Friday, August 21, 2015

Friday, August 21, 2015, David Steinberg

0:12:15

I enjoyed this offering from the reigning ACPT "C division" champion. It's a somewhat uncommon grid, with tight passageways from one section to another, but the whole thing flowed pretty well, thanks, in part, to APPLECIDER (5D: Drink sometimes served hot) and BRONXCHEER (29D: Show of disrespect) both being common, gettable-with-a-few-crosses answers.

I enjoy the slanted fivestack of nines in the center. Mmmm.... CLAMBROTH (25A: New England stock)... and 32A: Supreme leader? is a great clue for DIANAROSS. It would be even better if they had been called "The Supreme" instead of "The Supremes," but I think the effect is pretty much the same.

Of the couple of paired clues today, I prefer the "15A: Sea menace" set (PIRATE/ORCA). I also prefer an H on my MOOLA (13D: Kale), and beside that, even with an H, ORBACH (12D: Jerry of "Dirty Dancing") is a pretty obscure name.


But even though it sounds like I'm doing a lot of grousing, I enjoyed this puzzle as I solved it. Maybe because it went by so fast I barely had time to notice the soft spots. As I look back through the clues now, though, I find I have to complain about question marks. Others have been vocal about them before, and I go back and forth on the topic, but today, I side with those who favor fewer. Take "20A: Backing for some U.S. currency?" (LINCOLNMEMORIAL). It's almost a dead giveaway that it will be something depicted on the back of a bill, isn't it? And that takes away a little of the joy of discovery when you finally do get it. A question mark on a clue is like somebody telling you a joke, but preceding it with a long litany of "Boy, you're going to love this one." "I laughed and laughed for days after I heard this." "You'll bust a gut..." ... "14A: Call girl employer?" (AVON), "1A: Place to lead a private life?" (BASE), and even "33A: Underground, perhaps" (HIDINGOUT), where the "perhaps" is basically a question mark, these are funny and unexpected. Or they would be if you hadn't already been set up to start thinking about a perverse answer.

Boy, I really am doing a lot of complaining today. Let's end on a few more nice bits, and then I'll stop NATTERing. 33D: Ear coverings (HUSKS) was good, QUERIED (34D: Asked) is always fun, "52A: States in Monopoly, e.g." (AVENUE) was tough, and would probably have been tougher if I hadn't just gone through the mental exercise of trying to come up with all the property names on a standard Monopoly board when I was out at Huygens' house recently.

Overall, I guess I like it less after having reviewed it, but I still think I come out on the positive side today.

3 comments:

  1. Totally agree with you about the question marks. But even without the question marks almost all of the misdirection attempts here are way too easy. When I read "Place to lead a private life," I immediately thought "army." The switch to BASE was pretty quick. Same for "Supreme leader;" immediately thought of DIANAROSS. Maybe there no question mark would have made it harder. "Not down very much" is another whiff. The way that's worded, the four-letter answer could really only be a verb. CLAMBROTH is a nice lon answer, but that was way too obvious too. Couple other beefs: The Minnesota mascot is a GOLDEN gopher, not just a gopher. The distinction is important to us out here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In fact, the mascot's name is "Goldy Gopher." Really; I've met him. And how bad is "Deli item that's 14-Across backward"? Horace, isn't that just a slight variation on your Monday cluing joke that they should just write: "Fill in _ _ _"? Of course, we need such a ridiculous clue since NOVA probably isn't known to anybody except New York City deli regulars. Don't like ORCA for "Sea menace;" it's just a carnivorous mammal. Maybe "aquatic theme park menace" but not "sea menace." I would have preferred a 90s/2000s cyclist to ALDRIN for "Armstrong contemporary," especially on a Friday. One thing I do kind of like is "One may be put in the corner of a classroom. That works for an actual speaker for the PA system, as well as what I assume is the intended sense-- a disruptive student relegated to a chair facing the corner. Dated and pedagogically unacceptable though that practice has been for decades. Thumbs down from this quarter. Way, way too easy for a Friday (I expect Colum to come in with a 5 or 6-minute time!) Also, for me, lacking in entertainment value. David, if you read this, it's nothing personal ;) You still have to your credit my favorite puzzle of the year to date (Sat., March 28). Keep 'em coming!

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  2. I also flew through this, although I didn't time it. All of the question mark (and "perhaps") clues were especially easy.I knew Jerry ORBACH right away and filled in DIANAROSS without hesitation. I enjoyed 39A Stab (GORE) and one of its crosses: 37D Square, in a way (REDRESS). I filled in Lock for 6D Security measure at first before getting PIRATE and changing Lock to the correct LIEN, but other than that, this was a pretty easy Friday. I guess that TSHIRTS are shot from cannons somewhere?

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  3. 12:55
    Some time spent figuring out that I had mistyped PREENED. BRONXCHEER for the win. I knew Jerry ORBACH. Did you know he played Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast? That fake French accent...

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