Constructor: Dan Schoenholz
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium ("Medium" due almost entirely to ECHINODERM)
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THEME: Abbrs. "hidden" inside phrases with which they are roughly synonymous — theme answers are phrases that contain synonymous initialisms (inside circled squares):
Theme answers:
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This is one of those clever ideas that doesn't come off quite as well on the page. Non-consecutive circled squares have always been one of the most unappealing crossword tropes for me, and so the concept and execution have to be really good for me to overcome that initial aversion. Here, the potential theme set seems very, very narrow, and given that restriction, I have to say the theme set works very well. All those initialisms are very close matches for the answers they appear inside of. Of course some people (way way more than I would have thought, based on a recent Twitter poll I saw) believe that the "H" in IMHO actually *means* "HONEST," and if that were the case, then the initial "H" would be duping a word in the answer, and that would be a flaw. But since, as I think this puzzle definitively establishes, the "H" emphatically stands for "HUMBLE," the theme answer works just fine. Still, RESERVE ONE'S SPOT was an awkward, unpleasant, not-really-gridworthy answer to have to write in. The 15 that has ONE'S in it was, for a time, a kind of crossword cliché (A LOT ON ONE'S PLATE being an answer you would see ... well, more than once is the point). RESERVE ONE'S SPOT is kind of unimaginable as a standalone answer in, say, a themeless crossword, and it's not any more appealing in a thematic context. It's more explicable, it's here for a reason, but you have to have a really forgiving heart to let RESERVE ONE'S SPOT get a pass. RESERVE A SPOT almost seems like a standalone thing. The ONE'S really brings it down somehow. The "AND" part of "AND MAKE IT SNAPPY" also seems a bit contrived, but if you think of "ASAP" as something you've tacked on to the end of a demand, the "AND" bit, i.e. starting with a conjunction, makes total sense. "Come get me, ASAP!""Come get me, AND MAKE IT SNAPPY!" Sure. Just fine. Technically you could've pulled off the ASAP embedding without the AND (there's an "A" in MAKE), but then you've got symmetry problems. Plus the "AND" just makes it more ... fun, somehow. More colloquialish. So conceptually, this is very cool. I just didn't care at all for that middle themer.
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium ("Medium" due almost entirely to ECHINODERM)
Theme answers:
- "IF I'M BEING HONEST..." (17A: "Truthfully...")
- RESERVE ONE'S SPOT (36A: Secure a seat at the table, say)
- "... AND MAKE IT SNAPPY" (54A: "Hurry up!")
An echinoderm (/ɪˈkaɪnəˌdɜːrm, ˈɛkə-/) is any member of the phylumEchinodermata (/ɪˌkaɪnoʊˈdɜːrmətə/). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers as well as the sea lilies [...] Adult echinoderms are found on the sea bed at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. The phylum contains about 7,000 living species, making it the second-largest grouping of deuterostomes, after the chordates. Echinoderms are the largest entirely marine phylum. The first definitive echinoderms appeared near the start of the Cambrian. (wikipedia)
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The fill was a little heavy on some crosswordesey names like MRT and MORT Sahl and ALEK Wek and AHAB and B'NAI B'rith, and then ASP EPEE EERIER OLEO ... there's more of that short repeater gunk than I would've liked to see, especially in a grid that isn't thematically dense. I liked LAID EYES ON and GIGGED and (weirdly) BOYO, but HOVERBIKES somehow left me cold. I should like it, but it felt like forced whimsy to me. Strange how some answers just rub you wrong. Rubbing me really wrong today was HIPPY-DIPPY—really not into these insulting phrases. We're making fun of people's ears yesterday, we're insulting their alleged "New Agey"-ness today. Bah. The clue on GO BALD is also kind of insulting. Like, Mr. Clean? Did he GO BALD? Is that part of his back story? Are there pictures of a lushly maned Mr. Clean somewhere? Also, his pate looks shiny in a way that suggests craft, care, and polish. If he had like a receding hairline or a bald patch at the back, then yeah, OK, I could maybe agree that he had "gone bald," but he doesn't, so he's not at all an appropriate example for GO BALD. [Lose hair] or [Emulate old tires] or something like that works better (and seems less "tee hee" / jokey as well). You've already got one (balding?) "MR." in the grid (MR. T!), do you really need another? Also, still not into SOT. Never gonna be into SOT. Not into making people with alcohol use disorder into figures of derision. SOT is crosswordese—that should be enough of a reason to try not to use it any more. On the other hand, I would use BARFLY, but I'd clue it as the movie of the same name, and anyway, BARFLY sounds whimsical and not necessarily bad. Whereas SOT ... it's hard to dress that one up. Anyway, no excuse for ALEK OLEO SOT all hanging out in one teeny tiny corner. Grid should be (Mr.) cleaner, for sure.
The clue on PAIL was terrrrrrible (1D: Item on a bucket list?). The "list" part makes absolutely no sense. PAIL is synonymous with "bucket." What's is this "list" stuff?! Is it "a list of synonyms"? Truly ill-advised attempt at wackiness there. ECHINODERM seems like a cool word but yeesh it is technical in a way that put it way, way off of Tuesday-level difficulty for me. If you give me ECHIN-, I've got ECHINACEA and then I'm all out of ideas. Nothing wrong with it, but it stood out starkly against the backdrop of otherwise broadly familiar terms and names. I don't think I've got anything else to say this morning, except that I guarantee you that "GENES" is an exceedingly uncute response to "Why are you so cute?" Just say "aw thanks" and move on. Anyway, you'd probably actually say "Good GENES." Otherwise, it will sound like you're attributing your cuteness to your pants.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. Did no one on the editorial team see the TOW dupe (it's in the grid *and* in the clue for GARAGE—4A: Tow truck destination)? Easy enough to rewrite that GARAGE clue. It's easy to have dupes like this when you're constructing. You go blind after a while and can't really see your own grid straight. That's What Editors Are For.
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[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]