Constructor: Xan Vongsathorn
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
THEME: "Getting Around" — some words inside theme answers literally
GO IN CIRCLES. This is because each answer is a kind of comment on itself, e.g.
GIFT WRAPPED indicates that GIFT is "wrapped" in circles;
INSIDE FASTBALL indicates that FASTBALL goes "inside" the circles; etc.
NOTE FROM THE CONSTRUCTOR (which stupid Blogger marked as "spam" in my comments section for some reason):
"
IMO something crucial was lost in the editing process. The clue I submitted for 116A was something like [Be redundant, like the parts of the starred entries that don't 116-Across?]. I like this because it forces one to realize that the circled part of each theme entry is "acting out" the whole entry. ARMADILLO with nine circles around it can stand alone as a nine-banded armadillo. Similarly, PLANETS are ringed by circles.
This clue also highlights something remarkable about the "theme revealer": GO IN CIRCLES can mean to be repetitive, and part of each theme answer is in fact repetitive, namely the part that does not literally go in circles. And it applies to itself, not just the other theme entries. 116A is contained in *and* described by its own clue. Circular! And this theme would not be possible if convention was to use something other than circles to highlight letters in crossword puzzles. If AcrossLite only supported ovals...well GO IN OVALS is not a phrase.
Compare this to a more typical theme revealer, like STOP clued as [Halt, or a literal hint to the starred entries?], in a puzzle where puns are created by changing S into P, i.e. S TO P. There halting typically has nothing to do with the other theme entries. Now there's nothing wrong with that theme. But that type of puzzle is relatively easy to make, and as a result there are a lot of them. Personally, these days I rarely make a puzzle unless there is something "extra" to it! For whatever reason, here the extra thing got lost in the editing process.
There was probably a good reason. But I also think that once you understand this theme, it seems like it will be more transparent to others than it actually is. Without question, this puzzle needs *something* to help the solvers out a little more."
Word of the Day: NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO (
66A: *Animal that gives birth to identical quadruplets) —
The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos.[2] Its ancestors originated in South America, and remained there until 3 million years ago, when the formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed them to enter North America as part of the Great American Interchange. The nine-banded armadillo is a solitary, mainly nocturnal animal, found in many kinds of habitats, from mature and secondary rainforests to grassland and dry scrub. It is an insectivorous animal, feeding chiefly on ants, termites, and other small invertebrates. The armadillo can jump 3–4 feet (91–120 cm) straight in the air if sufficiently frightened, making it a particular danger on roads. (wikipedia)
• • •
I've been constructing all day (or most of the day), so I'm pretty sick of staring at crosswords right now. Still, I enjoyed this one, even though I did not understand, until several minutes after I'd finished, what the theme was. Pretty tenuous, to the point of loopiness. But I'd rather have that than "Stupid puns of some kind!" or "Add a letter!" so ... awesome. Particularly fond of
LIKE LIKE (
89D: Have a crush on, in middle school lingo) and "
MR. ROBOTO" (
6D: Styx song with some Japanese lyrics) and (of course)
WOO HOO! (
84A: Cry of delight popularized by Homer Simpson). For the most part, the grid is both zingy and clean—a nice combination. Clue of the day, and candidate for Clue of the Year was
86D: Parks with no intention of moving (ROSA). Amusingest musical reference of the year might go to
7D: Frank with the album "Sheik Yerbouti" (ZAPPA).
Theme answers:
- 23A: *Ready for the present? (GIFT-WRAPPED)
- 25A: *Makeshift swing? (INNER TUBE)
- 47A: *Brushback pitch (INSIDE FASTBALL)
- 51A: *All-in-one (SELF-CONTAINED)
- 66A: *Animal that gives birth to identical quadruplets (NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO)
- 86A: *Saturn and others (RINGED PLANETS)
- 90A: *Contents of a chest? (INTERNAL ORGANS)
- 113A: *Surfaced, in a way (BUBBLED UP)
- 116A: *Be repetitive ... or what parts of the answers to the starred clues do? (GO IN CIRCLES)
I had one weird section of struggle: the area right above ARMADILLO. I never know what to do with the "
Bub" or "Bud" or "
MAC" or "Pal" or "Ace" or whatever clues. [
___ Grand] didn't ring a bell. Wanted RIO, though that was clearly wrong. Thought Uranus might have been married to RHEA (
64A: Wife of Uranus = GAEA). Knew what a
TripTik was, but couldn't get from there to
AAA MAP. So lots of erasures in there—virtually the only section that has them.
Noteworthy solving moments:
- Embarrassed my former, medievalist self by needing several crosses to get ANSELM (1A: Benedictine monk who founded scholasticism).
- Black Africa???? 2D: Afrique ___ (NOIRE) ... I have to look this up now. Wow. Yes. In French, it seems, Sub-Saharan Africa is sometimes called "Afrique NOIRE." Live and learn. This reminds me of the documentary on "Graceland" that I watched today (fantastic—music, politics, controversy)
- I'm writing something about music and crosswords at the moment, so I was recently doing database searches of common musical answers. Thus OCHS was relatively fresh in my mind (75A: Protest singer Phil).
- I prefer my BELA Bartoked, but Flecked works too (109D: Banjo master Fleck).
TWAS LEW and
ALBA in the
OLLY TENON ADLAI SHEEP... *
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
*
98A: "Jabberwocky" starter + 17D: Duke of ___ (noble Spanish title since 1472) + 42D: Nonsense word repeated before "oxen free" + 44D: Half of a dovetail joint + 103D: First name in 1960s diplomacy + 78D: Ones you can count on?
REMINDER to constructors and aspiring constructors under 30 years of age: the "Twenty Under Thirty" contest deadline is coming up in just 10 days (Jun. 20, 2012). I'm reprinting the press release again here for the final time.
---
About "Twenty Under Thirty"
"Twenty Under Thirty" will be a standalone app featuring crosswords by twenty of the top young puzzle constructors in the world. Submission is open to anyone under thirty years of age, regardless of where she or he has published work in the past. Payment for selected entries will be $250--more than any newspaper daily in the United States--and participants will be featured prominently in announcements and marketing campaigns for the app. We want selection to feel like the honor that it is, and hope also to help young constructors make a name for themselves. Although the judging process will be blind, "Twenty Under Thirty" encourages submissions from groups underrepresented in puzzlemaking, including women and people of color.
Selections will be judged by a panel of experts, including
New York Times regulars Elizabeth Gorski and Brendan Emmett Quigley, and blogger Michael Sharp (aka Rex Parker at
rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com)
. The winning puzzles will be edited by
Onion A.V. Club and Ink Well xwords editor Ben Tausig, and the app will be produced by crossword app maker CRUX for iPhone and iPad.
Submission Instructions
-Entry is limited to one puzzle per constructor. Completed, clued puzzles should be emailed to
twentyunderthirty@gmail.com by midnight, June 20, 2012.
-IMPORTANT: In order for the judging to be blind, please make the file name of your submission (whether it is a .ccw, .puz, .doc, .pdf, etc) a random string of ten numbers and remove all indication of your own name from the puzzle and file information. You may submit from your personal email account, but I don't want any way of knowing that your puzzle is linked to you. If you have questions that might reveal your theme, simply email me from an anonymous (or a friend's) address.
-All submissions must be wholly original, and neither I nor the panelists can know that they are yours. (i.e., if you've workshopped an idea with Brendan, then come up with a different idea).
-We are looking for work in the range of Tuesday-Friday New York Times difficulty. Both themed and themeless puzzles will be considered, and judged within the same pool. It's up to you to decide which type best reflects your talents. Since we expect to receive upward of 40 puzzles for 20 spots, plan to submit your very best stuff. Genre-bending themes are strongly encouraged; feel free to extend grids and to do things that aren't seen every day. (The app can accommodate special grids and gimmicks). Add-a-letter and three-of-a-kind themes are very unlikely to be chosen unless they feature a truly excellent twist. Amaze us.
-In general, puzzles should be 15x15, but we will also accept 16x15, 15x16, and 16x16 sizes.
-Puzzles should conform to the usual high standards of construction--avoid excessive black squares, have no more than 78 words, stay away from lousy entries such as long partials and pluralized names, and try to weed out repetition in the grid. You know the drill.
-Aim to submit work that feels fresh. No specific bad words or references are off-limits, but you'll get a lot more credit for cluing PUBES as "Strands below?" than dropping in QUEEF because you feel like it. Likewise, include literature, film, music, food, and sex content that skews young, but be sure to keep it clever, not just edgy.
-Crossword Compiler or Across Lite files are preferred, but any other reasonable format is acceptable. As long as we can see the completed grid with numbers and the corresponding clues, you're in good shape.
Good luck!
Ben
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