Constructor: Joel Fagliano
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
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THEME: Why?— Theme answers start with each of the five main vowels. I had to have this pointed out to me, as I did not see it / am half-drunk. Note: half-drunkenness did not prevent me from solving this in under 3 minutes. Now considering whiskey as part of my tournament training regimen.
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: BAHAIS (47D: Believers in the essential worth of all religions) —
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I see what this puzzle was going for ... now. I needed assistance. Didn't notice the Down themers, and let me tell you, without them, the conjecture I came up with was well into absurd territory. I was leaning toward "It's a riddle!" until Jeremy Horwitz sent me a coded message (seriously) explaining that the Downs were also themes, and then I got it instantly. Of course my wife got it without any aid, and she's at least as drunk as I am, so I have no idea what happened there. The moral of this story is: alcohol increases speed, kills overall comprehension. I don't know if this puzzle is any better or any worse than your average Monday. I do think that counting the indefinite article "A" as a theme element seems highly dubious / bogus. Ditto "I". The E-ness of E matters, where the letterness of the other letters doesn't. I dunno. I've seen much better work from Joel (who is great and attends my alma mater and if we're lucky will be a force in the world of crosswords for years to come). My last letter was the "M" in LAME (63A: Limping, say). I couldn't get it from the cross, which just wasn't making any sense to me. Looked at 56D: Hunter's garb, for short, had CA-O, and thought, "what would a hunter do with a CAPO? Play some guitar? Is that Spanish for 'cape'? A ... hunter's cape?" Did I mention the whiskey?
Good night.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
THEME: Why?— Theme answers start with each of the five main vowels. I had to have this pointed out to me, as I did not see it / am half-drunk. Note: half-drunkenness did not prevent me from solving this in under 3 minutes. Now considering whiskey as part of my tournament training regimen.
Theme answers:
- 20A: E.M. Forster novel ("A ROOM WITH A VIEW")
- 38A: "Count on me" ("I WON'T LET YOU DOWN!")
- 51A: Signature song for MC Hammer ("U CAN'T TOUCH THIS") — What!? Not "2 Legit 2 Quit"?!
- 3D: Grade meaning "Maybe you failed, but at least you tried" (E FOR EFFORT) — this is a fictional grade, right? Has anyone ever actually gotten this grade?
- 31D: Carol with the words "hear the angel voices" ("O HOLY NIGHT") — my favorite carol by a mile, but I'm not gonna play it. Too beautiful out to be playing carols. Instead ... please, Hammer, don't hurt 'em! (this is some epic 1991 s*it right here)
Word of the Day: BAHAIS (47D: Believers in the essential worth of all religions) —
a really terrible plural; see also PSSTS. [actually, it's probably the actual plural—I've just never seen it before and it looks horrible in the grid]
• • •
Good night.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld