Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: John Donegan

Constructor: John Donegan

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Counting words — familiar expressions with numbers in them are represented literally in the grid, with all terms in the expression represented as discrete, countable units. So:

Theme answers:

"Two birds with one stone" => BIRD BIRD STONE (20A: What a multitasker might kill)
"Two places at once” (or “…at one time") => PLACE PLACE AT (32A: What it's impossible to be in)
"Once bitten, twice shy" => BITTEN SHY SHY (39A: Reluctant to relive an experience)
"Three Men and a Baby" => "MAN MAN MAN BABY" (54A: Top-grossing movie of 1987)

Word of the Day: NEW MATH (41D: Curriculum overhaul triggered by the Sputnik crisis) —

New Mathematics or New Math was a dramatic but temporary change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools, and to a lesser extent in European countries and elsewhere, during the 1950s–1970s. [...] These curricula were quite diverse, yet shared the idea that children's learning of arithmetic algorithms would last past the exam only if memorization and practice were paired with teaching for comprehension.More specifically, elementary school arithmetic beyond single digits makes sense only on the basis of understanding place value. This goal was the reason for teaching arithmetic in bases other than ten in the New Math, despite critics' derision: In that unfamiliar context, students couldn't just mindlessly follow an algorithm, but had to think why the place value of the "hundreds" digit in base seven is 49. Keeping track of non-decimal notation also explains the need to distinguish numbers (values) from the numerals that represent them. [...] Parents and teachers who opposed the New Math in the U.S. complained that the new curriculum was too far outside of students' ordinary experience and was not worth taking time away from more traditional topics, such as arithmetic. The material also put new demands on teachers, many of whom were required to teach material they did not fully understand. Parents were concerned that they did not understand what their children were learning and could not help them with their studies. [...] In his book Why Johnny Can't Add: The Failure of the New Math (1973), Morris Kline says that certain advocates of the new topics "ignored completely the fact that mathematics is a cumulative development and that it is practically impossible to learn the newer creations, if one does not know the older ones". Furthermore, noting the trend to abstraction in New Math, Kline says "abstraction is not the first stage, but the last stage, in a mathematical development". // As a result of this controversy, and despite the ongoing influence of the New Math, the phrase "new math" is often used now to describe any short-lived fad that quickly becomes discredited. In 1999, Time placed it on a list of the 100 worst ideas of the 20th century. (wikipedia)

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I like this one, mainly for the creative variations on the theme. PLACE PLACE AT is particularly inspired. The idea of representing "at one time" as just AT ... it's so bold it's almost perverse. INSANE, even [“two places at once” is probably the intended interpretation, “at one time” works as well]. The others were more straightforward, but were varied enough (phrasing-wise, and numerically) to keep things interesting. The only downside was that the theme was exceedingly easy to pick up, and once picked up, even easier to apply to the remaining theme answers. The first BIRD alone gave me BIRD BIRD STONE, and after that, all the expressions were easy to work out from very little evidence. I had the bizarre experience of doing another puzzle earlier today, just hours before I solved this one, that had a remarkably similar conceit—it had a progression of "single" "double" "triple" and "quadruple" phrases that were represented according the same principle as the themers in this puzzle (DOG DARE DOG DARE for "double-dog dare," for instance). I don't know if having solved that puzzle primed me for this one, or took away some of the surprise and joy I might've experienced solving this one. Just a strange, strange coincidence. But at any rate, as I say, I liked this fine. The grid isn't quite as flashy as it might be, outside the theme, but it holds up OK. I liked EYEBALL, and I especially liked it as a symmetrical counterpart to HAUNTED (43D: Spirit-filled?). Very timely for spooky season—HAUNTED EYEBALL! That's the trick in "trick or treat" ... in case you were considering not giving kids CANDY this Halloween... (50D: The treat in "trick or treat").

Perhaps because the theme ran so easy, the non-theme clues felt like their difficulty was ratcheted up all over, and yet that didn't make the puzzle much harder. Lots of ambiguity (What kind of "surfer" in 15A: Surfer's wish? Which meaning of "digital" (or "number") is at work in 31A: Digital number? etc.). I had the most trouble in the middle, the exact middle, with OAR (37A: Boating noun and verb) crossing COST (33D: Damage, so to speak) and YEAHS (which seemed like they might also be YESES) (29D: Hearty affirmations). But as trouble goes, it wasn't much. My favorite error of the day was when I thought that FDR purchased the first U-BOAT! (40D: F.D.R. purchased the first one => E-BOND). I also had the cow as a MOO-MOO instead of the more formal MOO-COW (49A: Farm animal, so to speak). I only know "haymaker" as a kind of punch (fist punch, not drink punch), so the fact that there are literally "haymakers" that make BALEs (not hay?), well that was news to me (57D: What a haymaker makes). My only clue complaint today involves APPT (28D: Book it: Abbr.). The "[Blank] it!" variety of clue only works in non-abbreviated form, and it only works with a "!" on the end. So ... [Beat it!] for DRUM or [Run for it!] for OFFICE, those work. When you add the "Abbr." part, somehow the snappiness and energy of this clue type just dies. And the lack of a "!" on the clue is against convention, which seems unfair. So the clue is both ill-advised (for abbrs.) and poorly written (or proofread).

Paris is the dude who kinda sorta started the Trojan War by abducting Helen (who was the bribe that Aphrodite offered Paris in exchange for his choosing her as the winner of the world's stupidest beauty contest) (see "The Judgment of Paris"). So yes, Paris's city was Troy, thus [City of Paris?] = TROY. You have TEN fingers (probably), and fingers are "digits," so that's why 31A: Digital number? makes sense. A MAID knocks on many hotel/motel room doors (10A: One knocking on many doors). As for Do or DYE (13D: Do or ___ (hair salon name)), I don't know why hair salons are so prone to punny names (Shear Madness!) but they are. Usually, the puns are easy to understand (Curl Up and Dye is probably the most famous). But I saw one in Ithaca this past week called "Hair A-Phayre" and ... I'm at a loss as to what the pun is. I mean, obviously it’s “Hair Affair,” but what is Phayre? Do people “phayre” their hair? Is the owner named "Phayre"? If I had hair, I probably wouldn't go to "Hair A-Phayre," but I might go to "Hair A-Phair," on the off chance that they played a lot of Liz Phair, or maybe Liz Phair worked there between gigs. "Exile in DYE-ville," is that something?

My Gen-X roots are showing, so I'll sign off now. See you later.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. the wrong answers for the FDR clue that people are posting in the Comments are hilarious. FDR! He bought the first ... E-BIKE! The first issue of EBONY! What a collector! (Keep those errors coming!) [Update: he seems also to have purchased the first E-BOOK *and* the first T-BIRD!]

P.P.S. there seem to be a lot of people who don't the "A-a-a-and ... SCENE!" clue (1A). Conventional theater-speak (particularly improv-speak) for when the scene being performed is over.

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