Constructor: Ella Dershowitz
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: POP-UP SHOP (60A: Temporary spot to do business ... or a hint to answering 17-, 35- and 41-Across) — the letters "SHOP" sort of ... pop up in three different longer answers (this basically means that from the "S" you go up one for your "H" then over one for your "O" and then back down to the row you started on for your "P" and the rest of the answer:
Theme answers:![]()
This is the last of my very brief vacation write-ups. After today, a bevy of beautiful bloggers (including a few fresh faces) will take over for me for ten days or so while I'm in Los Angeles with my family. I'm back ... something like a week from Monday, I think. Michigan has been great. I will miss Michigan. Mostly I will miss my best friends, though. I could be anywhere on the planet with them and be perfectly happy.
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While I enjoyed wondering what the revealer was going to be, there was not any point at which I got genuinely stuck or challenged at all, which is kind of a disappointment on a Thursday. High-payoff trickery is what I want on this day of the week, and it was in short supply. The hardest answer for me was actually ESP (39A: Abbr. meaning "in particular"), which bugged me so much I actually threw it out to the house (i.e. my wife and friends) to see if they could get it so I wouldn't have to think about it any more (my non-solving friend Steve got it immediately). Why would you get cute with crosswordese like this? Why turn a repeater like ESP from innocuous to lamentable like this? You've got the fake "ability"ESP and the "Spain on an Olympic scoreboard"ESP, who exactly was clamoring for weird abbr. ESP? Beyond that, nothing very remarkable, bad or good, about the fill today. GROWTH SPURT is a winner. Everything else is just OK.
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- BRITISH OPEN (17A: World's oldest golf tournament, familiarly)
- "HERE'S HOPING" (35A: "Fingers crossed")
- GRASSHOPPER (41A: After-dinner drink made with crème de menthe)
Samuel M. Raimi (/ˈreɪmi/ RAY-mee; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007) and the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film Darkman, the 1995 revisionist western The Quick and the Dead, the 1998 neo-noir crime-thriller A Simple Plan, the 2000 supernatural thriller film The Gift, the 2009 supernatural horror film Drag Me to Hell, and the 2013 Disney fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful. His films are known for their ostentatious and highly-dynamic visual style, inspired by comic books and slapstick comedy.
Raimi has also produced several successful television series, including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and its spin-offXena: Warrior Princess. He founded the production company Renaissance Pictures in 1979 and Ghost House Pictures in 2002. His latest film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was released on May 6, 2022; becoming his highest grossing film at the box office. (wikipedia)
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| with Shaun, my best friend of 31 years, at Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan (not pictured: our spouses) |
This was a very easy Thursday puzzle. Much easier than yesterday's puzzle, for me, insofar as I was able to fully understand and complete it. This one has a much tighter, neater, cleaner, more elegant concept, though it wasn't obvious. Or, rather, the revealer wasn't obvious. I knew what was happening with the whole "SHOP" thing very early, but I was just guessing at the rationale until I hit the revealer, which the theme perfectly expresses. I had fun trying to guess what the revealer might be. Mainly my problem was that I didn't know if the gimmick involved "SHOP" or "HOP" (since the answer seemed to be, you know, hopping up one row and then back down again). Actually, at first I thought the theme related to premium cable TV channels, in that I thought BRITISH OPEN involved all the letters headed straight up from the "S" in "OHSNAP" (so ... BRITI and then SHO straight up and then the answer continuing on with PEN). So I thought SHO (or Showtime) had somehow popped up, and later on I'd be running into, I dunno, HBO or something.
Figured out what the hopping letters were *actually* doing with the next themer, but still couldn't decide if shopping or hopping was involved. Thought maybe that the formation of "SHOP" into a kind of box was going to lead to a revealer like "BOX STORE" but I guess those are usually called "big-box stores" (unless they actually sell boxes).
Anything need explaining? "Cuban" is a sandwich (hence HAM). PSI = "pounds per sq. in." (4D: Inflation spec), so it's the air kind of inflation, not the economic kind. UFOs are "dishes" because of their shape (14A: Dish seen around the world?). I don't know why a BOW is a [Finishing touch, so to speak]; I mean, I get the finishing touch part, but it seems literal to me. Put a bow on it. Nice final flourish. I guess it can be used metaphorically? Pretty sure it's the ribbon bow and not the bend from the waist kind of bow. Guess HYPOS are "hypotheticals." News to me. LIESL is really coming at us this week. Weird. Hoping you all have a wonderful stretch of puzzles coming your way during my absence. I won't be looking at crosswords, or puzzles in general, or anything involving a grid. Maps? Nope, too griddy, don't need 'em, won't use 'em. Gonna drive around L.A. by feel, and by shouting at other drivers and pedestrians for help with directions. It's gonna work great. See you later.
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]