Wow and welcome to Ms. Schuna, whose NYT crossword debut explodes onto the scene! It's not just the fun theme; it's also the smoothness of the grid, which despite being on a Tuesday, includes two triple stacks of 8-letter answers, all of which sing.
The theme is revealed at 58A: Big times in Silicon Valley ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 35- and 49-Across? (TECHBOOMS). Each theme answer is a modern phrase related to technology that has a word that connotes loudness. PHOTOBOMB, TWEETSTORM, COMPUTERCRASH, and EMAILBLAST. All four are strong answers, and it's a nice tight set. My only complaint is the "spinning beach ball of death" is an incorrect term. It's the "spinning rainbow wheel of death."
Fine, both are acceptable.
I'd like to bring your attention to the NE and SW corners. SONATINA, PROLONGS, and EATFRESH. So good. CRUMPLES, ONSAFARI, MIMICKED. Even better! Particularly with the clue for 36D: Watching the big game? I love it.
Everybody likes a good Mae WEST quote. She must have been an incredible person - so sharp and witty, and clearly in charge of her image.
Keep up the good work, Ms. Schuna, and you'll be sitting in CLOVER.
- Colum
This was fun and a rare sub-3-min Tuesday for me. Had HARDWARECRASH in there for a few moments before coming to my senses. I also liked ONSAFARI - excellent clue!!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe how long it took me to get SONATINA. I mean, how many of those did I play when I was taking piano lessons? (spoiler alert: a lot).
ReplyDelete