Constructor: Garrett Chalfin
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME:"With Ease" — familiar two-word phrases have a long "E" sound added to the end of both words, creating wackiness:
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
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With ease, yes, that is how you are likely to solve this one. The clues are toughened up a little, in places, and there's one answer that (for me) was from outer space, but otherwise, this was a gentle walk in the park. The theme itself is a good old-fashioned add-a-sound theme, or a variation on it—add-a-sound ... twice! These stock theme types only work if they yield truly outrageous and original results, and I'd say this one hit the mark only half the time or so. I think the biggest winner is probably the first one, CHILI FACTORY, because it has an original base phrase ("chill factor") and the added "E" sounds really dramatically reorient the meaning of that phrase. The others are too often kind of sing-songy and silly, and certain words, like "sweet" and "craft," aren't sufficiently recontextualized by the addition of the "E" sound. Some of the base phrases, like "wine store," are kind of dull to begin with, and then there's "knows best," which would never fly as a stand-alone answer (would it?) and so I don't know why it gets to fly as a themer. I still don't get what "BOOTY" has to do with a "shopping spree" (do you really call the things you purchased "BOOTY"?? pirates are disqualified from answering this question). It's not that the concept doesn't work, it works fine, it's just ho-hum at its core and lackluster in its execution. Also, I don't think EASY A'S has any business being in a puzzle with "EASE" in the title, but that's just a minor matter of overall elegance and polish. The thematic tepidness is the bigger issue.
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- CHILI FACTORY (23A: Kitchen at a barbecue restaurant?)
- HIPPIE BOOTY (28A: Result of a 1960s Haight-Ashbury shopping spree?)
- POINTY OUTIE (38A: Highly visible belly button?)
- NOSY BESTIE (48A: Good friend who won't stop snooping?)
- SWEETIE TREATY (66A: Prenuptial agreement?)
- WHINY STORY (85A: Long anecdote from a complainer?)
- CRAFTY FAIRY (91A: Tinker Bell or Puck?)
- PHONY BOOKIE (104A: Bad person for a gambler to make bets with?)
- TESTY GROUPIE (110A: Acolyte with a bad temper?)
"You have got strong symptoms of the fantods; your skin is so tight you can't shut your eyes without opening your mouth." Thus, American author Charles Frederick Briggs provides us with an early recorded use of fantods in 1839. Mark Twain used the word to refer to uneasiness or restlessness as shown by nervous movements—also known as the fidgets—in Huckleberry Finn: "They was all nice pictures, I reckon, but I didn't somehow seem to take to them, because … they always give me the fantods." David Foster Wallace later used "the howling fantods," a favorite phrase of his mother, in Infinite Jest. The exact origin of fantod remains a mystery, but it may have arisen from English dialectal fantigue—a word (once used by Charles Dickens) that refers to a state of great tension or excitement and may be a blend of fantastic and fatigue. (merriam-webster.com)
• • •
Also, once again (for the umpteenth ... or second ...) time this week, I finish the puzzle with only one answer on my mind—a longish answer that means absolutely nothing to me. It doesn't look like a word. It so much doesn't look like a word that I assumed I had a mistake. So I checked and rechecked and rechecked the crosses, then said to my wife "I'm going to spoil the puzzle for you now" and she said "eh, it's Sunday, it's probably fine," and I said "the clue is [State of uneasiness, informally] and it's seven letters and starts 'F'." Her: "... um ..." Me: "FA-" Her: "... ... ..." Me: "F-A-N ... T ... ODS" Her: "[squint] [head tilt] [shrug] no idea." Me: "But ... it says 'informally' ... we're informal ... why don't we know this?" So, looking it up, I ... yeah, I don't get it. I mean, informally? If you used that word with me "informally" I would just stare at you. It seems way more "literary" than "informal." Merriam-Webster dot com's explanation (above, "Word of the Day") mentions some author named Charles Frederick Briggs (??) and then Twain and David Foster Wallace, but ... is this still a viable term? Weird that there are two Ph.D.'s in this house, one a Ph.D. in literature, the other a Ph.D. in history who has actually read more literature than the Ph.D. in literature, and yet: nothing. I can't imagine even wanting to use this word. But I look it up and there it is, so ... can't argue with the dictionary, I guess. I mean, I can, and do, but ... sigh. FANTODS! I really thought this was going to be some online thing, something to do with ... fandom or something. Fans of Tod (Browning?). If the Tod Browning fan club is not called the FANTODS, that is a crime and they should rectify it immediately.
I do not believe for one second that PRTALK is a thing, what horrid, insufficiently curated wordlist coughed that one up? (78D: Bit of hype, informally). Yuck. That spelling of CAPEESH ... or any spelling of CAPEESH, ugh. I looked it up just now and there are at least four viable spellings, apparently (91D: "Is that understood?"). I tried CAPESCE and that, sadly, was not one of them. We get the most Americanized one of the bunch here. Blah. Y'HEAR looks awful. It's YA HEAR. Seriously, the crossword *told* us it was YA HEAR back on Jan. 6, what the hell? I've watched roughly a thousand seasons of the Great British Bake-Off and still thought the verb was PROVES (6A: Activates, as yeast => PROOFS). Why is it a "proofing basket" but a "proving drawer," and do I really want to know? (I might). ISLE and ISLA in the same puzzle is bad even if you clue ISLA as a name (42A: Actress Fisher of "Now You See Me"). They're the same word in different languages, boo. What did I like? Well, I like "IF YOU WISH..." and I almost like "ALAS, NO..." for its self-conscious quaintness. I also like STRAY DOG—a great late '40s film noir by Kurosawa. Also, I just love STRAY DOGs, and all dogs. Speaking of which, I spent some time at the pet shelter on Friday and ... say hello to my new STRAY DOG (not actually a dog):
I typo'd STRAY GOD just now, and who knows, maybe! But for now, she's just a wee kitty who tried Very hard to escape from an animal trap (hence her face and paw wounds), and finally got discovered, and then turned into the shelter, and then spayed, and then (a few days after that) ... us. Her name is IDA MAE SUNSHINE NÉE FLOOF (seriously, the name she came with was FLOOF). She's also IDA MAE, IDA B., IDA B. WELLS (when she's investigating), IDA LUPINO (her real namesake), IDO DIDO, MRS. FLOOFINGTON, etc. She is currently busy sleeping and sleeping and sleeping and recovering from her traumas and putting on weight and being a purry love-baby who purrs and loves. We are quite smitten. Alfie ... less so. But he'll come around. I need to get back to smushing her now. See you later!
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld