Constructor: Tom Pepper
Relative difficulty: Medium-Hard
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THEME: None
Word of the Day: OH HELL (1A: Trick-taking card game) —
Hi all -- it's Rafa here back with another blog post for this Saturday puzzle, which I really enjoyed! This is a very Ryan McCarty-esque grid design, with a wide-open chasm in the middle that I usually find very satisfying to chip away at until things nicely fall into place. That was very much my experience today, as this puzzle felt harder than usual, even for a Saturday.
Bullets:
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Relative difficulty: Medium-Hard
THEME: None
Word of the Day: OH HELL (1A: Trick-taking card game) —
Oh Hell or Contract Whist is a trick-taking card game of British origin in which the object is to take exactly the number of tricks bid. Unlike contract bridge and spades, taking more tricks than bid is a fail. It was first described by B. C. Westall around 1930 and originally called Oh! Well.[1] It was said to have been introduced into America via the New York clubs in 1931.[2] It has been described as "one of the best round games."[3]
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| Here are giraffes in a SAVANNA. They look happy tbh. |
Such wide-open middles are very hard to fill colorfully, but this was a real masterclass with only ENDEARING being more neutral, and all the other entries feeling fun to me. And outside the middle, things like HANG ON ASEC, GOWHOLEHOG, GIMMICK, SAVANNA, COOLIO, etc, etc, were exciting and kept me powering through the solve.
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| I had never heard of a TOONIE before, but this is the back of one |
There's really not much to complain about here ... the fill is very smooth. HIC is maybe a ding, but I do think this Latin angle really rescues it. INRE and WEN also feel a bit meh, but it's all a small price to pay for the fun and smoothness everywhere else with this ambitious grid design.
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| I am obsessed with KALE, and this ribollita looks fire |
What else? MANCAVE is weirdly gendered but is in-the-language and harmless enough that I don't really mind it ... HORCRUX is ... well ... I won't get into the whole JKR situation. Cluing had big Saturday energy. Nothing totally wowed me, but a lot of nice angles like ACROBAT referencing the "walking on tiptoes" word origin, the ELIASHOWE anagram, nonstandard angle for PENCIL, etc. I could have maybe used a few more wordplay clues? But I think I'm just looking for things to complain about at this point.
Bullets:
- OCTET (1a: Four + four) — This being a Saturday puzzle, I *knew* there was no way this could be EIGHT but I still wanted it so so bad. I spend a solid few seconds thinking ... could it be? No! Ugh, but ... maybe?
- TERI (20a: Jack Bauer's wife on "24") — I watched a lot of 24 in high school (over 10 years ago at this point) but I absolutely did not remember this name.
- ELI (4d: Name in "fuel injection") — This kind of clue is controversial! I don't mind it, but I know some people see it as "lazy" ... here this is sandwiched around a lot of other propers so I understand the editorial decision to go with this angle.
- CHAGRIN (11d: Discomfiture) — I think the word CHAGRIN is very fun. That's all.
- HANG ON A SEC (49a: "Hold up ...")— This felt familiar, and I realized I had a puzzle in October that debuted HANG ON A SECOND, which I also clued as ["Hold up ..."]!
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