Constructor: Ben Zoon
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: anagrams— I dunno, I think that's it: four answers that are all anagrams of one another?
Theme answers:
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Well I have "WHO CARES!?" and "NOT A THEME" written at the top of my printed-out grid, so ... that's where I am this morning. I do not understand the gimmick. Or, rather, it appears that the gimmick is simply "these are all anagrams of each other," which is about the thinnest theme idea I've ever seen. I mean ... why? *Apt* anagrams I could take, or anagrams that had ... literally any purpose. I can't believe this was accepted, honestly. Obviously, if I am missing some key aspect of the theme, then my bad, my bad, but if this is it ... definitely the puzzle's bad. Sorry, there's nothing more to say about the theme because there's nothing there. Four answers, all anagrams, totally unrelated in any other way. I guess the cluing is supposed to be ... clever? Because it's circular, with one answer being clued as an anagram of another, and then that clue being clued as an anagram of the next, until each answer has referred to one other, and omg I'm boring myself to death just typing this. Right back to "WHO CARES!?"
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- DOOR LATCHES (17A: Fasteners near hasps ... and an anagram of 11-Down)
- TRADE SCHOOL (11D: Vocational training provider ... and an anagram of 55-Across)
- RED HOT COALS (55A: Challenge for a fire-walker ... and an anagram of 25-Down)
- TACO HOLDERS (25D: Specialized tableware for serving some Mexican food ... and an anagram of 17-Across)
Pad see ew (phat si-io or pad siew, Thai: ผัดซีอิ๊ว, RTGS: phat si-io, pronounced [pʰàt sīːʔíw]) is a stir-fried noodle dish that is commonly eaten in Thailand. It can be found easily among street food vendors and is also quite popular in Thai restaurants around the world. The origins of the dish can be traced to China from where the noodle stir-frying technique was brought.
The dish is prepared in a wok which allows the black soy sauce added at the end of the cooking process to stick to the noodles for an exaggerated caramelizing and charring effect. The dish may look a little burnt, but the charred smoky flavor is the defining feature of the dish.
The name of the dish translates to "fried with soy sauce". (wikipedia)
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As an easy themeless puzzle, which basically this is, this one is fine. Clean overall with a few nice bright spots. PAD SEE EW is delicious and looks great in the grid (three "E"s in a row! Not sure why that excites me ... FREE ENTERPRISE wouldn't excite me ... but then again, I can't eat FREE ENTERPRISE, so maybe tasty food gets more leeway). I did TREE POSE just yesterday—a staple of many yoga practices (39D: Yogi's balancing stance with arms overhead). It's a good one for not getting too attached to *success* because you can feel yourself wanting to really nail it (i.e. not fall), but then you're all clenched and goal-oriented and if you fall out of the pose you feel like you haven't "done it right," which is counterproductive and NO FUN, so I like to do variations that make it increasingly likely that I *will* fall (start with hands in prayer, then hands overheard, then you can arch back and look up, and then maybe close your eyes if you haven't fallen already ...). Build failure into the practice, it's fun!
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| [she looks amazing! you will never look like this! embrace it!] |
It's harder to be excited about something like DATACAP, one of those "original" answers that makes me think "but why?" (23A: Prelude to bandwidth throttling).Everyone out here trying to "debut" answers without thinking if they should, sigh (actually, this is the second appearance for DATACAP, which debuted four years ago, so let's all blame Pete Wentz for this one. Boo, Pete! (Pete is a great constructor, btw, which is why I feel comfortable doing my facetious booing here)). Hardly anyone carries FUEL CANs so that Tesla clue is weird (42D: Something a Tesla driver doesn't need to carry). I do get it, but pfft. Screw that Tesla guy, no way I'm using his car in a clue if I don't have to (and this one really didn't have to). I don't really get CHEAPIES as clued (9D: Bargain bin finds). CHEAPIES is a generic term that really only makes sense if you know the specific thing involved. I would say yes you find "cheap things" in bargain bins, and yes, CHEAPIES means cheap versions of things, but somehow ... you wouldn't say that you find CHEAPIES in bargain bins. Just rings wrong.
No real struggles today. I had MAA for MOO (2D: Ranch sound) and KWS for KWH (note to self: for the billionth time, actually read the clue!) (40A: E.V. battery capacity unit). Didn't know RIDES, but it was easy to infer (32A: Snowboards, in lingo). Is KNELT not a word? I wrote in KNEELED wondering "is this how I say it?" (50A: Prepared to pop the question, say) That's all I got. See you tomorrow.