Constructor: Brian Callahan
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: UNCOUPLES (64A: Disconnects ... or what's found in the answers to the four starred clues?) — each theme answer features a "couple" of words, both of which contain the letter string "UN":
Theme answers:
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A singularly uninspiring revealer. I actually thought the word was DECOUPLES. What's the difference? DECOUPLES would be a good ("good") revealer if you had theme answers like DOUBLE DOORS, DR. DEMENTO, DON DRAPER, stuff like that. But UNCOUPLES ... not a lot of fun there. There are certainly "UN"s in each of the two words in the theme answers, but with AROUND and BOUNTY the "UN" sound is submerged / hidden / changed, so you don't even get a nice rhyming thing going. Just ... the letters "UN." Since the revealer itself is not exciting at all, and "UN"-ness doesn't really have anything entertaining to offer, we're left with one nice themer (in an appropriately marquee position) (AS DRUNK AS A SKUNK), and that's pretty much it. The other themers are fine as standalone answers, but they don't add nearly enough color to the grid. Same goes for the long Downs. And then you've just got a lot of overfamiliar short stuff (SSNS and RPMS and ETAS and what not). The theme never really gets off the ground, and neither does the puzzle as a whole. But if you solve Downs-only, at least you got to feel ultra-powerful—there's almost nothing to hold you back from a quick solve today. I've got less than a half dozen potential sticking points written down here, and I don't think any of them is likely to prove fatal. So maybe you at least got a solving time record out of it. That's something. Take what you can get.
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- RUN AROUND (16A: *Evasive treatment, with "the")
- BOUNTY HUNTER (23A: *Boba Fett's occupation in "Star Wars" films)
- AS DRUNK AS A SKUNK (39A: *Seriously hammered)
- SUNDAY BRUNCH (52A: *Weekend occasion for avocado toast and mimosas)
"Oye Cómo Va" is a 1962 cha-cha-chá by Tito Puente, originally released on El Rey Bravo (Tico Records). The song achieved worldwide popularity in 1970, when it was recorded by American rock group Santana for their album Abraxas. This version was released as a single in 1971, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 11 on the Billboard Easy Listening survey, and number 32 on the R&B chart. The block chord ostinato pattern that repeats throughout the song was most likely borrowed by Puente from Cachao's 1957 mambo "Chanchullo", which was recorded by Puente in 1959.The song has been praised by critics and inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. Due to its multinational origins—Cuban, Puerto Rican and American—and its many versions by artists from all over the world, "Oye cómo va" has come to represent "the interconnectedness, hybridity and transnationality" of Latin music in the United States. (wikipedia)
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The long Downs always threaten to be the trickiest part of a Downs-only solve, and today, that was half true. Well, half half true. A quarter true. That is to say, GO DOWNHILL was a snap (29D: Deteriorate ... as sledders do?), especially once you get those themers into place and get the "D" and the "N" But SPORTS NUTS ... well, the NUTS part definitely slowed me down a tiny bit, in that I wanted FANS, which seemed like a perfectly good answer for the clue (10D: Ones with season tickets to football, baseball and basketball games, perhaps). Mostly what I wanted for that answer was some term for "rich people." I know a lot of SPORTS NUTS, I don't know a single person who has season tickets to three different sports, my god. I was definitely a sports nut for much of my life, and I never had season tickets to anything. So I had FANS, but then GNAT made that impossible and I corrected to NUTS. I guess the insane three-sports season tickets were supposed to indicate that we were dealing with something more than mere fandom (even though "fan" already means "fanatic"). Fine. I also had trouble coming up with HYPER, a term I haven't heard much since the '80s (55D: On a sugar rush, say). Just couldn't come up with a good term. But eventually I surrounded the answer, and HYPER became undeniable. The hardest (though not very hard) part was the last part: specifically, SASSY (52D: Smart-alecky). I wasn't *terribly* certain about "US TOO" (53D: "We agree"), and then, faced with -TILE in one of the Acrosses, I went with the (to me) obvious UTILE! From there, just one Down away from puzzle completion, I took one look at S-U-- at 52D: Smart-alecky and wrote in SAUCY! And that's how it would've stayed, had not COLED stared back at me like "... Really? You're gonna go with me? COLED? Are you sure about that?" I was not. So I pulled all of it and regrouped. STILE got me over the hump. The end.
The one thing I didn't stumble on that I can imagine one *might* stumble on, from a Downs-only perspective, is "NYUK!" (25D: Three Stooges snicker sound). I think it's safe to say that general cultural awareness of the various sounds made by the various Stooges is, uh, on the wane. I wouldn't even know the sound is "NYUK" if I hadn't seen it in crosswords a number of times. I think you can reason your way to "NYUK!" if you have no Stooges knowledge at all, but it would take some educated guessing, and some patience. But those are basic crossword skills, so ... if you are a non-Stooges fan, or otherwise suffer from Stooges nonawareness, but still persevered, congrats. Treat yourself to a TAB Cola. I'll 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]