Constructor: Bruce Venzke
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY // puzzle note in electronic version: "The print version of this puzzle contains the following additional clue after the Across and Down clues:
DIAGONAL
1 Annual message"
—theme answers are verb phrases referring to things one might have done (past tense) for Mother's Day, all clued as [Remembered Mom, in a way]:
It's not Mother's Day. Diagonal "message" is an almost interesting touch, but ... it's not Mother's Day.
Missing indefinite articles in first two theme answers are strange. Last two theme answers can follow pronoun "I" or "you" easily to form a complete sentence. Same can not be said of first two.
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And then there's the fill. Today, it's all forgettable-to-terrible. Why we continue to get puzzles with fill this creaky, ancient, and crosswordesey in 2013, I just don't understand. There are great puzzle editors out there who would Never allow something to come out looking this ratty and dated. This fact comes up on a regular basis among my top constructing / solving friends (most of whose names you know). OH ME? When did *that* become a thing? I had trouble enough accepting AH, ME! OH ME can BITE ME. The pluralizing of sounds / exclamations like PSSTS and OHOS is just criminal. You could blame the extra burden placed on the grid by the "message," but you just have to look at the N/NE and S/SW (where the "message" holds no sway) to see that the "message" is not the problem. The inexplicably stale fill is. Straight outta 1979. Do they even make Lifebuoy any more? "Although Lifebuoy is no longer produced in the US and UK, it is still being mass produced by Unilever in Cyprus for the UK, EU, US and Brazil markets, as well as in Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean market" (wikipedia). So ... yes-ish? When's the last time ASTA, ELIA and EELER were all in the same 15x15 grid? Don't answer. Just ... don't.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY // puzzle note in electronic version: "The print version of this puzzle contains the following additional clue after the Across and Down clues:
DIAGONAL
1 Annual message"
—theme answers are verb phrases referring to things one might have done (past tense) for Mother's Day, all clued as [Remembered Mom, in a way]:
- SHIPPED GIFT (18A)
- MAILED CARD (31A)
- CALLED HOME (48A)
- SENT FLOWERS (63A)
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an Americanfilm actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies. // Harold Lloyd ranks alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton as one of the most popular and influential film comedians of the silent film era. Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent and "talkies", between 1914 and 1947. He is best known for his "Glass" character, a resourceful, success-seeking go-getter who was perfectly in tune with 1920s era America. (wikipedia)
• • •
It's not Mother's Day. Diagonal "message" is an almost interesting touch, but ... it's not Mother's Day.
Missing indefinite articles in first two theme answers are strange. Last two theme answers can follow pronoun "I" or "you" easily to form a complete sentence. Same can not be said of first two.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld