Constructor: Kevin Patterson
Relative difficulty: Challenging / Easy (before you see the gimmick / after you see the gimmick)
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THEME: TAKE THE L (1D: Accept defeat, in modern parlance ... or a hint to entering five answers in this puzzle) — the five L-shaped black-square configurations function as both letters ("L"s) and as conduits or paths, so that the theme answers, which start as Downs, end up as Acrosses:
Theme answers:
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Shameful how long it took me to see what was going on here. I had TAKE THE L early, as I assume a lot of people did (since it's in the NW), but ... I thought "L"s would be disappearing ... ? ... maybe ... ? ... I figured I could just plunge into the grid and somehow the meaning of "TAKE" would become clear. I did at some point notice that there were black-square "L"s in the grid, but I thought that was just a decorative touch. And so after completing the NW corner (actually kinda hard, as NW corners completely unaffected by theme material go), I went off searching for the theme and oof, I could kind of tell that this was going to be a super-gimmick puzzle because the grid didn't look like it contained a conventional theme-answer set-up. No symmetrical sets of longer answers that clearly screamed "hi, we're themers." The overall asymmetry should've tipped me to the fact that something structural was going on, but, well ... solving first thing in the morning, before 5am, before coffee ... it has its disadvantages. Anyway, I flailed around. I mean, really flailed. I proceeded in patchy fits and starts, in a roughly clockwise fashion, picking up some gimmes here and there (OMAR, GRETA), trying to make anything happen. But I never got real traction. No whoosh whooshing around the grid At All. I was also struggling to pick up non-theme stuff like LOWPH and COWS and WIRE. So it was a disaster. But somehow I was able to put ONESKI together (honestly, what the hell is that? There are skis and snowboards but wtf is ONESKI ... I almost put in UNISKI ...) (23D: A daredevil may hit the slopes with it). And from that "K,"EBIKE (36A: Vehicle with a pedal assist mode). And from EBIKE, OBOE REED (33D: Certain woodwind requirement). And then ICE YOUR NOISES ANNÉE ... which gave me NUC at 45D: Alternative to wind or solar. By this point, I had considered that the black-square "L"s might be functioning as letters somehow, but I couldn't find an answer where that worked—nothing leading into or out of the "L"s that I could put together. But now: NUC- ... which had to be NUCLEAR ... I see the "L" but where's the ... [follows the "L" around the bend] ... oh. There it is. EAR. NUC + L + EAR. Finally.
Relative difficulty: Challenging / Easy (before you see the gimmick / after you see the gimmick)
Theme answers:
- GRAMMAR PO(L)ICE (4D: Ones who don't want to hear that you're laying down on the job?) (the "L" come from the black-square configuration at the end of "GRAMMAR PO" and the "ICE" comes from 53A: It might give you the chills)
- FOOD CO(L)ORING (5D: Easter egg-making supply)
- NAI(L)ED IT (7D: Cry of triumph after a good performance)
- POT DEA(L)ERS (31D: Joint stockholders?)
- NUC(L)EAR (46D: Alternative to wind or solar)
Tim Bergling (Swedish: [ˈtɪmː ˈbæ̂rjlɪŋ] (listen); 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (/əˈviːtʃi/, Swedish: [aˈvɪ̌tːɕɪ]), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose to prominence in 2011 with his single "Levels". His debut studio album, True (2013), blended electronic music with elements of multiple genres and received generally positive reviews. It peaked in the top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped international charts; the lead single, "Wake Me Up", topped most music markets in Europe and reached number four in the United States. [...] Bergling retired from touring in 2016, after several years of stress and poor mental health. On 20 April 2018, he [died of] suicide while on holiday in Muscat, Oman. In 2019, his third and final album, Tim, was released posthumously.
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After that, whoosh, this puzzle was over fast. I still had a lot of grid to fill in, but in retrospect it feels like it took no effort at all. I had to change POT SEL(L)ERS to POT DEA(L)ERS, but otherwise, once you figure out what's going on with the "L"s, you have a superpower that makes a formerly fearsome grid just roll over on its back so you can scratch its belly. It helped that I knew BOW WOW WOW ... but I will say that this puzzle's one not-so-great characteristic is its over-reliance on proper nouns. In a puzzle with a gimmick this tough, it seems cruel to throw so many no-universally-famous proper nouns at people. BOW WOW WOW was a gimme for me, but I was the perfect age to know about them. I can imagine many, many older and possibly younger solvers were without a clue. AVICII also seems generationally exclusionary. And Cousin GREG, don't get me started on the puzzle's assumption that all its solvers are familiar with so-called "prestige TV" (specifically HBO) down to the secondary and tertiary characters. To be clear, I don't have a problem with any of these answers per se, but throwing them *all* into an already tough-to-grab-hold-of grid feels ... well, not great. Also, giving two of your five theme answers "?" clues felt particularly cruel. But thematic cruelty is kind of Thursday's job, so I can't actually fault the puzzle there.
I'm burying the lede here a bit, but I think the theme is ingenious. I feel like we had a TAKE THE L puzzle very recently ... I know I put the Motels song up recently, and it must have been a theme that occasioned it. Hmm, looks like it was actually a "TAKE AN L" puzzle (back on Sep. 21, 2022). I complained then that "TAKE AN L" is not nearly as tight and common a phrase as "TAKE THE L" and this puzzle apparently heard me and six months later came to vindicate me. My missteps today were too many to count, since I was basically misstepping constantly until I figured out the theme. The "D" from MEDI- was particularly devastating (20A: Lead-in to care), since it made 5D: Easter egg-making supply really really really look like it was going to be something + DYE. I would never consider a hot towel before a meal a NICETY—that word suggests something fussy and unnecessary. It has a prissy vibe. I hear it mostly in relation to language or social behavior, not towels, and usually in the plural, referring to matters of etiquette. But it's the fussiness that is paramount, and there's nothing particularly fussy (I don't think) about the hot towel before a meal. The connotation of the word is negative, and I don't mind a restaurant providing me a hot towel before a meal, so there. And there are ANKARA cats and rabbits now, what? (16A: Turkish city that lends its name to a species of rabbit, cat and goat). I had ANGORA there for ... well, too long. I really gotta run now. My bus comes at 7:15am regardless of whether the Thursday puzzle was tough or not. See you tomorrow.