Constructor: Kenneth Cortes
Relative difficulty: Well, for me, solving Downs-only, it was Challenging (for a Monday, obviously)
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THEME: positionality— theme answers whose first words "TOP""BOTTOM""LEFT" and "RIGHT" point to different answers that are "literally" at the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the grid:
Theme answers:
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YABBER dabber ... don't. Please don't. What is this word? I know the word "yammer." It means "to talk foolishly or incessantly" (i.e. to [Go on and on]). I know the word "jabber." It means "to talk rapidly, distinctly, or unintelligibly" (i.e. to [Go on and on]). But what in the [beeeeeeeeeeep] is YABBER? I mean, I know what it is now. I looked it up. But I've never seen this word before in my life. Putting some Australian garbage (no offense, lol) in the puzzle on a Monday, what the actual heck? All of the OED examples of YABBER are from Australian sources. [Sidenote: it's also a word with seemingly racist origins: see OED entry, above]. Seems bizarre to pretend that this is just a word people (i.e. people in this country) use. It is not. Do you have any idea how much this "answer" messed me up today. Just try inferring a word that you have never seen in your life and are pretty sure is not a word. Solving Downs-only requires working at least partially by inference. Unless you just magically know all the Downs cold, you have to use the Downs you know to get letters that help you infer at least some of the Acrosses, which then help you get the Downs you couldn't get in the first place, lather rinse repeat. But good luck inferring YABBER. And because YABBER crosses BOOTY, I would not commit to BOOTY, which was a thematically crucial element, so ... sigh. This was just one of several problems I had with the Downs-only solve today, but it's the only one I'm actually Mad about because, as I say, YABBER is not a word that people use in this country, jeez louise, come on. Are you sure it's not actually "yammer" and the speaker just has a cold???
Relative difficulty: Well, for me, solving Downs-only, it was Challenging (for a Monday, obviously)
Theme answers:
- TOP SIRLOIN (17A: Prime cut of beef ... or 5-Across, literally?) / 5A: Texas Roadhouse specialty (STEAK) ["STEAK" is "SIRLOIN," and it is "literally" at the "TOP" of the grid]
- BOTTOM LINE (62A: Balance sheet total ... or 68-Across, literally?) / 68A: D.C.'s subway system (METRO) ["METRO" is a "LINE," and it is "literally" at the "BOTTOM" of the grid]
- LEFT BEHIND (27D: Abandoned ... or 25-Down, literally?) / 25D: Tush (BOOTY) ["BOOTY" means "BEHIND," and it is "literally" on the "LEFT" side of the grid]
- RIGHT ANGLE (11D: One of four for a square ... or 32-Down, literally?) / 32D: Biased point of view (SLANT) ["SLANT" is an "ANGLE," and it is "literally" on the "RIGHT" side of the grid]
Originally Australian.
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For the last three NYTXW appearances of YABBER (i.e. the only other appearances in the Modern Era—a Wednesday (2011), Sunday (2007), and Sunday (2002), respectively), the clues all indicated the answer's Australian-ness ("to an Aussie,""Down Under,""to an Aussie"). So this answer (which, again, is YABBER) has never (before today) appeared in an easy, early-week puzzle, and has never been clued without its Aussie indicator. Even in the pre-Shortz era (where the answer appeared only twice (Sun. 1988, Thu. 1979)), YABBER never showed up on a Mon or Tue, and never lacked its Aussie indicator ("in Queensland,""in Sydney"). The Aussie indicator tells American solvers "this is gonna be off" and so your solving brain can loosen up and accept weirdness. Without it, you're looking for a regular word that is used in this country, which YABBER ... isn't. This is bafflingly poor editing. I know it's no big deal because the puzzle is ultimately easy yabba yabba yabba, but it's still bad.
Notes:
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Because of the Downs-only thing, I could only really see half the themers. Even though I had STEAK / TOP SIRLOIN, and BOTTOM LINE / METRO filled in, I had no idea how they were thematic (or even that they were thematic). The only themers I could see were the "LEFT" and "RIGHT" ones, and neither one of them—neither the long answers, nor the short answers they referred to, were clear to me at first pass. [One of four for a square] was *particularly* hard, since I wanted something having to do with "SIDES." I eventually figured out LEFT BEHIND, but even then I was like "how is your BOOTY'literally' your LEFT BEHIND? I thought it referred to your *whole* behind..." It just took a while for the gimmick to register. I'm honestly surprised that I managed to finish without cheating (i.e. looking at Acrosses). I had "I BUY IT" before "I SEE IT" (10D: "Yeah, that seems plausible to me"), because "I BUY IT" is obviously better, as well as just more interesting, so ... yeah, that didn't help with my RIGHT ANGLE / SLANT problems in the NE and E. It took some Doing to infer STEFANI, which is the only way I managed to see BY FAR (29D: Without question). I had ESTEEM (?) before ASSESS (34D: Judge the value of). I absolutely (!) blanked on ABSOLUT (after STOLI and SKYY I was out of ideas) (Did I mention I hate vodka and don't understand why anyone drinks it? True story). And while I wanted BALLER fairly early, I had trouble committing to it (47D: Hoops player), mostly because BALLER has come to have meaning far beyond the basketball court. As I say, I feel lucky to have finished clean.
But OK, putting aside the Downs-only shenanigans, what about this theme? I dunno. Top bottom left right. It's kind of fussy, esp. for a Monday. I mean, there's some cleverness there, but you could do this theme with all kinds of TOP, BOTTOM, LEFT, and RIGHT-starting answers. The themer set feels arbitrary, not particularly tight. Overall, the puzzle's fine, but it doesn't have the perfect snap and the elegant simplicity that I crave in a Monday.
Notes:
- 10D: "Yeah, that seems plausible to me" ("I SEE IT")— did anyone else initially read this sarcastically and want to write in "I'LL BET"? Something about the "Yeah..."
- 20A: Tongue-tingling taco topping (HOT SALSA) — I would not call the mouth sensation that I get from truly HOT SALSA a "tingle." That is too weak and vaguely pleasant a word to describe it. If the salsa is merely "tongue-tingling," it's mild. Tongue-searing, tongue-scorching ... if you absolutely must have your four-part alliteration, maybe "tongue-torturing"? "Tongue-torching"?
- 36D: Whom "video killed," in a 1979 hit (RADIO STAR)— love remembering this song, but hate this phrase as a standalone answer. It doesn't have enough standalone power, not enough currency or meaning outside of this song.
- 13D: Through which we sniff, snort and sneeze (NOSE) — what kind of quaint-ass phrasing is this? There are rules about clue and answer being the same part of speech. A prepositional phrase should not be able to clue a noun. And again with the alliteration? A little goes a long way, I swear. [Singer Simone], [Soothing succulent], [Sign for the superstitious] ... maybe tap the brakes.
P.S. The OED is full of gems...
- 1969
Few Australians can speak English. Most have learnt from disc jockeys and yabber in an odd language called Strine.
Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) No. 69. 1/2
STRINE (6) actually made an NYTXW appearance on a Sunday back in 2019, when I called it "the most obscure thing I've ever seen in the puzzle"
