Constructor: Simeon Seigel
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
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THEME: MERGE LEFT / PARES DOWN (16A: What you might have to do for some highway construction ... or a first hint to solving this puzzle's theme / 63A: Gradually trims ... or a phonetic second hint to solving this puzzle's theme) — "pairs" of "Down" answers run alongside each other; individually, these are unclued, but if you MERGE one of them LEFT (I guess....?), you get one answer made out of both of them, and that answer *is* clued:
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This is a stunt puzzle. A "watch-me-do-this-thing" puzzle that never answers the question "but why though?" And the non-theme fill offers nothing in the way of diversion. I might've liked HAWTHORNE (34A: Dedicatee of "Moby-Dick") but I couldn't even see HAWTHORNE, so shrouded was he in theme gunk. And THE NOW?!?! (55A: "I never look back, dahling. It distracts from ___": Pixar's Edna Mode). I'm so torn—it's awful, but it's also the most interesting answer in the grid, so ... shrug. On top of all this, the cluing was all "?"-ridden and tricky, so the whole solve felt like wading through muck. A complete slog. It's enough to make a STENO say "NERTS!," truly.
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Theme answers:
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I wish there were some—any—part of this that I enjoyed, but it was a chore from front to back. Felt more like a prank someone was pulling than an experience someone was inviting you to enjoy. The puzzle is all theme, and that theme is all architecture; that is, the puzzle does this weird MERGE LEFT / "PARES" DOWN thing for no particular reason, with no real thematic coherence at all. I'm supposed to ooh and aah at the physical manipulation of letters in space, but those letters don't spell words that have anything to do with anything. MERGE LEFT and PARES DOWN ... not from the same conceptual universe. They explain how to read answers, but aren't not meaningful otherwise. They don't relate to one another. And they don't relate to the theme answers. And the theme answers themselves—all of them, the individual unclued ones and the "merged" clued ones—also have nothing to do with each other, or with anything. And the themers themselves are kinda tedious. ALTERNATIONS? Snooze. Is it supposed to be meta-thematic? Because you have to "alternate" between answers in adjacent Downs to make sense of the theme clues? Yeah, that's not making me like it more. And do you really want me to accept LENTOS (??) as one element of your Down "pares"? What is that, a plural musical tempo? Me: "Hey, Google: define lentos." Google: "Did you mean "define lentils?" I wish I meant lentils. Those are tasty.
- COLLUDES (11D: With 12-Down, secretly plots (with)) (CLUE next to OLDS)
- ALTERNATIONS (25D: With 26-Down, repeated occurrences of things in turn) (A-TRAIN next to LENTOS)
- SCHOOLED (28D: With 29-Down, taught a lesson) (SHOE next to COLD)
- HAIRNETS (34D: With 35-Down, some common attire for cooks) (HINT next to ARES)
- COUNTESS (56D: With 57-Down, noble title) (CUTS next to ONES)
A civet (/ˈsɪvɪt/) is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversity is found in southeast Asia. The best-known species is the African civet, Civettictis civetta, which historically has been the main species from which a musky scent used in perfumery, also referred to as "civet", was obtained.
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Grid is a weird shape (14x16), which at least adds some visual interest to the experience today. There is a tidiness (and symmetry) to the circled-square arrangements that some might also find pleasing. I felt like I couldn't get my head around any of the answers early on, but some of that may just have been early-morning cobwebs. Like [Shiner?]—needed "R" and "Y" to have any idea there (RAY). [Shifts from neutral, in a way]? No hope there for a long time (ACIDIFIES). Wanted EASE IN for EDGE IN (4D: Enter cautiously) and DORK for DEFT (7D: Expert). Would not write in "MA'AM" for the longest time because it seemed weird that you'd call women officers something different from men (20D: Officer's title). Somehow I thought women just got the "SIR" treatment too. "MA'AM" is what a cowboy says while tipping his hat as he passes a lady on the street. Seems weird as a military thing. But ... not my purview! SWANN'S is weird as a standalone answer ("SWANN'S Way" is the first volume of "Remembrance of Things Past") (newly retranslated as "In Search of Lost Time," originally "À la récherche du temps perdu"), but I appreciated it because it was one of the few gimmes I got today. Does sexting happen as much in the real world as it does in crosswords, because it happens A Lot in crosswords. I did like the clue on SEXTS today, so there's that at least (54D: Blue notes?). Oh, and as always I liked seeing RIAN Johnson (58D: Johnson who directed "The Last Jedi"). He seems nice. Really looking forward to the expanded "Knives Out" universe. Let's end there, with me thinking happy thoughts. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]