Constructor: Steve Weyer
Relative difficulty: SO HARD (32:51-- easily double my usual Wednesday time)
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THEME: ARS MAGNA — Phrases built from three sections of anagrams in a row
Hey squad, and happy First Wednesday of the Month, aka Malaika MWednesday! Today reminds me of the fact that Election Day (in the US) is not on the first Tuesday of November-- it's on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. The idea being that you have at least one day in November to be reminded to vote.
There were an enormous number of proper nouns in this puzzle, which I assume will be the source of complaints. I'll join in. My rule for proper nouns is similar to my rule for puns-- if I know the proper noun, then I love to see it in a puzzle. If I've never heard of it, then I don't like it. I am very selfish that way.
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I did not know a lot of these (Attack of the Crab Monsters, MUIR Woods, Bosch, DE SOTO, NAN Goldin, YANN Patel, Brandon Teena, Hoggett), but namely the four in the theme answers!! Who are these people?? Famous, I'm sure but I was clueless, wading through the puzzle like I was pushing my way towards the bathroom at a crowded party where I know only one person, and they've abandoned me to flirt with a stranger. I don't think I could name a single actor in a silent film regardless of whether they're a star... I don't think I could even the name of a single silent film! (I will flag that "silent film" is an awesome example of a retronym.) MANET sort of rings a bell as "the guy who is not Monet even though they have similar names" but 1800s French art is not my forte. We can also debate whether something like ASTIN / NAN is a Natick. Not knowing either of those people, I had "Nat" their originally. But then I saw the pattern in the theme answers which allowed me to puzzle (ha!) out that letter.
Bullets:
Relative difficulty: SO HARD (32:51-- easily double my usual Wednesday time)
THEME: ARS MAGNA — Phrases built from three sections of anagrams in a row
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: IROC (Vintage Camaro owner's boast?) —
- [Actor Sean does some things that aren't nice] for ASTIN ISN'T A SAINT
- (ASTIN) (ISNTA) (SAINT)
- [Silent film star Bara didn't want to leave us] for THEDA HATED DEATH
- [Artist Edouard mistakenly proposed 11:00] for MANET MEANT TEN A.M.
- (MANET) (MEANT) (TENAM)
- [Fictional lawyer Perry cries "I give!"] for MASON MOANS, "NO MAS!"
- (MASON) (MOANS) (NOMAS)
- [1545 treatise whose rearranged letters aptly suggest 17-, 26-, 44- and 59-Across] for ARS MAGNA, which anagrams to ANAGRAMS
- Darn, this would hit so much harder if I had ever heard of this before
Word of the Day: IROC (Vintage Camaro owner's boast?) —
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an American-motorsports equivalent of an all-star game. Despite its name, the IROC was primarily associated with North American oval track racing.
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But as I'm writing this, it is neither a Wednesday, nor November! It is October and it is HALLOWEEN!! I was a devil at one costume party, and Princess Jasmine at another. But the best costume I saw by far was a squad of ppl wearing safety vests and clutching a rope. They were dressed up as The Daycare Kiddos On A Walk!! Please let me know your costumes in the comments
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| I adore vine-ripened youths, I see them toddling about Brooklyn, carefully looking both ways at intersections, and am overcome with the desire to pinch their cheeks |
There were an enormous number of proper nouns in this puzzle, which I assume will be the source of complaints. I'll join in. My rule for proper nouns is similar to my rule for puns-- if I know the proper noun, then I love to see it in a puzzle. If I've never heard of it, then I don't like it. I am very selfish that way.
I did not know a lot of these (Attack of the Crab Monsters, MUIR Woods, Bosch, DE SOTO, NAN Goldin, YANN Patel, Brandon Teena, Hoggett), but namely the four in the theme answers!! Who are these people?? Famous, I'm sure but I was clueless, wading through the puzzle like I was pushing my way towards the bathroom at a crowded party where I know only one person, and they've abandoned me to flirt with a stranger. I don't think I could name a single actor in a silent film regardless of whether they're a star... I don't think I could even the name of a single silent film! (I will flag that "silent film" is an awesome example of a retronym.) MANET sort of rings a bell as "the guy who is not Monet even though they have similar names" but 1800s French art is not my forte. We can also debate whether something like ASTIN / NAN is a Natick. Not knowing either of those people, I had "Nat" their originally. But then I saw the pattern in the theme answers which allowed me to puzzle (ha!) out that letter.
I'm sorry I don't have anything more to say-- I think this was a fine puzzle, it was just hard and filled with things I didn't know, and I like to solve easy puzzles filled with things that I know. I don't think it was a bad puzzle, but beyond "I got my ass kicked and at the end of the day it's a theme I've seen before" I don't have a lot to contribute. These were my final four squares, where I essentially ran the alphabet til I was told the puzzle was complete:
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| This image includes ASS and ARSE which I swear was an accident |
Bullets:
- [1957's "Attack of the Crab Monsters," for one] for B MOVIE — Jerry Seinfeld's meme masterpiece Bee Movie came out when I was ten years old and I did not know the title was a pun. I simply thought it was an excellent name for a movie about bees. More movies should be named that way! Boat Movie or Boxing Movie or etc.
- [Online zine] for EMAG — On my tombstone, I would like someone to engrave "EMAG is not a word"
- [Six Flags ride named for a powerful animal] for EL TORO — I absolutely filled in "Eeyore" first here and I will not be ashamed of it.
- [Tamale dough] for MASA— What's the singular of tamales? I thought it was tamal, but maybe that's just in Spanish. (The singular of paninis in English is panini, though in Italian it's panino.)
- Can someone please explain what HYPOS are and why [Little shots?] works as a clue? Not seeing anything on Google.
P.S. If this puzzle seems familiar to you, you are probably remembering this one.