous for precisely one song, and that song is not "I Am What I Am" but another, much much (much much much ad inf.) more famous "I" song: "I WILL SURVIVE." I lived through the "I WILL SURVIVE" era. That song was, and remains, iconic. It was a juggernaut. It went to No. 1 on the US charts. It won the Grammy for Best Disco Recording in 1980 (the only year that award was given). It's the queen of female empowerment anthems (OK, maybe co-queen with Aretha's version of "R-E-S-P-E-C-T"). So ... "I WILL SURVIVE" has Cartesian, Popeysian levels of fame. Whereas "I Am What I Am" ... doesn't. That song ... peaked at No. 102 (!!!!) on the US Hot 100. In 1983. It did hit No. 3 on the US Dance charts, and No. 13 overall in the UK, but when you line that song up against the likes of "Les Misérables," Descartes, Popeye, and (!) Yahweh ... it falls a *little* short on the recognizability scale. "I WILL SURVIVE" has indeed survived, and to this day it is the only GLORIA / GAYNOR song 99% of the population, including me, can name. "I Am What I Am," on the other hand, sounds like a confession / apology: "Hey, I'll admit, I'm no 'I WILL SURVIVE,' but I Am What I Am, alright? Give me a break." So even if you thought this theme was cute, you gotta admit, one of these five is not like the others. Jarringly so. Not knowing the JEAN VALJEAN song and being only kinda sorta familiar with that YAHWEH phrase, those are personal blindspots, but that GLORIA / GAYNOR song, that's everyone's blindspot. The singer's name is famous (again, because of that *other* song), so the obscurity of the song in question doesn't affect the puzzle's doability much in the end. But it's weird to have your *central* theme clue be *this* much less famous than all the others (as well as this much less famous than the song that actually made the answer famous in the first place).
Outside the theme, the puzzle feels like it was made in OBAMA's second term, when hashtag TEAMJACOB and PABLO Sandoval were peaking, famewise. To see them here was mildly time-warpy. Original "Twilight" fans (TWIHARDS? Are we still doing that?) are pushing middle-aged now (I kid! You're very young!), and that whole franchise, and particularly the "fan debate" about Jacob v. Edward, feels very much of the past (last book came out in '08, last film in '10). And I love seeing PABLO Sandoval here, actually, but if "two-time All Star" is the only bar you gotta clear for crossword fame, hoo boy have I got some names for you. Let me put this in perspective: Mike Sweeney, Jimmy Key, and Travis Fryman are all *five*-time All-Stars, and unless you really really follow baseball, you don't know who those are. Sandoval was in the league more recently than any of those guys (through last year), but still, his last All-Star appearance was in 2012. Again, I'm not mad at PABLO's being here; open the baseball floodgates, by all means. Just ... be prepared for chaos if a mere two All-Star appearances, neither of them very recent, is the only criterion for crossword inclusion.
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- JEAN VALJEAN (24A: "Who Am I?")
- GLORIA / GAYNOR (37A: With 39-Across, "I Am What I Am")
- RENÉ DESCARTES (49A: "I think, therefore I am")
- POPEYE (55A: "I yam what I yam")
- YAHWEH (56A: "I Am that I Am")
"I Am that I Am" is a common English translation of the Hebrew phrase אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye; pronounced [ʔehˈje ʔaˈʃer ʔehˈje])– also "I am who I am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", or "I am the Existing One". The traditional English translation within Judaism favors "I will be what I will be" because the imperfective aspect in Modern Hebrew is normally used for future tense and there is no present tense with direct object of the verb "to be" in the Hebrew language. // אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye) is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name in the Book of Exodus. The word אֶהְיֶה (’Ehyeh) is the first person form of hayah, 'to be', and owing to the peculiarities of Hebrew grammar means 'I am', 'I was', and 'I will be'.[3] The meaning of the longer phrase ’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh is debated, and might be seen as a promise ('I will be with you') or as statement of incomparability ('I am without equal'). (wikipedia)
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Outside of a few of the themers, there were no real trouble spots for me today. Wanted SHEEP and maybe STEED (?) before STEER (35A: Ranch animal). I know LA SALLE more as a University than an explorer, but crosses helped jog my memory (8D: French explorer of the Great Lakes). If you don't know OLY (short for "Olympia") by now, you really should pack it away in your crossword beer cooler (9D: Classic beer of the Pacific Northwest, familiarly). It's not exactly common, but you do see it regularly. All three-letter brands are gonna show up here eventually. Not much else of interest going on in the fill, so I'll stop here. Have a nice day, see you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]