Constructor: Eric Rolfing
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME:"KEEP IT BETWEEN US" (56A: "Let this be our little secret" ... or a hint to letter sequences hidden in 16-, 32- and 40-Across)— themers all have "IT" appearing between the letters "U" and "S":
Theme answers:
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The revealer was definitely a let-down on this one, but I was having a pretty good time up to that point, doing my usual Downs-only business and being pretty pleased with those long Acrosses as they popped into view. I think GRAPEFRUIT SPOON, JESUIT SCHOOL, and "QUIT STALLING!" are a great set of answers; I just wish there had been something snappier tying them all together at the end. Something about the phrase "KEEP IT BETWEEN US" doesn't quite sound right, especially without "Let's" in front of it. It's usually said as a suggestion, a commiseration, not a command. If you were commanding, you'd say "Don't tell anyone!" Maybe you'd say "Keep it to yourself!" Also, the clue on it is odd. I think it's the opening phrase, "Let this...," that hits wrong. Sounds too formal. Like a wizard is saying it to you in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book or something. "Let this ... serve as a warning" ... "Let this ... be a lesson to you" ... again, the tone doesn't have enough of the conspiratorial about it. More ... parental, actually. There's just a tonal clunk here that's making the theme's final element feel disappointing to me. But as I say, I had fun descending the grid right up until I had to write in "KEEP IT BETWEEN US," so it wasn't a total loss, by any means. Who doesn't like minding THE GAP!? Fun! (31D: What to "mind" when exiting a train in London)
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- GRAPEFRUIT SPOON (16A: Eating utensil with a serrated edge)
- JESUIT SCHOOL (32A: Catholic academy like Gonzaga or Xavier)
- "QUIT STALLING!" (40A: "Stop dragging your feet!")
Kevin Wayne Durant (/dəˈrænt/ də-RANT; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships and NBA Finals MVP Awards in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent that summer. Following disagreements with the Nets' front office, he requested a trade during the 2022 offseason and was traded to the Suns in 2023. Durant is widely regarded as one of the greatest players and scorers of all time. [...] In 2012, he ventured into acting, appearing in the film Thunderstruck. (wikipedia)
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Made an error right out of the gate with TENET at 1D: Religious doctrine (DOGMA). I could feel that it was ... shaky, but I wrote it in anyway, 'cause it was all I had. No idea about UNROLL (Slip 'N Slide, really??? That's your go-to reference for UNROLL?! Not yoga mat? OK). But after that, things got easier, and eventually the GRAPEFRUIT part was easy to see. I thought it was gonna be GRAPEFRUIT JUICE, but again, the Downs were easy and took care of that misconception quickly. Never seen "Love Is Blind," but "I DO" was still kind of a gimme (11D: Declaration delivered (or not) in a "Love Is Blind" finale). One of the cool things about solving Downs-only today was wanting both FAJITA (23D: Sizzling Tex-Mex serving) and AQUA (36D: Blue shade) upon first reading their clues, and then being able to kinda sorta pre-confirm them simply by the fact that the high-value Scrabble letters (the "J" and "Q," respectively) fell into the *first* position in their respective answers (JESUIT SCHOOL& "QUIT STALLING!")—precisely the place you most expect to find such letters. Hard to trust a "J" or "Q" when solving Downs-only unless you are *absolutely* sure about the answer, but when those letters fall into the first position, well, you feel ever-so-slightly more secure about your Down guess. After DOGMA, the only Down to give me any hassle was, weirdly, KAL, and only because the only three-letter airline starting with "K" that's familiar to me is KLM. Brain: "KLM ... that stands for 'Korean ... something,' right? Oh, crap, no, it's Dutch, I think ... wait, is it even KLM? What about KLF? OMG remember The KLF! What is that song even about!? 'The KLF! Uh huh, uh huh!' Man, the '90s were wild. OK, what was the question?"
I had a little trouble with SLRS too, only because of the "Pro" part of the clue (5D: Pro photography purchases, in brief). I've known lots of non-pros who owned SLRS (single-lens reflex cameras), so I was looking for something way more ... narrowly and specifically part of a "pro"'s set up, like, I dunno, maybe tripods or special lights or something. As far as potential Downs-only disasters, I think the only real trouble spot (for non-sports-followers) might be DURANT. If you don't know it instantly, then you're in trouble. I think you might end up making a lot of names out of -U-A-T (the blanks being squares you can't infer from a Downs-only vantage point even if you've completed the rest of the grid). Yeah, that could be fatal. But as basketball players go, he's stratospherically famous, so I was OK today. Hope you enjoyed your Monday solve, however you solve. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]