Constructor: David Steinberg
Relative difficulty: Medium
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THEME: no
Word of the Day: Stan GETZ (56D: "The Sound" of music) —
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My brain was foggy from a hard ten hours sleep, but I usually crush David Steinberg Friday puzzles, so I ended up feeling like I struggled, but with a pretty normal Friday time. Lots of start and stop. Speed and stop. Usually get stopped on names I just don't know, or that won't come to me, and that was certainly true today. Spent I don't know how long imagining that 5D: Japanese P.M executed in 1948 (TOJO) was actually a clue about a former Sony exec (which is a clue you do see from time to time in crosswords, another four-letter Japanese name … I think my brain turned "P.M." into CEO and then just ignored the "executed" and "1948" parts … oh, and I still can't remember that Sony exec's name). And I've literally never heard of Jay SEAN until just now. Big SEAN, yes. Jay SEAN, no. So turning that particular corner was rough.
This puzzle started with IOTA (wrong) at 1A: Minute bit, which was quickly fixed by crosswording's favorite fisherman, the EELER, and then I went through the NW without much trouble. NE proved much tougher, as I got ANEW up into there, but then couldn't get much to work, Across-wise or Down-wise, on first pass. KAL-EL, NEXT, and AGOG—that's what I had. I thought the Hulk might be in a RAGE, but too few letters. I figured the [Land bordering western China] was a -STAN, but I wasn't sure which one. And of course TOJO, who would've helped a lot, was still a Sony exec in my mind, so I abandoned that area for the center, which then got me IRENE DUNNE, which sorted the NE out pretty nicely. Very tough clues on I'M READY (10D: "Let's roll!") and SPY (11D: Invasive plant) up there. Love the SPY clue, actually.
From there I could not get into the SE. I couldn't see DESKS in a library and I had no idea YALIEs sang like sheep, so … I got a few little answers. Crosswordese retrieval skills were on point as I brought down ISERE off the "I" and then SILAS (never seen or read "Da Vinci Code," never will). Then ALTA. But the answer that finally got the Downs down there to fall was … a comics sound effect. ZOT! Hurray! ZOT! to SLEAZEBALL For The Win!
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After that, an easy SW, and done.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. LA VIDA LOCA as a partial? (29D: Subject of a 1999 Ricky Martin hit). No. Come on.
P.P.S. best wrong answer of the day: 18A: A cameo may be seen in it (GOOGOLPLEX). I seem to have confused "cineplex" with a very large number.
P.P.P.S. Happy Birthday, Jamie B. Fowler, wherever you are!
[Follow Rex Parker on Facebook and Twitter]
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: no
Word of the Day: Stan GETZ (56D: "The Sound" of music) —
Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop, cool jazz and third stream, but is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova, as in the worldwide hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964). (wikipedia)
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This puzzle started with IOTA (wrong) at 1A: Minute bit, which was quickly fixed by crosswording's favorite fisherman, the EELER, and then I went through the NW without much trouble. NE proved much tougher, as I got ANEW up into there, but then couldn't get much to work, Across-wise or Down-wise, on first pass. KAL-EL, NEXT, and AGOG—that's what I had. I thought the Hulk might be in a RAGE, but too few letters. I figured the [Land bordering western China] was a -STAN, but I wasn't sure which one. And of course TOJO, who would've helped a lot, was still a Sony exec in my mind, so I abandoned that area for the center, which then got me IRENE DUNNE, which sorted the NE out pretty nicely. Very tough clues on I'M READY (10D: "Let's roll!") and SPY (11D: Invasive plant) up there. Love the SPY clue, actually.
From there I could not get into the SE. I couldn't see DESKS in a library and I had no idea YALIEs sang like sheep, so … I got a few little answers. Crosswordese retrieval skills were on point as I brought down ISERE off the "I" and then SILAS (never seen or read "Da Vinci Code," never will). Then ALTA. But the answer that finally got the Downs down there to fall was … a comics sound effect. ZOT! Hurray! ZOT! to SLEAZEBALL For The Win!
After that, an easy SW, and done.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. LA VIDA LOCA as a partial? (29D: Subject of a 1999 Ricky Martin hit). No. Come on.
P.P.S. best wrong answer of the day: 18A: A cameo may be seen in it (GOOGOLPLEX). I seem to have confused "cineplex" with a very large number.
P.P.P.S. Happy Birthday, Jamie B. Fowler, wherever you are!
[Follow Rex Parker on Facebook and Twitter]