Constructor: Lewis E. Rothlein
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: HIDDEN GEM (34D: Well-kept secret … or a hint to the answer to each starred clue) — the letter string "GEM" is "HIDDEN" inside five theme answers
Theme answers:
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I liked this one OK, but man it was over fast. There was a while there where I was cutting through this thing like it was Monday—from the NE right down through the middle to the SW I got every answer I looked at immediately. Not nearly Thursdayish enough, cluing-wise. The theme type is also standard—not the kind of thing I'm used to seeing on Thursday (typically the twisty / tricky day). I've seen this done a million ways. I did one once called "Inside Dope" where THC was "hidden" inside the themers. I have nothing against this theme type. Just feels more T/W to me. There was absolutely nothing unusual today. The envelopes all remained unpushed. And yet I enjoyed the five minutes I spent doing it. I think this is because a few of the themers are simply entertaining in their own right. "INDULGE ME…" is original, colloquial, nice. I don't think I've ever heard of a DODGE MONACO, but I enjoyed remembering "The Blues Brothers" (one of the first R-rated movies my parents took me to see, along with "Bustin' Loose" and "The World According to Garp"). GRUDGE MATCH is the big winner of the day—a fantastic answer I can't remember seeing before. Most of the fill was just average, with a few unfortunate moments, but the long stuff is good, and when the long stuff is good, the mediocre short stuff can't do much to ruin the party.
There were very few points of resistance. I had to think about 1A: "___ pass" for a bit. After getting LPS at 4D: Audiophile's collection, I went with "WE'LL pass." As in, "You guys wanna go contra-dancing with us?""Uh, no. WE'LL pass." But that wasn't it. NEAP made that clear. Once I changed WE'LL to IT'LL, whole NW was done fast. I didn't rocket out of there because GARDEN City is meaningless to anyone outside NYC (i.e. me), and even with GARD- I wasn't sure. Also, I had BIOS at first for 21D: They may have kings as subjects (ODES). But CEDE was a gimme (5A: Turn over), and I got all the crossing Downs and then just Took Off. Once I changed EMOJI (!?) to ECARD (ick) at 6D: Gift with a GIF, maybe, I didn't miss a single answer until way down at 39D: Take (ANGLE), which proved so inscrutable to me that I just ended up solving around it. I get it now, but that is one ambiguous clue for ANGLE. I also had some issues with the equally ambiguous clue 43D: Beef (GRIPE). Confuse there was exacerbated by feeling 58A: Union busters? might be AXES and 55A: One getting the message? might be MAGE (can a MAGE be a seer or a medium?). After that slight delay, I rocketed across the bottom of the grid right down to the SE corner, where GEM actually didn't come quickly. Had to work it from crosses. But that was it. Too easy and straightforward, but pleasant enough.
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Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: HIDDEN GEM (34D: Well-kept secret … or a hint to the answer to each starred clue) — the letter string "GEM" is "HIDDEN" inside five theme answers
Theme answers:
- "INDULGE ME" (1D: *"If I may…")
- LARGE MOUTH (18A: *Kind of bass)
- DODGE MONACO (24A: *Model of the Blues Brothers' Bluesmobile)
- GRUDGE MATCH (43A: *Opportunity for revenge)
- IMAGE MAKER (52A: *Publicist, e.g.)
Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, 18.5 miles (29.8 km) from midtown Manhattan, and just south of the town of North Hempstead. A very small section of the village is in North Hempstead.As of the 2010 census, the population of the incorporated village was 22,371.The Garden City name is applied to several other unincorporated, nearby jurisdictions. In the region, hamlets such as Garden City South, Garden City Park and East Garden City are adjacent to the incorporated village of Garden City, but are not themselves part of it. Roosevelt Field, the shopping center built on the former airfield from which Charles Lindbergh took off on his landmark 1927 transatlantic flight, is located in East Garden City.Part of Hofstra University's campus is located in Garden City. (wikipedia)
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There were very few points of resistance. I had to think about 1A: "___ pass" for a bit. After getting LPS at 4D: Audiophile's collection, I went with "WE'LL pass." As in, "You guys wanna go contra-dancing with us?""Uh, no. WE'LL pass." But that wasn't it. NEAP made that clear. Once I changed WE'LL to IT'LL, whole NW was done fast. I didn't rocket out of there because GARDEN City is meaningless to anyone outside NYC (i.e. me), and even with GARD- I wasn't sure. Also, I had BIOS at first for 21D: They may have kings as subjects (ODES). But CEDE was a gimme (5A: Turn over), and I got all the crossing Downs and then just Took Off. Once I changed EMOJI (!?) to ECARD (ick) at 6D: Gift with a GIF, maybe, I didn't miss a single answer until way down at 39D: Take (ANGLE), which proved so inscrutable to me that I just ended up solving around it. I get it now, but that is one ambiguous clue for ANGLE. I also had some issues with the equally ambiguous clue 43D: Beef (GRIPE). Confuse there was exacerbated by feeling 58A: Union busters? might be AXES and 55A: One getting the message? might be MAGE (can a MAGE be a seer or a medium?). After that slight delay, I rocketed across the bottom of the grid right down to the SE corner, where GEM actually didn't come quickly. Had to work it from crosses. But that was it. Too easy and straightforward, but pleasant enough.
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