Constructor: Dylan Schiff
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME:"Computer Games"— circled squares in the top half of the grid represent literally some computer-related phenomena, which are named in the bottom half of the grid:
Theme answers:
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The word that best describes this puzzle is "anti-climactic." That is, the "computer games" that are going on up top, with the circled squares, are all pretty obvious, so that by the time you get to the bottom, you're probably not gonna have anything like an aha moment when you get, say, BROKEN LINK. You can see that LINK is "broken" inside LINCOLN PARK, and you can see that the title of the puzzle is "Computer Games," and you can see that while there are circles in the top half of the grid, there are none in the bottom, and so, yeah, I knew the bottom was just gonna be explanations of what was going on up top, and what was going on up top was, as I say, pretty obvious. I will admit that I thought HATEMAIL was going to have something to do with "spam," i.e. unwanted EMAIL, so EMAIL ATTACHMENT surprised me a bit, but the others did not. You can see the SHEET spreading in SURF THE NET, you can see the ADS popping up in THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. So there was no gas left in the tank there at the end. Things just kind of sputter to a conclusion. The little turned-up ADS bit was probably the most interesting thing, thematically. Otherwise, kind of a shrug today. The puzzle is very easy, so I imagine a lot of people will be fairly warmly disposed toward it. But after the first answer or two, the puzzle has nothing left to surprise you with. And the fill, while mostly solid, is no great shakes. Kinda BEIGE, overall, this one.
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- HATE MAIL / EMAIL ATTACHMENT (22A: Derby, for one / 65A: What a paper clip may indicate online ... as represented in 22-Across) [A derby is a HAT … and then EMAIL is “attached” to HAT … to make (unclued) HATE MAIL]
- SURF THE NET / SPREADSHEET (29A: Wander around online / 92A: Excel offering ... as represented in 29-Across) [the word SHEET is “spread” throughout the phrase SURF THE NET]
- LINCOLN PARK / BROKEN LINK (35A: Chicago neighborhood with a namesake zoo / 100A: It may lead to a 404 error page ... as represented in 35-Across) [the word LINK is “broken” inside the name LINCOLN PARK]
- THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS / POP-UP ADS (59A: Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves / 109A: Browser annoyances ... as represented in 59-Across) [the word ADS literally “pops up” in the middle of DEAD SEA SCROLLS (as it’s represented in the grid]
Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American theatre, film and television actor and baritone singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Chester Lyman in Barnum, The Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, King Charlemagne in Pippin, Mal Beineke in The Addams Family, and The Man in the Yellow Suit in Tuck Everlasting. He has received three Tony Award nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.His film credits include the Critters series, A Chorus Line, Big Top Pee-wee and Solarbabies. He also starred as the villain Whispers in the Netflix series Sense8 from 2015 to 2018. He is a distinguished professor of musical theatre at Western Carolina University, and is an artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and the North Carolina Theatre. (wikipedia)
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["Searching for my / Lost shaker of SALT"— RIP Jimmy]
Two proper nouns right in the middle of the grid—symmetrical sentinels—were the only things I didn't know today. TERRENCE Mann? TED ALLEN? (48D: Longtime host of Food Network's "Chopped"). I'll take the puzzle's word for it that these people are who the puzzle says they are. Most everyone else, from Ginger ROGERS to ADELE to Zora NEALE Hurston, was familiar to me. Had a bit of trouble with ISRAEL (25A: Biblical name that means "one who struggles with God") because I though ISMAEL might be the name in question, and IN REASON, yeesh, what? (14D: With good sense). I've heard the phrase "within reason," but just IN REASON? Nuh uh. Just 'cause your massive word list tells you something's good doesn't mean it is. Ooh, what's DASHI, I totally missed that when I was solving (13D: Soup stock in Japanese cuisine). Must've just filled it in entirely from crosses. Once again, no-looking an answer proves to be to my great advantage. I have heard of DASHI, but I definitely would not have remembered it. Along with IN REASON, I can't really imagine "CARES of the world" either (76A: ___ of the world). I haven't a care in the world, that's an imaginable phrase. I guess "far from the CARES of the world" is semi-familiar, but it feels quaint, and it did not come to me quickly at all. Speaking of quaint, ILL USAGE? I think I know ILL USE, but that also sounds quaint. This puzzle is scoring low on the freshness factor, is what I'm saying. Not a big fan of VERSE crossing AVERSE. Once Letter strings of longer than four letters generally shouldn't be duped at all, and certainly shouldn't be crossed, especially when (in this case) we're talking about one of those strings being a whole-ass word. I also don't really get the clue on VERSE (96D: Writer's block?). VERSE is no more a "block" (of text?) than any other bunch of text is. I do like the symmetrical pair of SHUTTERS and CURTAINS. Very windowy. Very nice.
Notes:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
- 67D: Ptolemy was one, famously (ASTROLOGER)— wow, really thought he was an astronomer. I mean, he was. But apparently also this other thing. According to wikipedia, Ptolemy (who lived during the second century AD), was a "mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist."
- 103A: Class speakers, for short (PAS)— oof. Not sure why you opt for this cluing of PAS instead of the plural slang of "fathers" or the French word for "not" (or "step," i.e. "Faux PAS"), but apparently someone thought "public address (systems)" would be a good idea, so here we are.
- 44A: "___ for Tinhorns" ("Guys and Dolls" number) ("FUGUE") — No idea. And I've seen (the movie version of) "Guys and Dolls." This must be some desperate attempt to make a very easy puzzle a little bit harder.
- 113A: Tours with? (AVEC) — "Tours" is a place in France, and AVEC is French ... for "with."
- 72D: Diamond theft (STOLEN BASE) — presumably by now you know that the "diamond" in question is a baseball diamond. I did not know that until after several crosses into BASE. Wanted STOLEN ICE or STOLEN GEMS or something like that.
I still haven't had time to review all the puzzles for July and August to figure out my favorites, so I'm deferring the "Best of..." for another week, I think. See you then (or whenever).
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