Constructor: Robert Logan
Relative difficulty: Hard
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Anyhoo ... we got there eventually! This is a very impressive construction, at just 62 (!) words. (Themeless puzzles can go up to 72 words. In general, having more words (and words here mean total entries in the puzzle, not individual words) makes the grid more flexible and easier to fill.) There are a handful of compromises but really it's just ATWT, and maybe LETT and EDDA that gave me any pause. Plus there's a lot to love in the long stuff ... I MET SOMEONE and CARTWHEELS being highlights for me.
Bullets:
Relative difficulty: Hard
(Showing you the grid in my handwriting, eraser marks and all!)
THEME: None
Word of the Day: LIAR'S DICE (9D: Game with rolling and bluffing) —
Hi all, it's Rafa back again for another guest blog post. I'll be here again tomorrow, so I hope you're not tired of me just yet.
THEME: None
Word of the Day: LIAR'S DICE (9D: Game with rolling and bluffing) —
Liar's dice is a class of dice games for two or more players requiring the ability to deceive and to detect an opponent's deception. In "single hand" liar's dice games, each player has a set of dice, all players roll once, and the bids relate to the dice each player can see (their hand) plus all the concealed dice (the other players' hands). In "common hand" games, there is one set of dice which is passed from player to player. The bids relate to the dice as they are in front of the bidder after selected dice have been re-rolled. Originating during the 15th century, the game subsequently spread to Latin American and European countries. In 1993, a variant, Call My Bluff, won the Spiel des Jahres.
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I found this puzzle to be very hard! I printed a PDF and solved on paper instead of my usual in-app solving, so I wonder how much that contributed. I always feel like I'm slower on paper, floundering around looking for the clues I want. The zippy experience of a digital solve feels nicer to me, but sometimes a change of pace is nice.
Onto the puzzle. I thought I'd make quick work of this (hubris!) after plopping in HOME REMEDIES with no crosses, but things slowed down after that! Eventually the top left fell (DEGAS was somehow my toehold, though art history is certainly not my forte), and the top half came decently easy. DOUBLE DOG DARE was totally new to me (have I been living under a rock?!) and my friend who was with me while I solved said TRIPLE DOG DARE felt a lot more familiar to her. Do we agree? Dissent? Let me know in the comments. LIAR'S DICE was also new to me (the rock over my home must be very large), but was easy to infer.
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| This is "L'Absinthe" by DEGAS |
I wasn't really getting anywhere in the middle, so I went to the bottom. Here, I *desperately* wanted ARTS AND SCIENCES. I wanted it so bad that I convinced myself that ARTS AND SCIENCE might be a thing (it is not) ... but eventually I accepted that it would be ARTS AND something else. I thought I was being so smart putting in ANTE for [What goes to pot?] (I was not) ... thankfully I was decently sure about BINDI and LATKES so things came together eventually.
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| I thought the clue was about this kind of seal, but it was not |
The center was brutal for me. I could not see HANG GLIDERS (beautiful clue, though!) ... and convinced myself that WIND GLIDERS or HAND GLIDERS might be the answer? My brain was in a weird place solving this. SIGNETS being totally unfamiliar to me and a devilish clue on VAIN did not make things easier. Also, and this is very specific to me, but Spanish in crosswords very often trips me up. I'm a native Portuguese speaker and the vocabulary is similar enough that I almost always just assume the words are the same. Glass in Portuguese is "copo" not "vaso" ... so that slowed me down a lot. Eventually SUSAN RICE came to the rescue.
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| Is a DOUBLE DOG DARE when two cute dogs make you do something? |
Anyhoo ... we got there eventually! This is a very impressive construction, at just 62 (!) words. (Themeless puzzles can go up to 72 words. In general, having more words (and words here mean total entries in the puzzle, not individual words) makes the grid more flexible and easier to fill.) There are a handful of compromises but really it's just ATWT, and maybe LETT and EDDA that gave me any pause. Plus there's a lot to love in the long stuff ... I MET SOMEONE and CARTWHEELS being highlights for me.
Bullets:
- 22A SNAFU: [Military acronym first used in W.W. II] — Surprised they chose to highlight the fact this is an acronym since the F stands for F%@&#D!
- 34D RIDERS: [Parts of some contracts] — Apparently a "rider" is a legal term referring to additions made at the end of an article. I had no idea. *Rock I live under grows*
- 27D HUSTLES UP: [Finds, and fast] — Is this a thing? I have never heard of this usage before. *Rock I live under grows even more and crushes me under its immense weight*
- 33D BONKERS: [Nuts or bananas]— Fun clue, and I immediately went to listen to Hollaback Girl after solving this puzzle.