Constructor: Samuel A. Donaldson
Relative difficulty: Medium
![]()
THEME: Get Lost— phrases meaning "Go Away" all clued following the pattern [Go away as a [***] might?], where the [***] gives you some hint to the idiom involved:
Theme answers:
![]()
Pretty ordinary "these phrases all mean the same thing" puzzle, with the added bonus of the final epic three-part themer, which really gives the puzzle a nice dose of pizzazz. There's some odd fill—most notably SOLEÁ, which I've never seen, and which hasn't been seen at all, crossword-wise, since 2003, and which even then was a [Roman sandal] (???). XOX is terrible and always a bad way to pick up "X"s. But aside from SSGTS and ASOU (frowny face) and ARISTO (boo) (13D: British upper-cruster, for short), most everything else is solid, even interesting. TEN-DAY is pretty damn arbitrary, but … it is what it is (52D: Like some short-term N.B.A. contracts). I'm giving this one a slight thumbs-up. My perspective might be warped by yesterday's debacle, but I think this one holds up pretty well for a Wednesday.
I came in under 4 on this one, which was nice, as I have been noticeably slower of late, despite doing more puzzles than ever. No idea what that's about. Maybe it's aging-brain, maybe I'm just paying closer attention as I solve, maybe maybe maybe. Had no real hiccups besides not knowing SOLEÁ. Briefly thought the tree in the Garden of Eden was a FIR (no lie) (38D: Garden of Eden tree). Balked at AXION (44A: Particle theorized in 1977), in part because AXON was in the grid and my brain wouldn't accept the near-duplicate. I also had "BY GODS!" at 71A: "For heaven's sake!" ("MY GOSH!"). So I guess I was imagining the exclamation coming from Thor or Hercules.
My brain is mildly fried from having just experienced the end of "Breaking Bad" (finally), so I'm gonna go process.
See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: Get Lost— phrases meaning "Go Away" all clued following the pattern [Go away as a [***] might?], where the [***] gives you some hint to the idiom involved:
Theme answers:
- RUN ALONG
- BEAT IT
- TAKE A HIKE
- BUZZ OFF
- AMSCRAY
- MAKE LIKE A / BANANA / AND SPLIT
Soleares (plural of soleá, pronounced: [soleˈa]) is one of the most basic forms or "palos" ofFlamenco music, probably originated around Cádiz or Seville in Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain. It is usually accompanied by one guitar only, in phrygian mode "por arriba" (fundamental on the 6th string); "Bulerías por soleá" is usually played "por medio" (fundamental on the 5th string). Soleares is sometimes called "mother of palos" although it is not the oldest one (e.g. siguiriyas is older than soleares) and not even related to every other palo (e.g. fandangosfamily is from a different origin) (wikipedia)
• • •
I came in under 4 on this one, which was nice, as I have been noticeably slower of late, despite doing more puzzles than ever. No idea what that's about. Maybe it's aging-brain, maybe I'm just paying closer attention as I solve, maybe maybe maybe. Had no real hiccups besides not knowing SOLEÁ. Briefly thought the tree in the Garden of Eden was a FIR (no lie) (38D: Garden of Eden tree). Balked at AXION (44A: Particle theorized in 1977), in part because AXON was in the grid and my brain wouldn't accept the near-duplicate. I also had "BY GODS!" at 71A: "For heaven's sake!" ("MY GOSH!"). So I guess I was imagining the exclamation coming from Thor or Hercules.
My brain is mildly fried from having just experienced the end of "Breaking Bad" (finally), so I'm gonna go process.
See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld