Constructor: Michael Paleos
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: You've got mail ... — theme answers all end with words relating to a piece of (snail) mail:
Theme answers:
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Wow, ladies like MOTHRA, who knew!? I learn something every day doing this blog, whether I like it or not. I solved this one mostly Downs-only (I started normal then remembered I preferred to do Mondays Downs-only, and anyway, I don't remember actually looking at an Across clue ever). It was so easy to do Downs-only that I can only imagine it was even easier to do the regular way, though that may not be true at all, since by solving Downs-only you avoid half the clues, which means you avoid half the opportunities for drawing a blank! Looking this one over, I'm kinda glad I went Downs-only as I missed at having to guess at anything over 6 letters long, and I also missed both of the ugly-looking partials—answers that my Downs-only brain had to rationalize as valid, i.e. if you end up with ITIN as one of the crosses, you have to decide, "Do I have an error, or is the Across a partial?" Today, the Downs were so solid that I just decided that the partial must be right, and it was. See also OUTA (!?). These are really rough partials, and there are two of them, in a non-demanding grid, which I don't really get. The grid is already almost completely devoid of longer non-theme answers (nothing longer than 7, and only two of those (!?). Seems like it shouldn't have been too hard to steer clear of partials completely, but instead we get two, as well as the usual slew of common short stuff (APOP OENO TSPS AMAT ARTE ARTIE STET and on and on, etc etc etc). This would've been dreary to solve the regular way; at least Downs-only gave my brain something extra to do as I was assessing the validity of my answers (that "something extra": make sure the Acrosses I was making made sense).
I can't remember a single Down answer I struggled with. Once you get a bunch of Downs, you can start to infer some of the Across letters that you're missing, which then makes other Down answers easier to get. I think RUNE is the only one I really balked at (47D: Old Norse character). I put ODIN in there ... but then immediately realized that "character" was being used in the sense of "letter," and so changed ODIN to RUNE. Oh, I absolutely balked at REDHOT, but eventually the "D" and "H" went in from the longer Acrosses, and REDHOT became obvious. Did I learn anything new (besides how much MOTHRA appeals to women)? Oh, EMUs have calf muscles! I wonder how much you could learn about EMUs just from reading NYTXW clues. In just the past week I've learned not only about their musculature, but also that they were the subject of "wars" in the early 20th century. What else (glances over recent clues) ... extinct in the Tasman since the 19th c. .. can sprint up to 30 mph ... lays big green eggs ... second-tallest bird on earth ... source of Kalaya oil (whatever that is ... I'm afraid to look it up for fear of learning what cruel things you have to do to the EMU to get it) (looks like it's derived from the fat of the EMU). Next week, we'll do all-OREO facts. See you then?
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- LOWERCASE LETTER (16A: The "e," but not the "B," of eBay)
- PASSPORT STAMP (25A: Traveler's proof of entry)
- TERM OF ADDRESS (41A: "Madam President" or "Your Honor")
- PUSH THE ENVELOPE (55A: Test boundaries)
Mothra (Japanese: モスラ, Hepburn: Mosura) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring character in the Godzilla franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions.Mothra is one of Toho's most popular monsters and second only to Godzillain her total number of film appearances. Polls taken during the early 1990s indicated that Mothra was particularly popular among women who were, at the time, the largest demographic among Japan's movie-going audience, a fact that prompted the filming of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra, which was the best-attended Toho film since King Kong vs. Godzilla. IGN listed Mothra as #3 on their "Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters" list, while Complex listed the character as #7 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list. (emph. mine)
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The theme itself is so basic, it feels like it could've appeared 30-40 years ago, no problem. Ultra-simple. Plain to the point of blandness. I guess all the mail-related words are clued in non-mail-related contexts, but it's not like that distinction is every terribly remarkable. The "envelope" in PUSH THE ENVELOPE is still ... an "envelope," even if it is only a metaphorical one. I just don't see what was NYTXW-worthy about this one. If you're rejecting 19 of every 20 puzzles you receive (or whatever it is now), I don't quite get how this one makes it. Also, this makes six puzzles in a row now by solo male constructors, which feels like backsliding. More guys named "Michael" have had puzzles published in the last week than have women. Michaels: 2, Women: 1 (and you gotta go back to Tuesday for her). Hopefully the NYTXW gets back to something close to gender parity soon. They were (finally) doing OK for a bit there.
I can't remember a single Down answer I struggled with. Once you get a bunch of Downs, you can start to infer some of the Across letters that you're missing, which then makes other Down answers easier to get. I think RUNE is the only one I really balked at (47D: Old Norse character). I put ODIN in there ... but then immediately realized that "character" was being used in the sense of "letter," and so changed ODIN to RUNE. Oh, I absolutely balked at REDHOT, but eventually the "D" and "H" went in from the longer Acrosses, and REDHOT became obvious. Did I learn anything new (besides how much MOTHRA appeals to women)? Oh, EMUs have calf muscles! I wonder how much you could learn about EMUs just from reading NYTXW clues. In just the past week I've learned not only about their musculature, but also that they were the subject of "wars" in the early 20th century. What else (glances over recent clues) ... extinct in the Tasman since the 19th c. .. can sprint up to 30 mph ... lays big green eggs ... second-tallest bird on earth ... source of Kalaya oil (whatever that is ... I'm afraid to look it up for fear of learning what cruel things you have to do to the EMU to get it) (looks like it's derived from the fat of the EMU). Next week, we'll do all-OREO facts. See you then?