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All-powerful avatar in "Read Player One" / WED 5-27-26 / Style magnate Gucci / Pitch-altering clamps on guitars / Numbers that aren't entered on bowling scorecards / Low-lying landform / Engineering competition with two "battling" devices / He's always hard to find
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Constructor: Dario Salvucci
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- FOUR SCORE AND ("___ seven years ago...") (ABE) (20A: November 19, 1863)
- ASK NOT WHAT ("___ your country can do for you...") (JFK) (30A: January 20, 1961)
- HAVE A DREAM ("I ___...") (MLK Jr.) (46A: August 28, 1963)
The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "couplets"). Some possible patterns include: ABACA, ABACAB, ABACBA, or ABACABA (with the letter 'A' representing the refrain).
[the '70s were full of wonders] The rondo form emerged in the Baroque period and became increasingly popular during the Classical period. The earliest examples of compositions employing rondo form are found within Italian operatic arias and choruses from the first years of the 17th century. These examples use a multi-couplet rondo or "chain rondo" (ABACAD) known as the Italian rondo. Rondo form, also known in English by its French spelling rondeau, should not be confused with the unrelated but similarly-named forme fixe rondeau, a 14th- and 15th-century French poetic and chanson form. (wikipedia)
• • •
In between the awkward beginning and the fiery, disastrous end, there's some good fill, there's some bad fill, and there's a theme. I did not really care for the theme. It's not horrible, it's barely there, and arbitrarily executed. The first two "parts of speech" contain the first three words of the famous phrase and omit what follows, but then the third gives you the second, third, and fourth words of the famous phrase and leaves off just the initial single-letter pronoun ("I"). So PART OF SPEECH isn't a great revealer. You're not dealing with famous "speeches," you're dealing with famous phrases within those speeches. In each case, the phrase itself—the complete phrase—would actually, technically be a PART OF SPEECH. So PART OF SPEECH, aside from being a somewhat dull phrase on its own, also doesn't quite get at what's happening. And then in execution the theme is really just "first three words of famous speech phrases, except the one where I randomly drop the 'I' from the MLK phrase and give you the next three words." Maybe solvers are supposed to feel smart for recognizing the speeches? I don't really see where the pleasure is supposed to be. So while "DARN IT ALL," "GOT A MATCH," and LEADFOOT provide some entertaining moments, on the whole I'd have to say "ABORC ANO TALIA!" (that's crosswordese for "no thanks").
Where was the difficulty today? Nowhere, really. I read Ready Player One once a decade or so ago, I guess. It was fine. Are we supposed to know the lore now? Isn't it enough to ask me to know all the LOTR and GOT characters, now you want me to remember (checks notes) ANORAK? The (checks notes) "all-powerful avatar" from a minor franchise, the second installment of which was widely panned? Extreme eyeroll for that one (28D: All-powerful avatar in "Read Player One"). ANORAK is a perfectly good word, just clue it as the word. Anyway, I needed all the crosses there. Otherwise, the only dilemma I had was CAREEN vs. CAREER (which also somehow means (essentially) "careen")—it's really very confusing) (25D: Veer this way and that). So I left the last letter blank and TENS took care of it (48A: Numbers that aren't entered on bowling scorecards). Not seeing any other potential trouble spots. I did get slowed down / mystified by 34A: Low-lying landform (GLEN). When I see a four-letter "landform," my Pavlovian response is MESA. When that didn't work, my brain just shut down. Also, without good reason, I don't think of GLENs as "landforms." They're depressions in the earth, so they seem like ... the inverse of "landforms." Just ... empty space between "landforms" (i.e. mountains or hills). This is a personal brain malfunction. The clue is fine as is.
Bullets:
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Where was the difficulty today? Nowhere, really. I read Ready Player One once a decade or so ago, I guess. It was fine. Are we supposed to know the lore now? Isn't it enough to ask me to know all the LOTR and GOT characters, now you want me to remember (checks notes) ANORAK? The (checks notes) "all-powerful avatar" from a minor franchise, the second installment of which was widely panned? Extreme eyeroll for that one (28D: All-powerful avatar in "Read Player One"). ANORAK is a perfectly good word, just clue it as the word. Anyway, I needed all the crosses there. Otherwise, the only dilemma I had was CAREEN vs. CAREER (which also somehow means (essentially) "careen")—it's really very confusing) (25D: Veer this way and that). So I left the last letter blank and TENS took care of it (48A: Numbers that aren't entered on bowling scorecards). Not seeing any other potential trouble spots. I did get slowed down / mystified by 34A: Low-lying landform (GLEN). When I see a four-letter "landform," my Pavlovian response is MESA. When that didn't work, my brain just shut down. Also, without good reason, I don't think of GLENs as "landforms." They're depressions in the earth, so they seem like ... the inverse of "landforms." Just ... empty space between "landforms" (i.e. mountains or hills). This is a personal brain malfunction. The clue is fine as is.
[This song, and this performance in particular, always makes me stop and listen all the way through]
- 1A: He's always hard to find (WALDO) — is he, though? "Always"? Not loving this presumptuous clue.
- 35A: Filming location for the archaeological dig in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (SAHARA) — this is undoubtedly true, but ... SAHARA???? That's ... a pretty big place. 9.2 million sq km, to be semi-precise. May as well say the filming location was AFRICA or EARTH.
- 18A: Red flag for a mortgage applicant (BAD CREDIT) — isn't this a red flag for the potential lender, not the applicant? Like, the lender sees a "red flag" and decides not to lend. I don't really enjoy whatever "for" is doing here. I also just don't like thinking about the very concept of BAD CREDIT or the credit industry in general. Grim. The opposite of fun. ABORC! ABORC!
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20 comments:
Easy but cute. Liked it a lot more than @Rex did.
* * * _ _
Overwrites:
My 31D rapscallion was a scAmp before he was a KNAVE.
At 34A, my low-lying landform was a fLat before it was a GLEN.
When I was in school, multiple-choice tests offered Abcde more often than AB OR C (62A)
WOEs:
ROBOT SUMO at 58A, but I had it filled in before I read the clue.
Monday-level grid - Rex summarizes the flat theme and revealer. Slightly odd all around.
Until The Real Thing Comes Along
The fill goes both ways. I liked EMBOSSED, DARN IT ALL and the ANORAK - GO NAVY stack. GOT A light? Too many LEAD FOOTs around lately.
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
The string A B OR C normally would intrigue but it is pretty ugly - so is SPANX. I’d like to the breakdown of walk offs in the NINTH and tenth. Word of the day is KNAVE.
Stephen Malkmus
As so-so as you can get for a midweek puzzle. Pleasant enough I guess Wednesday morning solve.
Okkervil River
I liked the puzzle more than Rex, because the revealer helped the solve with FOURSCORE. A-B-(or)-C is OK by me, as clued.
One objection...a baseball hit high in the air is never called a "sky." It can be a popup or a fly, even a "can of corn"...definitely not a "sky."
Rex, you don’t like BAD CREDIT for its unpleasant associations but say nothing about VEAL? Ick.
I did big chunks of this puzzle downs-only. Forgot it was Wednesday.
Thanks, Rex, for sharing a nice Glen Campbell moment.... pickin' and grinnin', right? Terrific banjo back-up. This was easy for me, 9:24. I actually think the revealer was perfect--if the last themer had been "I HAVE A DREAM" you would want the revealer to be "stARTSOFSPEECH" instead of PARTSOFSPEECH. I think the fact that it can be any part of the famous line ices the cake. And, while in a picky way Rex is correct--that it's parts of the famous lines from speeches--that wouldn't really make a great revealer, would it?? So I'd give this at least ***. Does this mean we are up to 3 days without a StarWars reference? And I don't think ABORC counts as an LOTR reference either, do you? Anyhoo, enjoyed it more than Rex did, though it was a bit easy for a Wednesday. I enjoyed the crossing of ROBOTSUMO with GOTAMATCH (the ROBOTSUMO fight is indeed a MATCH, right?). And the actual end of the puzzle--HOAX crossing SPANX--was great! Thanks, Dario, for all the fun! : ) [We had some neighbors named Salvucci in Wayland, MA growing up... one town over from NATICK.... wondering if you are related to the family we knew???]
Most people see phrases and take them at face value.
Crossword creators see them, flash on a different take, and come up with a puzzle theme. What amazes me is that in the history of crosswords, in all the major venues, no constructor ever saw PART OF SPEECH and came up with this theme. Truly, it seems like such low hanging fruit.
Props to Dario for snagging what all the other constructors over all the years missed – it’s a terrific theme idea.
I smiled at the lovely dook ABORC. I smiled again when I saw the neighbors CAPOS and a backward STRAD, imagining the former being used on the latter.
I also was grateful for being reminded at how elegant, memorable, and transformative language can be in a speech, sometimes never to be forgotten.
So, the box bestowed a constellation of good feelings to me today. Thank you, Dario!
Not to get too nitty gritty on theology, but having just finished a Reformation conference, I felt uncomfortable about the clue for 41A. Seems a bit imprecise to clue for PRAY TO as “Worship, in a way.” One could worship a deity in prayer, but one might also pray in ways that are not directly worshiping (e.g. making requests of the deity). Furthermore, some religions (e.g. Catholicism) practice prayer to non-deities (e.g. saints) whom they do not worship, which was a major point of contention in the reformations and still is today. Maybe I’m just being hyper attentive right after the conference, but it seems like it could be a sensitive issue, so I’d have appreciated a little more care for precision in the editing of that clue is all I’m saying.
Have to agree with Rex’s comments on the technical aspects of this puzzle, particularly with regard to the themers. But on another level, the phrases are highly recognizable parts of highly inspirational speeches so had an uplifting charm for me. Muscle memory had me wanting to enter MESA for the four letter landform, but caught myself in time. For some reason, really liked finding KNAVE in the puzzle—seemed to reach back in time even before Oliver Twist.
Given the huge antipathy towards quote puzzles, the NYT has apparently decided to run partial quote puzzles.
Rex's description does not seem to match his rating. He says the theme doesn't work, and that the short fill is terrible, and that the long non-theme answers are unexciting, then gives it a solid 2 1/2 star rating. Is this that grade inflation I keep hearing about?
I've heard it as a verb -- "he skied out to left" -- but never as a noun.
I had an advantage with this one. I was born on November 19, so I've always been interested in other things that happened on that date, of which the two most notable are the delivery of the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and the delivery of James A. Garfield by his mother. So as soon as I saw that first date, I knew what was going on. Same for JFK's inaugural address; HAVE A DREAM took me a little longer because of the missing I.
It would have been OK to have all the theme answers be the starts of a phrase, or none of them be, or just one of them; but once you have two, you've created a pattern that you need to conform to. Or you could have four or more -- but the constructor said he tried four but it made for junky fill.
I liked the revealer fine, unlike Rex. They're parts of phrases, sure, but they are also parts of the whole speech.
At one point in Britain, an ANORAK was a guy in a vaguely tech job with no social skills. I don't think it's current usage, though.
Agreed, although it can be used in verb form: ""He skies one to shallow left field..."
Hey All !
Harsh write up by OFL today. Geez, did Dario do something bad to Rex? I do agree about the SW corner, but the rest of the puz was OK.
I had ROBOTwarS in, as in the TV show thingie, where competitors build ROBOTic machines and they "fight" in an enclosed area. Gotta Goog it, as the name of the show is escaping me ...
*Hold music plays*
Har, it was indeed called ROBOT Wars. The ole brain worked, but yet I still forgot the name. An example of a Schrodinger brain right there. Remembered, but didn't remember if I remembered.
A B OR C? Swedish Chef's answer would be ABORC!
®Uniclue
When Ms. Fitzgerald got a new hairdo?
RAD CHANGE ELLA
Nice WedsPuz. Quick and easy, OK Theme.
And how about those Vegas Golden Knights? Go Knights Go!
Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Agreed, the puzzle wasn't much, but many thanks for the Glen Campbell cut which I've never seen. No idea he had that sort of talent on the guitar!
Mage?
I had trouble in the west central section. I couldn’t get comfortable with MAGE even though MORPHS was pretty apparent. I stuck with SAGE much too long. Alas, done in by NYT arcana once again. That section also included ANORAK, which means nothing to me, and I recognize the musical clues like RONDO from crosswords but can rarely remember them.
I’m glad Rex called out that icky ABORC. I actually felt bad for the puzzle - even an inanimate object deserves better than that. I felt cheated by the partial MLK situation as well. I agree with OFL that this one may have had potential, but it seems like it was rushed to press before it was ready for prime time. Everything in the SW would have benefited from some reengineering.
Name natick: ELLA/TALIA cross in the lower-right.
Except for that aborc clunker, I liked this puzzle way,way more than Rex did.🎈🎈🎊🎊
Very bizarre way to clue a word as simple as SKY using a baseball term. A real head scratcher.
Agree with RP, a decent Wednesday but kind of a ho-hum theme. No problems or issues anywhere other than a Natick at CAPOS/RPI because I don’t know guitars or New York universities. GOT A LIGHT before MATCH. Never heard of SKY to describe a “hit way up,” in baseball or anything else. I had FLY, then SAC, basically guessing since I had no clue on the avatar and had not yet parsed HAVE A DREAM. Still wondering why that “I” couldn’t fit in the cross by changing the plural at 48A to a singular. Of course, I’m not a constructor so what do I know. The phrase just seems awkward hanging there without it though, IMHO.
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