Constructor: Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas
Relative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)
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THEME: HOP SKIP AND A JUMP (65A: Short distance to travel, with a hint to 17-, 27- and 49-Across) — things that hop, skip, and jump, respectively:
Theme answers:
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Yeah, OK. This seems like a fine Monday theme. HOP SKIP AND A JUMP is a common colloquial phrase, and those theme answers hop, skip, and jump, for sure. Nothing stunning here, but it all seems perfectly solid and acceptable. I have only two quibbles with the execution of the theme. First, the phrase really really wants to be *A* HOP SKIP AND A JUMP. You'd never use the phrase without that initial "A," and it seems obvious / likely / probable that the "A" would be here if it weren't for symmetry considerations, i.e. PETER COTTONTAIL is 15 so HOP SKIP AND A JUMP has to be 15 (also, 15 is the conventional width for a daily crossword puzzle). I feel that missing "A" a little, is what I'm saying. Also, I really Really feel the missing "hopping" in the clue for PETER COTTONTAIL. [Song character who comes "down the bunny trail"]!?!?!? He (famously) "comes ... *hopping* down the bunny trail." So weird to pretend that he's just ... coming down the trail in some kind of non-hop fashion. I mean, I get why "hopping" is not in the clue (HOP is a part of the revealer), but still ... there have to be better ways to clue PETER COTTONTAIL, ones that don't involve awkward / botched / partial quotations. So that theme clue as well as the revealer felt like they clanked a bit. But just a bit. As I say, on the whole, this is fine.
Relative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)
Theme answers:
- PETER COTTONTAIL (he hops) (17A: Song character who comes "down the bunny trail")
- BROKEN RECORD (it skips) (27A: Someone who says the same thing again and again, metaphorically)
- FIGURE SKATER (she jumps) (49A: One having an ice time at the Olympics?)
Aisha Hinds is an American television, stage and film actress. She had supporting roles in a number of television series, including The Shield, Invasion, True Blood, Detroit 1-8-7 and Under the Dome. In 2016, she played Fannie Lou Hamer in biographical drama film All the Way. She has also appeared in Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and was cast as Harriet Tubman in WGN America period drama Underground. Beginning in 2018, Hinds stars in the Fox procedural drama series 9-1-1. (wikipedia) // 9-1-1 is an American procedural drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear. The series had aired on Fox and currently airs on ABC. The series follows the lives of Los Angeles first responders: police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and dispatchers. // The series currently stars Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi and Gavin McHugh. The series premiered on January 3, 2018. 9-1-1 is a joint production between Reamworks, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision and Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Television. In May 2023, the series was canceled by Fox and was renewed for a seventh season at ABC. The seventh season premiered on March 14, 2024. In April 2024, ABC renewed the series for an eighth season which was set to premiere on September 26, 2024. (wikipedia)
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Very happy I solved Downs-only today because I missed the two marginal pop culture clues entirely. I can't imagine watching network TV anymore. I have no idea what is on there. It all seems the same. Three hundred and eighty-six shows about cops or firemen or paramedics or medical investigators or lawyers or I don't know what. I do not get it. So if you'd asked me to name *anyone* in the cast of 9-1-1, I'd've asked "Do you mean Reno 9-1-1? That was a pretty funny show. I know the faces, but I'm not sure about the names. Let's see, there's that lady who went on to be in The Goldb-" And after you'd patiently explained to me that no, you didn't mean Reno 9-1-1, you meant plain old 9-1-1, I'd've stared at you blankly, wondering "...that's a thing? They couldn't think of a better title than that?" So, yeah, never heard of AISHA Hinds or that TV show. I don't feel bad about not knowing the TV show, but Hinds has done a lot of other stuff, so I feel slightly bad about not even recognizing her name. But solving Downs-only, all I have to know is that AISHAis a name, a name I know exists, and since the Downs all work ... we're good! I've at least heard of Vanderpump Rules, but again, hard LOL that I'd know the names of anyone on it. TOM Sandoval, you say? OK. Neither of these TV clues seem like easy Monday fare. I would say the same about LEONA Lewis if she weren't virtual crosswordese by now (her crossword presence is hardly proportionate to her actual fame) (47A: "Bleeding Love" singer Lewis). But again, solving Downs-only, I just sailed right by all that name nonsense. Ignorantly, blissfully.
No real problems with the Downs-only solve today. Kinda wanted IN RE at 3D: Regarding (AS TO), but "RE" is related to "Regarding," so I shouldn't even have entertained that idea. Then there was THE LIKE, which I really ... uh, like. It's a strange standalone phrase. I mean, it looks weird on its own, and not at the end of sentence, following "and." Plus it's got a strangely phrased clue: 4D: Others similar. My brain had to take a few seconds to process that one, grammatically. After I got THE, I wanted THE SAME, but no, THE LIKE is better, THE LIKE is good, I like THE LIKE. I still somehow haven't added INUK to my database of things I know, so that was probably the hardest answer in the grid for me ... OK, I looked it up, and I now feel less bad about struggling to recall it. This is only the second appearance ever of INUK, the first being some time last year. An INUK is a "member of the Inuit people." INUIT, I've seen a gajillion times. INUK ... still getting used to that one. Just one other misstep today: LEDGE before ROOST for the [Pigeon's perch].
Short fill is a little shaky today, but the longer (non-thematic) stuff is pretty nice. Do ORGANISTs GO ON TOUR. Seems like it would not be an EASY JOB (48D: Gravy train gig), lugging your cathedral-sized organ from gig to gig. I like GO ON TOUR because it looks like GOON TOUR. I guess if a guy OFFS people for the mob, and he has to do a lot of ... offing ... around the country, maybe you could call that a GOON TOUR. That's enough fanciful reading of the grid. Need coffee. Happy Labor Day. 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]