These puzzle continue to skew old, staid, and safe. This concept is fine—sound progression is a time-tested theme. I've seen many of these before. This one seems reasonably original.Well, there's one problem. Kind of a biggie: uh, that river? It's not pronounced SAYn. It's more SENN. So, short e, not long a. But maybe it's some Americanism I don't know about. Even so, both RIVER SEINE and CUT AND SEWN both feel like stretches to me. What other SEINE is there? The SANDWICH SEINE? The DIVE BAR SEINE? I get that there is a convention (an olde one) of saying things like "The River Nile"—maybe it's a poetic convention? But it feels stilted. CUT AND SEWN, on the other hand, just doesn't stand alone well, though perhaps this is some inside baseball (or inside tailoring) term that I just don't know. Possible. Anyway, themewise, we move through the long vowel sounds in that last syllable. That's all. Fill is a bit cleaner than yesterday, but still ruthlessly uncontemporary, as is the cluing. Again, this puzzle could've come straight out of '80s, '70s, '60s, no problem. I knew it was not going to be my cup of tea with the first answer I put in the grid:
Is that an *inherently* bad answer? Well, no. But at 1-Across, I knew. I've done enough of these. I knew. It was a harbinger. A telling sign of what the puzzle's cultural center of gravity would be. I feel like the NYT has just decided that making inoffensive, familiar fare for Boomers and their parents is the way they're gonna go. FALA-lalala, HAHA ECRU. This is mightily disappointing, as well as mighty confusing. But maybe as a business model, this makes great sense. For now.
[The only thing that came up when I searched ["LORD GIVE ME A SIGN"] was this song. Literally all hits on the first page related to this song]
THEME: Puns on PARA- words — Four different "Pair" homophones lead off four different punny phrases ...
Word of the Day: NO PAR (41A: Like some stock) —
adj. Being without face value; having no par value: a no-par stock certificate.
• • •
This didn't work for me. It's like a bright idea that should've gone nowhere but was forced into becoming the basis for an entire puzzle. PÈRE AMOURS (29D: French father's affairs?) and PARE A PHRASE (58A: Edit?) don't take their original phrases into different semantic universes the way PEAR AMOUNT (11D: A bushel of Boscs?) and PAIR A GRAPHS do (20A: Two charts?). But the biggest problem by far is PAIR A GRAPHS. PAIRA? PAIR-A? PAIR A'? Has anyone anywhere ever written "Pair of" in that manner. LOTTA = "lot of," sure. But PAIRA? PAIR O', maybe. Maybe. None of the other theme answers involve *imaginary spelling*. Total fail. Some ideas, however cute at first blush, need to be put aside until they're fully ripe. Or else thrown away.
Then there's the rest of the fill, which is dull at best (ORE x/w ORAN (28D: Algerian port), ADIA (60D: 1998 Sarah McLachlan song) x/w ADDA, etc. etc.), with the exception of a few of those longer answers — "HOP ON POP" (27A: Dr. Seuss title), WINGSPAN (5D: Bird spec), RIP APART (42D: Shred) and HIT HARD (25A: Severely affected) are all just fine to quite good.
Bullets:
19A: What to "Come see the softer side of," in a slogan (SEARS) — is that slogan still active? It's Very familiar to me, but I don't remember hearing it for years and years.
53A: Danced at Rio's Carnival, maybe (SAMBAED) — the more I look at this word, the uglier it gets. Sitting underneath the awful ARRS. isn't helping it any (49A: Some airport data: Abbr.)
56A: Homer Simpson's Indian friend (APU) — "Friend" is accurate enough, though his main role is snack food provider.
3D: Coffee shop convenience for a laptop (WIFI) — It's a "convenience" for the laptop *user*...
45D: Fabric dealers, to Brits (DRAPERS) — My favorite Draper is Don.
47D: Coleridge's sacred river (ALPH) — I always want this to have an "X" in it, probably because of "Xanadu" in the opening line of "Kubla Khan." ALPH is in the third line of the poem:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea. (1-5)
54D: Foil-making giant (ALCOA) — Foil-in-five=>it's this 60%-vowel answer.
63D: Prominent features of a "Cats" poster (EYES) — Possibly the most go-out-of-your-way-to-be-off-putting clue for EYES ever. Not sure I've ever seen a show clued via its poster (?). Here's a "Cats" poster where the only "prominent" thing is ridiculousness.
THEME: ADD A PINCH OF SALT (61A: Cooking instruction hinting at this puzzle's theme?) — "NACL" is added to familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style
Word of the Day: CLARE (31D: Irish county north of Limerick) —
County Clare (Irish: Contae an Chláir) is one of the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, being located in the province of Munster. Located on the west coast of Ireland, Clare is northwest of the River Shannon covering a total area of 1,215 square miles (3,147 km²). The population of the county is 126,194 according to the 2006 census. Clare is the 8th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 19th largest in terms of population. (wikipedia)
• • •
Without the theme, this thing's D.O.A. Dull as a post. But the theme is clever, with some nice, long, weird answers, so it's not a total loss. Very slow getting started as I had No Idea what to do with that first theme answers. Needed virtually every cross to make any sense of it. In fact, I needed Every cross, as I recall thinking, briefly, "BARNACLE CRESTED?" Second theme answer was almost as weird, but for whatever reason, I could see the base phrase clearly (i.e. SCOTCH PINE), so I could see "NACL" had been added, and the theme was mine! Second half of the puzzle went Much faster as a result. Once again, we have a puzzle with a surfeit of short stuff, which makes for some rough, unpleasant, and overly familiar fill. Plus the longer stuff isn't doing anyone any favors. Both ONE NAME (43D: What Shakira or 25-Down [CHER] goes by) and SENT COD (4D: Not yet paid for, as a mailed package) are less than great. Didn't get SENT COD at all — every letter from crosses — and when I first saw it on reviewing the puzzle, I thought I had an error. Since when is mailing fish a gridworthy activity. Then I got it: not COD. C.O.D. Ah (so). I see.
Theme answers:
17A: Like a sunken treasure? (BARNACLE-CHESTED)
28A: High place near Aberdeen? (SCOTCH PINNACLE)
46A: Restraints for writer Flagg? (FANNIE MANACLES)
6-letter or shorter answer that gave me the most trouble: NUCLEI (8D: Centers). Why!?!? Well, many reasons. Vague clue, non-"S"-ending plural, etc. Also, I completely blanked on ERIN's name despite being a regular viewer of "The Office" (26A: Secretary on "The Office"). Wondered if JENA was spelled thusly, but then remembered that she hasn't been the secretary for a while. I was just having a conversation with someone about whether or not "Real Genius" was a movie one could reasonably ask puzzle solvers to know. With today's 6D: Kilmer of "Real Genius" (VAL) and with that wacky '70s chase movie no one had heard of a few Sundays back ("The Gumball Rally!?!"), I think that question has been answered. "Real Genius" is an important movie in my life. First, I loved it, and second it was filmed largely on my college's campus, and third, I'm not sure VAL Kilmer has ever been better. Highly recommended for light '80s college movie fun.
Did not have a great day on Tuesday— feeling both explicably and inexplicably blue— so I'm going to play a song that makes me exceedingly happy. Warning: the title, and chorus, *is* profanity. So just Don't Press Play if that sort of thing bothers you, OK? OK.
Coincidentally, a new live-action video for this song was released just today. Same song, same warning:
THEME: "Fiddle Dee Dee" - double T is changed to double D in familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, which are clued
Word of the Day: REVET - To retain (an embankment, for example) with a layer of stone, concrete, or other supporting material [French revêtir, from Old French revestir, to clothe again, from Latin revestīre : re-, re- + vestīre, to clothe (from vestis, garment).] (answers.com)
Easy solve with few problems except for somewhere in the NEVada section of the grid (58A: Home of the Excelsior Mts.), where things got a little rocky and I had to double back and come back up from the south. Had -AI-E for 47D: Relinquish (waive) and, for some reason, that did not compute. My first guesses for the crosses would have turned the word into HAIBE, which I was pretty sure was wrong. I know, NEB. doesn't really have "mountains," but I didn't know NEV. had any either, except the Sierra NEVadas. Why I thought labyrinths had HALLS, I don't rightly know (47A: Labyrinth parts -> WALLS). DANCE took some thought as well (51A: Monkey, pony or alligator). As I say, this little struggle was only a hiccup. The few tough words in this puzzle were easily conquerable via crosses.
The theme - meh. The first answer I got was UDDER NONSENSE, and that is such a painful, tired groaner that I didn't have much hope for the rest of the puzzle. Thankfully, the rest of the DD-changes were not as bad. I was kind of hoping this would be a bra-themed puzzle. Too much to hope for, I guess. Is FADDY a word? FADDISH I've heard of - FADDY, not so much. I'm sure it's legal, i.e. in a dictionary somewhere, but I don't know that I've ever heard it uddered. (see, it's horrible, right?). Last question about the theme - "DEE" is in the title ... and "DEE" is in the puzzle (76A: "Zip-_____-Doo-Dah"). Not that I needed the title to get that one, but still - titles should not contain words that are in the grid. Further, should partials cross? ADEE and HADA (62D: "We _____ ball!")? I can't remember the last time I saw crossing partials like that. Perhaps there was no other fix. With two theme answers running through there, options were likely very limited.
Theme answers:
22A: Dairy frivolity? (udder nonsense)
40A: Creamy dessert atop a cracker, informally? (puddin' on the Ritz)
56A: Advice for golfers? (caddy remarks)
61A: Measure of reaction to horror? (shudder speed)
80A: Guardians of a house painters' celebration? (ladder day saints) - ?
102A: Linens purchased through a Web site? (online bedding)
2D: Why the eBay user was laid up? (bidder cold) - had BITTER PILL at first :(
69D: Trendy lab hazards? (faddy acids)
Surprised to see ELI in the puzzle clued as some clockmaker I've never heard of (100D: Clockmaker Terry). Also surprised to see ELI because ELIHU (48A: Root of government) is already in the puzzle. Two ELI-related clues and not a single mention of Yale. That is an accomplishment worth celebrating. Never heard of RYE, NY (59A: New York town with Playland amusement park) or SLIGO county (35D: County next to Mayo) or RONZONI (9D: Pasta brand) pasta. OK, maybe I've heard of them, but I didn't remember them last night while solving. ALLELE(S) is back in the puzzle today (82D: Genotype determinants) - it's a word I now have affection for, since it can no longer do me any harm (I learned it, the hard way, from crosswords a while back). Never heard the term RENT ROLL (20A: Landlord's schedule) - maybe it's a big apt. building (i.e. a New York) thing. Thought SPEE was SNEE, and then SMEE (94A: Losing admiral in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914). Other than that, all was smooth.
Bullets:
26A: "Scrubs" actor Braff (Zach) - I always feel a little guilty when pop culture gimmes like this are the first things I put in the grid. I think ZACH and D'ANGELO were one and two today (105A: Actress Beverly who played Patsy Cline in "Coal Miner's Daughter")
10D: Style expert Klensch and others (Elsas) - Had an ILSA/ELSA moment here. Not sure why I know this lady. She's not on "Project Runway," so the origins of my familiarity with her are uncertain.
74A: With 78-Across, stated desire of many a Miss America (World / Peace) - very nicely done
75A: Home to Ohio Northern University (Ada) - news to me. Not what Nabokov's novel "ADA" was about.
92A: "_____-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra!" ("Too-Ra") - OK on its own, as a Hail Mary-type answer, but with "A-DEE" already in the puzzle, it just feels silly.
93A: Support, as an embankment (revet) - learned it, recently, from crosswords.
3D: Clarified, in England (spelt out) - also a declaration from a trend-conscious grain merchant
27D: Fox News opinionator (Hannity) - I was surprised yesterday at the vicious and derisive comments that Palin's name provoked from several readers. Well, not surprised. It's an unfortunate habit of certain liberals to sneer at and malign any well known Republican whose name happens to come up. These are the people who talk about everyone loving each other and then wear T-shirts that say "I Hated Bush Before It Was Cool." So I know you all think HANNITY's an idiot. I can't say I disagree. But I don't need a bunch of comments about his mother or his penis size, or suggestions that his daughter is a "ho," a la yesterday. There are political blogs where such blow-hard pontificating is the comment style of choice. They aren't hard to find.
56D: Anglers' baskets (creels) - I have a completely inexplicable love of the word CREEL
96D: Rock group whose members wear red flowerpots on their heads (Devo) - always? I think they did at one period, the "Whip It" period... Mmm, sixth grade:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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A long time ago, I was solving this puzzle and got stuck at an unguessable (to me) crossing: N. C. WYETH crossing NATICK at the "N"—I knew WYETH but forgot his initials, and NATICK ... is a suburb of Boston that I had no hope of knowing. It was clued as someplace the Boston Marathon runs through (???). Anyway, NATICK— the more obscure name in that crossing—became shorthand for an unguessable cross, esp. where the cross involves two proper nouns, neither of which is exceedingly well known. NATICK took hold as crossword slang, and the term can now be both noun ("I had a NATICK in the SW corner...") or verb ("I got NATICKED by 50A / 34D!")
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