Constructor: Christina Iverson and Tom Pepper
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: Jack Dempsey aka The Manassa MAULER (15A: The Manassa ___, nickname for boxer Jack Dempsey) —
Greetings from Down Under, the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa, Kiwiville, Middle Earth, what have you. You know, there are all kind of endemic birds here, striking birds, birds with lovely calls, birds you see All The Time. There are tuis and fantails and wood pigeons galore down here on the South Island, so if you were looking for a national symbol that was also a bird, you wouldn't have to look far ... unless one of your criteria was that it be a weird roly-poly flightless thing that you never actually see. If weirdness and ungainliness are what you're after then ... well, honestly, even then, there are more striking birds that fit the bill (!) that are actually part of the everyday landscape. The pukeko ("they're like pests ... people shoot them" said one of my wife's delightfully unsentimental relatives) are striking purple-bodied orange-billed primeval chicken-like things that look like non-terrifying dinosaurs strutting across your backyard. I'd sooner be a pukeko than a kiwi. Kiwi are real enough, I'm told, but I've never seen one. They still seem mythical to me. Like Hobbits (another thing associated with NZ, the fascination with which I do not get). Anyway, I am Team Pukeko all the way. Or Haast's Eagle, have you heard of this thing!?!?! It's extinct (as are a lot of native birds now, thanks, humanity/rats) but in its day ... big as a Buick ... a flying Buick. Haast's eagles were so big, they preyed on moa. Moa! Have you seen a moa?! Well, no, of course, no one has since the Polynesians basically hunted them out of existence (mid 15c.), but they were bigger than me. I actually saw a moa tibia today, alongside a human tibia, at The Museum of Natural Mystery in Dunedin, and ... well, it was bigger, is what it was. Bigger than the human tibia. I also bought this moa t-shirt:
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Relative difficulty: Easy
Word of the Day: Jack Dempsey aka The Manassa MAULER (15A: The Manassa ___, nickname for boxer Jack Dempsey) —
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. A cultural icon of the 1920s, Dempsey's aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first million-dollar gate. He pioneered the live broadcast of sporting events in general, and boxing matches in particular.
Dempsey is ranked tenth on The Ring magazine's list of all-time heavyweights and seventh among its Top 100 Greatest Punchers, while in 1950 the Associated Press voted him as the greatest fighter of the past 50 years. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and was in the previous Boxing Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)
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| PUKEKO (6) |
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| [Have I mentioned it's beautiful here?] |
Where was I? Ah, this puzzle! Which, sadly, has no TUI, no KEA, no MOA, no NZ birds at all! Wait, does NZ have TERNS (39A: Forked-tailed fliers)? OMG there's something called a New Zealand fairy tern!!!! Look at this baby:
OK I'm going to pretend the TERNS in the puzzle are fairy TERNS, if you don't mind. That will help me enjoy it more. Not to say I didn't enjoy it. There just wasn't much, in terms of fill, that made me think "ooh" or "ahh." I never know how I'm supposed to spell "WEENIE," so WEENIE ROASTs are always gonna be kind of a bust for me. The clue on THERMOMETER was great (16D: Cold shower?) (it's showing you ... that it's cold), but the clue on SPOT REMOVER, meh, fill-in-the-blank jokes don't really work, joke-wise. Timing is thrown off, so groaners only get groanier (18D: "I spilled ___ on my dog. Now he's gone": Steven Wright). Really like ABOVE THE FRAY, but FAN THEORIES ... ugh, I now associate "fandom" with a horrid narrow online groupthink, buncha gatekeepers and nostalgia freaks, self-appointed brand police—sad mean people, basically, to say nothing of uncritical consumers of corporate IP. It's possible I'm thinking exclusively of "Star Wars" and Marvel fandom, but I doubt it. It's an original answer, that one, and I'm sure some will love it, but it didn't move the needle for me, unlike yesterday's puzzle, which was a sizzling masterpiece. Thursday's puzzle ... was there a puzzle on Thursday? who can remember that far back?
Here was my second big mistake:
My first big mistake was REVS UP for KEYS UP (1A: Psychs), with the "R" seeming correct because RAMA seemed correct at 1D: Hindu god of love and desire (KAMA). So "YOU'RE ON FIRE!" was slow-going. But that was the only slow-going part. The rest flew by (again, unlike yesterday). The clue on RED RYDER was weird, as I thought RED RYDER was the brand, not the BB gun itself (49A: Ralphie's wish in "A Christmas Story"). He doesn't say he wants a RED RYDER. He has a whole spiel, and it definitely involves the word "gun:"
Any tough clues? The ports in 14A: Place with multiple ports are wines, of course. "Retirement" means "sleeping" in 43A: No-frills retirement options? (COTS) (not really sure why that clue even needs a "?"). The "pitcher" in 27D: Pitcher's aim? is someone making a SALEs pitch. That should do it. If you have any other questions, I'm sure the very helpful folks in the comments section can, well, help. That's all for today. Can't tell you how nice it is to have the puzzle come out at 4pm!!!! Liberating. Gonna move here just for the sleep schedule benefits! See you tomorrow (when the puzzle comes out at noon!!!!).