11/22/2023 0 Comments Fireside quaff crosswordExtra DE LOOP, wtf? You invented a phrase so that you could do your little loop acrobatics (you also expanded the grid to 16 wide, which is fine, actually). Also, the phrase LOOP DE LOOP DE LOOP is not a thing. There is one great thing about this puzzle, which is that if you start with any circled area and go in any direction every subsequent iteration involves a one-click rotation of the letters, resulting in two full rotations ( LOOP DE LOOP DE LOOP) once you've completely circumnavigated the grid. Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld Read more. Or an anti-answer, since PRNDL really applies only to cars with automatic (non- STICK!) transmission. 1A: Manual ( STICK) - I guess this is a theme answer too, now that I think of it.49A: Art house showings ( INDIES) - I love that this answer is over MALL COP, since it makes me think of "Paul Blart: MALL COP" and "Paul Blart: MALL COP 2" (!!?), which are, let's say, not INDIES.Then, as if to taunt me, LEE showed up with the same clue ( 47D). 40D: Big name in jeans ( LEVI) - wrote in LEE'S.But I think I was thinking of ABCS, which, of course, wouldn't fit. 37D: School basics, in a manner of speaking ( RRR) - Should've put this in right away, but resisted, both because I had PUMA for EYRA (grrr…), and because I felt sure there was some other expression that would've fit that I was forgetting.But I think the puzzle would've been better overall with a higher-word-count grid that allowed the themers to breathe a little, and took some of the pressure off the short stuff. On the plus side, I actually like those parallel 8s in the SW ( DETECTOR and EYES ON ME). O'MARA and PLAT are mildly wobbly, and then there's NAWAB (50D: Muslim princely title), another answer of EYRA-like obscurity (it's been in only one NYT puzzle since I started blogging 8+ years ago). In the SW (the other area with 2 eights crossing 3 themers), things are quite a bit worse, starting with RRR (never good) and EYRA (an answer that has never been in a Shortz-era puzzle before, and has, per, been in only one crossword from a major publisher … ever. In the NE, the long Downs are OK, and the resulting surrounding fill consequences really aren't terrible only ARRAN and ETH rate as sub-optimal (from my POV). Sounds like a minor distinction, but the difference between driving one eight-letter word down through three (!) themers and driving two (!!)? It's major. What I mean is, the fill might've come out a lot cleaner and more pleasing if the grid had been a more generous and forgiving 76 words. My only real criticism today is that the puzzle is overly ambitious at 74 words. Theme answers are solid, interesting, nicely chosen. This is a simple, almost retro theme-a "last words"-type theme that is pretty well executed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |