Constructor: Jessie Trudeau and Ross Trudeau
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME:"Rise to the Challenge" — every theme answer is a person who (literally) CLIMBS THE LADDER (65A: Advances through corporate ranks ... and what the answer to each starred clue in this puzzle does). The entire middle visually depicts a ladder (all "H"s) (8D: Visual depiction of the apparatus used by the starred professionals). Several themers are split, in two, with the first part coming at the ladder from from the west and then the second part continuing on across the grid from several "rungs" higher up the ladder (as many rungs higher as are indicated at the end of each theme clue) (Note: For all non-theme, "ladder"-intersecting answers, the "H"s in the "ladder" are just "H"s):
Theme answers:![]()
Word of the Day: PAUL VI (82D: Pope of 1963-78) —
The visual gag here is clever, and the way the theme answers actually, physically "climb" the ladder is pretty nifty as well. That said, this was absurdly easy and all the interesting parts were over very quickly, leaving only the rather dull work of filling in an acceptable but fairly unremarkable Sunday-sized grid. I got the theme very early:
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... and then decided to see if I could go through and get all the climbing people quickly, with as little help as possible. This turned out to be pretty doable:
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You can see I got distracted and did some extra filling of the grid on the way down, but REPAIRMAN was pretty much the only part of the entire themer set that gave me any trouble. I don't know how you keep a theme like this from unfolding all at once, from giving away the entire game early on. There was some fun involved in seeing just what kind of person would be "climbing the ladder," but those answers themselves were just ... answers. The climbing part was cool, but they themselves were just ordinary, and occasionally a little arbitrary. Why should it be a SUBMARINE COMMANDER as opposed to anyone else on that submarine? And is cherry-picking really a ladder-associated activity. I know that the machine known as a "cherry picker" elevates workers into air ... coincidentally, the people I associate most with cherry pickers are actually TELEPHONE / REPAIRMeN, though any kind of person doing maintenance or construction work might use them. But back to my cherry point: I google image searched "cherry picking" and none of the images featured ladders. Not too laddery, that one. But the others work very well. Roofers and gutter cleaners are the main ladder climbers in my neighborhood, but HOUSE / PAINTER is in that same category. I don't really know what a CHIMNEY / SWEEP does, at a nuts and bolts level, but I assume they have to get on your roof somehow, so ... sure, why not? Anyway, I thought the theme was cute, the overall solving experience just so-so. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing thrilling about it either. All the interest is in the theme, and with a theme this visually elaborate, perhaps that is enough.
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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- CHIMNEY / SWEEP (25A: *Worker with a brush [three rungs])
- SUBMARINE / COMMANDER (56A: *Captain with a periscope [four rungs])
- CHERRY / PICKER (90A: *Seasonal orchard worker [eight rungs])
- TELEPHONE / REPAIRMAN (101A: *Worker for AT&T or Verizon [four rungs])
- HOUSE / PAINTER (123A: *One putting a coat on outside [three rungs])
Pope Paul VI (Latin: Paulus VI; Italian: Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, Italian: [dʒoˈvanni batˈtista enˈriːko anˈtɔːnjo maˈriːa monˈtiːni]; 26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodoxand Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. [...] His positions on birth control, promulgated famously in the 1968 encyclical Humanae vitae, were often contested, especially in Western Europe and North America. [...] Pope Francis canonised Paul VI on 14 October 2018. (wikipedia)
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From one perspective, 1-Across is just one answer in the puzzle, no better or worse than any other answer. From a more correct perspective, however, 1-Across matters more because it sets a tone—it's the first thing a solver is likely to see, and to try to tackle. So it's nice to open boldly, or at the very least, cleanly. This is all to say that I'm not too big a fan of opening the puzzle IN A COMA (1A: Like the protagonist at the start of "28 Days Later"). Never saw it, but I think it's a vampire movie (???), so I assumed the answer was something like UNDEAD or NOT DEAD or PRE-DEAD or something. IN A COMA, aside from being a prepositional phrase and thus semi-awkward as a standalone answer, is just grim. Sidenote: I watched "Coma" (1978) for the first time last week—also grim, and not just because of the comas, though it's cool to see late-career Richard Widmark, especially since he's still playing creeps (perfectly) well into his later years. Oh hey, double sidenote: there's a great ladder scene in "Coma"—in fact, the ladder in question is depicted on the cover of the home video release of the movie!
The point is, I wouldn't open my puzzle IN A COMA if I could help it. And SOA, as well as ONI next to MDC, weren't doing anyone any favors either. But mostly the constructors do a NICE JOB of filling the grid. Well, random popes are about as welcome as random Roman numerals, but since PAUL VI was actually pope with many solvers' living memory, he's not as random as, say, LEO VIII (whom I just made up ... I'm just assuming there was a LEO VIII ... yup, he was both pope and antipope!!! OK, now I've gone and tricked myself into liking LEO VIII, dammit!). The clue on RON was about the only thing in the grid that gave me any actual trouble (92D: Bacardi, e.g., in México). Beth ORTON> Kyle ORTON. That's about all I have to say about this one.
Hope you enjoyed this one's ups and downs. See you later.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld