Constructor: Gene Newman
Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Monday)
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THEME: Tom Swifties— "A Tom Swifty (or Tom Swiftie) is a phrase in which a quoted sentence is linked by a pun to the manner in which it is attributed." (wikipedia) — one of the oldest "joke"-types (or pun-types, I guess) in the book. Huge lists of them all over the internet. (See ... well, you have google, just see. For instance, #2, here) (or look under "U"here for "unwillingly") (or find "shiftlessly" on this page) (or "witheringly" on this page)
Theme answers:
If this is the first time you've ever encountered a Tom Swifty, well now that milestone in your life has passed. I hope you enjoyed that. This particular pun form is old as dirt. I will say one good thing about this puzzle—the fill is pretty darned clean. Now if only we could get clean fill and Reasonably Decent Theme to show up on the same day. Today's theme ("theme") is out of a box. Canned. Stale. Conceptually bankrupt. Ridiculous. Not NYT-worthy—not by a long shot. When your theme is, essentially, four adverbs (honestly, you could remake this grid infinitely, with symmetrically placed adverbs), you don't have a theme.
I will continue writing about puzzles when they return to some semblance of worthiness. This is now back-to-back I-Can't-Believe-This-Got-Accepted puzzles. Unreal. I understand why the best constructors are producing for their own sites or other outlets now, I really do. But days like this I almost want to beg them to come back. Almost.
To be clear, these are all *fine* Tom Swifties. But Tom Swifties do not a puzzle theme make. No. No they don't.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Facebook and Twitter]
Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Monday)
Theme answers:
- WITHERINGLY (18A: "You forgot to water the plants," Tom said ___)
- UNWILLINGLY (3D: "As much as I'd like, you're not getting any of my estate," Tom said ___)
- SHIFTLESSLY (28D: "Being a bit lazy, I prefer automatic," Tom said ___)
- OFFHANDEDLY (61A: "Oh, I just fed the alligator," Tom said ___)
Annie is a Broadwaymusical based upon the popular Harold Graycomic stripLittle Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre). It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers. (wikipedia)
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I will continue writing about puzzles when they return to some semblance of worthiness. This is now back-to-back I-Can't-Believe-This-Got-Accepted puzzles. Unreal. I understand why the best constructors are producing for their own sites or other outlets now, I really do. But days like this I almost want to beg them to come back. Almost.
To be clear, these are all *fine* Tom Swifties. But Tom Swifties do not a puzzle theme make. No. No they don't.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Facebook and Twitter]