Constructor: John Guzzetta
Relative difficulty: Medium (potentially skewing harder)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: intaglio (64A: Gem used in intaglio = ONYX) —
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This on has a lot of ... trying to think of a neutral term here ... energy? It's very lively. It's trying very hard to be lively. I think I half-enjoyed the liveliness. In fact, I might've more-than-half-enjoyed it, but I didn't more-than-half-enjoy the solve as a whole because some of the non-liveliness really brought me down. The proper nouns in this thing were obscure (to me), so that over and over (that is, three times, for sure) I got clues that were essentially "man's name" or "woman's name." Some TV actor, OK, once per puzzle, maybe, but today, twice!? (45A: Actor Fitch of "This Is Us" / 56D: Actress Kirke of "Mozart in the Jungle"), and then a Mr. Olympia to BOOT (!?!?). Do people really keep track of the Mr. Olympias? I mean, besides participants in the contest itself, and (presumably) avid bodybuilders? RONNIE? (4D: ___ Coleman, eight-time Mr. Olympia). Really could've used a "presidential nickname" there or something. Anyway, name, name, name, from TV show I don't watch, TV show I don't watch, competition I know nothing about. Again, I expect to get hit with one or two of these in a puzzle, but by the third I was weary. Thank god I knew AUGIE March cold, and my condolences to those who didn't. If that name may seem obscure to you, I get it, and I sympathize, but at least Saul Bellow won the dang Nobel Prize—that alone makes him far more crossworthy than non-Arnold Mr. Olympias and TV actors of probably considerable talent, but no great fame (TO DATE). OK I just discovered that NILES Fitch is a. adorable b. younger than my daughter, so I'm pro-NILES Fitch now. But while I was solving—not so much.
Bullet points:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Relative difficulty: Medium (potentially skewing harder)
Word of the Day: intaglio (64A: Gem used in intaglio = ONYX) —
1a: an engraving or incised figure in stone or other hard material depressed below the surface so that an impression from the design yields an image in reliefb: the art or process of executing intagliosc: printing (as in die stamping and gravure) done from a plate in which the image is sunk below the surface2: something (such as a gem) carved in intaglio (merriam-webster.com)
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| [NILES Fitch] |
But back to the puzzle's weird high energy. Really felt like the puzzle was out here just shouting random made-up terms, or slang terms, or whatever popped into its head. "INFODEMIC!" (13A: Widespread rumors, in a portmanteau) Uh, that's ... not a thing. "NEW NORMAL!" (16A: Post-crisis baseline) Ooh, yeah, I like that, but maybe go back to normal words now? "STRIPY!" What!? I said "normal." Do you even spell STRIPY like th-? "MERCY BUCKETS!" (6D: "Thanks a lot!," in intentionally butchered French) OMG slow down ... Not sure how I feel about dopey fake Fr- "LIGHTEN UP!"You lighten up. "DIGITAL DETOX!" Yeah OK, good, now you're back on the right tr- "TAX BITES!" Huh. So not SEX BITES, then? Good to know, I thought April Fools' was getting a little kinky there. Don't love this in the plural, but- "TELEOLOGY!" (33D: Branch of causality that comes from the Greek for "study of the end") Alright, now you're speaking my language, but I don't know if it's gonna be everyone's lang- "AUGIE!" Well, yes, see my TELEOLOGY comment, above. {End scene}.
I think [MacGyvering] was my favorite part of the puzzle. I use that term all the time. Sometimes when I'm teaching. Then I have to explain the '80s to kids who have no memories of anything before the Obama Era. It's awkward. But actually "MacGyvering" seems to be a concept that has transcended its TV origins. And since I had the "JU-" in place when I looked at the clue, whoooosh, JURY-RIGGING! The puzzle had its other colorful, whooshy moment. "MERCY BUCKETS" is godawful as a phrase, please don't say it, ever ... but as a crossword answer, I have to give it points for originality. And DIGITAL DETOX is very good, very current, even if I could not for the life of me remember the word that was supposed to follow DIGITAL ("Diet? ... Fasting? ... Time out? ...") I kinda sort knew it alliterated, and that still didn't help. But when I got DETOX, I recognized its validity right away. Speaking of validity—you may be wondering how FIT is a valid answer for 33A: Meet. Yeah, I thought they were verbs too. But they're not. They're adjectives, and both mean (roughly) "proper" or "appropriate." Merriam-webster.com defines "meet" (in this sense) as "precisely adapted to a particular situation, need, or circumstance : very proper." So the answer is FIT as in "fitting." That meaning of "Meet" is borderline archaic. In fact, Merriam-Webster has it as "archaic & dialectical British," so if you didn't know it, don't feel too bad.
Really hate the pithy-saying-type clue, since they never compute for me until I've got nearly every cross, and today... we get two! Descartes on DOUBT (50D: "The origin of wisdom," per René Descartes) and Denis Leary on COMEDY (19A: "The ultimate form of free speech," to Denis Leary). I don't know why it's "per" René Descartes but "to" Denis Leary. Is Leary not fancy enough for a "per?" Also, why are we being told it's René Descartes? Is there some other Descartes? Jimmy Descartes? Typically, Descartes is a one-name dude. If you don't know him as Descartes, then how the hell is "René" gonna help you?
Bullet points:
- 52D: Asparagus, essentially (STEMS)— went with SPEAR here at first, which I'm just gonna assume was a common error
- 27D: Concupiscent one (EROS)— I didn't know EROS himself was "concupiscent" (he's often depicted as a mischievous child or adolescent boy). I thought he just made ... you ... that way (i.e. horny) ("concupiscence" is strong desire, esp. sexual desire)
- 2D: Reluctant to join? (INERT)— ah, chemistry jokes, who doesn't love those!? (besides me). Per wikipedia: "The noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon) were previously known as 'inert gases' because of their perceived lack of participation in any chemical reactions. "
- 10D: Pay for a crime, say (SERVE TIME) — an ordinary phrase, but for some reason I could not come up with the first word. Had TIME and after "DO TIME" I was out of ideas. SERVE TIME is rather formal. But it's not wrong.
OK, I GOTTA RUN. Coffee and cats are calling. This one was more good than bad. Irksome in parts, but enjoyable overall. See you next time.
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