Constructor: Doug Burnikel and Zhouqin Burnikel
Relative difficulty: Challenging *for a Monday* (that is, it played slow ... which is at least partly because it's oversized)
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THEME: Take the "A" Train ... — themers all start with words that refer to subterranean mass transit systems:
Theme answers:![]()
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This felt off in a lot of ways. First, it just felt harder than most Mondays. It's built weird, so there's a Lot of longer answers and white space, especially in the middle, so even though there's also a lot of short stuff, I felt like I was having trouble getting toeholds. Plus the fill and cluing was slippery. Really could not come up with WHUP (2D: Clobber but good). WHAP? WHOMP? WHOOP? Looking at it now, I guess I see it, but it's still more sound than "word" to me, so ... yeah. ALOO is a food partial that I knew but needed crosses to remember (18D: ___ gobi (curry dish)). "I WAS RIGHT" wasn't easy to get off first letters. TOETAP ... weird, toughish. DOGGONEIT ... wasn't entirely sure what it was gonna be or how to spell it. Never heard of this particular OCHOA, but since I knew other OCHOAs, I got it with some crosses (10D: Ellen ___, first Hispanic woman in space). Still, I had to *work* a lot more than I usually do for Mondays. And that's OK, except the payoff wasn't great. This themer set is weird. SUBWAY SANDWICHES felt strange, in that nothing about either of those sandwiches in the clue suggest SUBWAY in particular. And the clue on TUBE SOCKS was befuddling—I had the SOCKS part and then no idea. Was not aware that the apparent lack of sizes was a distinguishing feature. Also, haven't seen anyone wear TUBE SOCKS unironically since the early '80s. A bit odd to have UNDERGROUND FILMS clued as "Nonmainstream" when you've already got [Not mainstream] as a clue in your puzzle, and for basically the same thing (INDIE). But the worst thing about the theme, from an execution standpoint, is METRO AREA. All the other themers repurpose the initial word—taking it out of "subway" context and putting it somewhere else (sandwiches, socks, movies). But the METRO AREA is specifically the place that the METRO takes you around. There's not even an attempted separation between the theme answer and the theme concept. It's weak. Anemic. Half-hearted.
Relative difficulty: Challenging *for a Monday* (that is, it played slow ... which is at least partly because it's oversized)
Theme answers:
- SUBWAY SANDWICHES (17A: Black Forest Ham and Cold Cut Combo, for two)
- METRO AREA (26A: Region encompassing a city and its suburbs)
- TUBE SOCKS (49A: One-size-fits-all hosiery)
- UNDERGROUND FILMS (62A: Nonmainstream productions like "Pink Flamingo" and "Eraserhead")
: any of various tools or devices with a helical shaft or part that are used for boring holes (as in wood, soil, or ice) or moving loose material (such as snow) (merriam-webster.com)
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The fill is also subpar in many places, esp. the S and SE (which includes, fittingly, SSE). ORO UAE ETRADE LEN AMMO MOE SSE. It's just a bit gunky down there. It's better elsewhere, but not too much better. I could not follow the logic of the clue on INDOORS (21A: Away from the sun, say). Really seems like the clue is suggesting something akin to "in the shade," not all the way INDOORS, where ... you would not necessarily be "Away from the sun" ("say" or no "say"). Just odd. Also odd: having "dog" in your IDTAG clue (19D: Attachment to a dog collar, informally) when you've already got it in your grid, DOGGONEIT! Worst moment for me, in terms of my own performance, was writing in the wrong AUGUR. There really shouldn't be two words that look and sound so much alike. AUGER is a noun, a tool for boring. AUGUR is primarily a verb ("portend"), though in the ancient Roman world, an augur was someone who foretold the will of the gods specifically through studying the flight behavior of birds, which sounds cool, if scientifically dubious. I'm about to re-re-re-re (ad inf..) embark on a reading of Virgil's Aeneid this week. Gonna keep my eye out for bird stuff. You keep your eyes on the birds as well, good people of Crossworld, and I'll 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]