Constructor: Jeremy Newton and Tracy Gray
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
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THEME:"Artistic Differences"— famous works of art have one letter that is both wrong *and* correct (you have to put both wrong and correct letters in the square for the Down crosses to make sense); there are two clues for each theme answer, one that is wrong and wacky, followed by one that is correct; the wrong letters, taken together and in order, end up spelling FORGERY (124A: Apt word spelled by the new letters that alter this puzzle's seven works):
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I wonder if anyone involved with the making of this puzzle knows or cares what "FORGERY" means. Or "apt," for that matter. Forgeries are meant to be indistinguishable from the originals. These theme answers are tweaked in such a way as to be highly, wackily distinguishable from their originals. Forgery involves *not making changes*—copying the original in every way. In short, FORGERY is about the most inapt revealer I can think of here. And the wackiness ... ugh, it's either boring ("THE STARRY FIGHT") or inscrutable ("R.E.O. BALLOON") (!?!) or in really bad taste ("THE 'RONA LISA") (nice that we're making COVID jokes now, thank god that disease is over and done with and definitely not killing anyone any more, am I right?). There are seven works of art here, and while I would probably recognize all seven, I've only heard of *four* of these by title. Wait, is the Michelangelo one just ... that one part of the Sistine Chapel painting? Ah, yes. OK, so I know five of them. But "THE RED BALLOON" and "THE SON OF MAN"!?! No clue. Here they are:
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Well, at least I recognize the Magritte. The Klee, not so much. "Iconic"? If you say so, though when you're comparing it to "THE MONA LISA" and "NIGHTHAWKS" ... maybe not so much. But again, the main issue here is that the revealer just doesn't fit the theme at all, and the wackiness is not landing anywhere near the Hilarity Zone. THE EON OF MAN is such a dull "wacky" answer. And all this arbitrary-seeming letter-swapping, for what? FORGERY? Which doesn't even describe what's going on? BIG OOF, indeed.
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Theme answers:
- "THE STARRY (F/N)IGHT" (22A: Spaceship battle? / An iconic Van Gogh) / HE(FN)ER (8D: Subject of the biography "Mr. Playboy")
- "RE(O/D) BALLOON" (38A: Flying invention by a classic automaker? / An iconic Klee) / SET AT (OD)DS (12D: Pitted against one another)
- "THE (R/M)ONA LISA" (48A: Slangy reply when Bart's sister asks "What's Covid?" / An iconic Leonardo) / WA(RM) BATH (37D: Relaxing soak)
- "THE (G/B)IRTH OF VENUS" (65A: Reason Mercury gets eclipsed? / An iconic Botticelli) / L(GB)TQ FLAGS (60D: Rainbows in the sky, perhaps)
- "THE (E/S)ON OF MAN" (88A: Post-dinosaur period? / An iconic Magritte) / VIN(ES) (68D: Tree climbers, perhaps)
- "(R/N)IGHTHAWKS" (95A: Opposite of liberal doves? / An iconic Hopper) / "IT BU(RN)S!" (69D: Vampire's cry in sunlight)
- "CREATION OF ADA(Y/M)" (115A: Planning one's 24-hour itinerary? / An iconic Michelangelo, with "The") / "YA(Y, M)E!" (107D: "Aren't I somethin'?!")
Ro-Tel (stylized as Ro★Tel) is the brand name of a line of canned tomatoes and green chili. There are different varieties of Ro-Tel in varying degrees of hotness and spiciness. The brand was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 2000 from International Home Foods. Ro-Tel gets its name from its inventor, Carl Roettele, who started a family canning company in Elsa, Texas, in the 1940s. It is commonly used in making chile con queso, particularly with Velveeta, and in King Ranch chicken. (wikipedia)
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I found the whole thing a grind because over and over I just had no idea what the fill was about. I've heard of Cabo San Lucas ... is that the same as "Los CABOS" (30D: Los ___, vacation hot spot in Mexico). Er, looks like Los CABOS is the municipality that *encompasses* Cabo San Lucas (!?!?!?!). Never heard of anyone going to CABOS. People go to CABO. That's the only way I've ever heard it referred to colloquially—in the singular like that. I guessed CABOS easily enough, but that was emblematic of the "really??" reaction I had over and over again while solving this. Really, AIR MALTA?? That's ... you're going with that? OK. And omg RO-TEL, what in the hell is that? I've been going into supermarkets for decades, have bought untold cans of tomatoes, and today is literally the first I'm hearing of this "brand," a brand which ... well, I'm surprised you'd want to go with a brand name that sounds like a portmanteau of "roach motel," but I don't claim to be a sales pro. "OH, I DUNNO" is an arbitrary set of words—I kinda like its colloquialness, but the addition of "OH" takes it kinda too far. I mean, "UH, I DUNNO" or "GEE, I DUNNO" or "UM, I DUNNO" or "HUH, I DUNNO" all seem equally viable and equally not great as crossword answers (actually, I think the GEE version's a bit of a winner, tbh). NO LEADS!? Just ... on its own, sitting there? That's your answer? I keep sighing and sighing. Why is LOW NECKS a "feature" and not "features," plural???? Seems bad cluing, that (86D: Feature of décolleté clothing). I liked MOB SCENES and L(GB)TQ FLAGS, the latter being the best thing in the grid by faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar (60D: Rainbows in the sky, perhaps). Oh, and "IT BU(RN)S!" that's pretty funny. But too much of the rest of the longer fill felt forced or awkward.
It's "big ask," not HUGE ASK (894A: No small favor). It's "meanie" not MEANY (106D: Playground bully). I don't really get how SIGN is [Notice] and now I'm seeing why—it's an awkward clue forced onto the word because someone thought it would be cute to have *successive* [Notice] clues (SEE 99A: Notice). I guess if you post a notice somewhere, like a flier or whatever, that's a kind of SIGN? More oof. Was the clue on RAIN supposed to be ... funny? A play on words? I had no idea what it was trying to do, and I wrote in RUIN (109D: It may lead to greener pastures). Seemed like a nice sentiment; you know, pick yourself, dust yourself off, God shuts a door/opens a window, something along those lines. But then I had CROUTS for my Dalmatians and ... yeah, that looked wrong. And was. Had LAW before SAW (72A: "Don't judge a book by its cover," e.g.), which I guess is how you clue SAW when you realize you've already got SEE in your grid. Could've just gone with the cutting implement, but why be sensible and in-the-language when you can be olde-timey and weird? And speaking of olde-timey and weird: RIP-SNORTER. Also TOPE (33A: Booze it up, old-style). The Sunday situation continues to be inexplicably dire. Thursdays are frequently very clever and good, but getting that clever goodness to cover a 21x21 grid seems like, well, a big ask, if not a huge one. I'd like nothing more than to like Sundays, I really would. But it's ... been a while.
Speaking of puzzles I've enjoyed: in the interest of looking back and remembering / honoring the good stuff, I want to start recognizing the best puzzles of each month. I'll single out two themed and one themeless puzzle every month. And so, the Best of March 2023:
- Themed: Lynn Lempel, "HUMAN NATURE" (Mon., Mar. 6); and David Kwong, "Two's Company, Three's a Crowd" (Thu., Mar. 23)
- Themeless: Robyn Weintraub ("CAN I SEE SOME I.D?,""YOU DID WHAT?" etc.) (Sat., Mar. 25)
