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Constructor: Karen Lurie
Relative problem: Straightforward (8:34)
THEME: WELL, ACTUALLY — Nitpicker’s lead-in… or, a solution to:
- Drink from a spring– MINERAL WATER (as in, “Really, I might like properly water!”)
- Steakhouse option– MEDIUM RARE (as in, “Really, I might prefer it cooked properly!”)
- Queasy, perhaps– FEELING ILL (as in, “Really, I am feeling properly!”)
• • •
Phrase of the Day: EUDORA (Welty with a Pulitzer) —
Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American quick story author, novelist and photographer, who wrote concerning the American South. Her novel The Optimist’s Daughter gained the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty acquired quite a few awards, together with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Order of the South.
Heyyyy friendos, it is your pal Malaika subbing in for the ephemeral Rex. Typically y’all name me “cute” and typically y’all name me “inconsiderate,” so we’ll see what you suppose in the present day! (Actually, I feel these are kinda the identical factor.) I simply performed an extremely good sport of volleyball and I am excessive off endorphins and adrenaline and serotonin and and so forth. I need to dash laps round my block like a small baby who was allowed to have each cake and ice cream at their celebration however as an alternative I’ll write this weblog put up!!!! ONWARDS!
I breezed by this puzzle (I common about ~15mins on a Wednesday, and this one I solved on my telephone on the practice!), and had all three of the theme solutions earlier than I reached the revealer, and nil guesses as to what it could possibly be. It took a second for it to click– It isn’t that “nitpicker” is the improper time period (it isn’t!), it is simply not the time period I most affiliate with “Nicely, truly…”
You understand how individuals will often focus on the plusses and minuses of one thing? Or the highs and lows? I have been toying with itemizing the “zings” and “dings.” Let me know within the feedback for those who’re in.
Zings: We get three totally different meanings of the phrase WELL. The revealer is enjoyable and fashionable, and ties issues along with an excellent “Oh!!” second. That is solely two issues however the final zing is simply… I actually favored this theme!! Which counts for like ten extra zings as a result of actually that is all that issues whenever you clear up your little crossword in your little practice journey house out of your little volleyball sport.
Dings: My primary ding is the grid structure. I’m choosy choose choosy about grid shapes, and I’m not a fan of teams of three three-letter phrases within the corners– this puzzle has that in all 4 corners, and two of them have been closed off. And, whereas there was some good mid-length stuff like WINGMAN and TWIRLED and GAYDAR (with that clue!!! [Sense of orientation?]), there have been no (non-theme solutions) that have been longer than seven letters.
I completely get that constructing a grid round a revealer that is twelve letters is hard, however I ponder if simply eradicating that block after LSU might have labored. Or both of those shapes? (I am not placing in any effort to fill this, so perhaps they’re unimaginable.)
- [Tall, slender hound] for SALUKI — This can be a new time period for me. The canine resembles a greyhound with fluffier ears.
- Manufacturing firm that is its founder’s identify spelled backwards] for OPRAH — I like that this went a extra fashionable angle than the Marx Brothers 🙂
- I’ve not heard of OXY (Huge identify in zits remedy) or DMX (First musician to have his first 5 albums debut at #1) and I really feel like in a nook this small and closed off they have been simply added to get the letter X in there?
xoxo Malaika
P.S. I will shut with an unrelated tip from once I began establishing crosswords: I believed the toughest a part of making a puzzle was arranging the black squares, so I might take themes from previous NYT puzzles, lay them out in a grid, after which evaluate my structure to the unique! It was form of like Puzzle Push-ups. A great train, if you’ll.
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