Constructor: Benji Goldsmith

Relative issue: Easy

THEME: none, until the grid is meant to seem like Frankenstein’s monster, such that the grid CREATES A MONSTER (17A: Isn’t capable of management the result of 1’s actions)  

Word of the Day: CETE (5D: Pride : lions :: ___ : badgers) —

noun

quite a few badgers collectively. [First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, of obscure origin; perhaps variant of Middle English cite “town,” a usage suggested by similarity of Middle English forms for borough and burrow] (dictionary.com)

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A very simple stroll from AT ONE WITH NATURE to “IS THIS SEAT TAKEN?” That is the very best spin I may give on this fixing expertise. Nice longer reply up prime, a non-grueling journey down the grid, and one other good longer reply down beneath. If I describe it that means, I pass over some completely high-quality bits but in addition a bunch of winces and head-tilts and head-shakes and different common unpleasantness. The risks with these grid-spanning 15 is all the time the cruddiness of the crosses, and whereas I do not assume in the present day’s crosses had been, on the entire, any cruddier than you often get with stacked 15s, there additionally wasn’t sufficient fascinating fill within the grid to raise it out of humdrumitude. Further, there have been some cluing moments that had been just a little “ugh.” When your total grid is stacked with nice solutions, a stray “ugh” within the clues for brief stuff is not going to imply a lot. But when there aren’t lots of highlights, then the lowlights shine forth with unlucky brightness. The first jarring bit is after all CETE, which is the form of “you’ll-never-use-it-or-see-it-outside-crosswords” obscurity that was way more frequent again after I began fixing within the early ’90s. It’s the form of desperation you solely convey forth when you’ve got set your self a difficult architectural purpose, the form of reply you persuade your self is OK however it’s within the dictionary. See additionally “OH, ME,” which is unhealthy even in “AH, ME” kind. As “OH, ME” … oh my (“oh my” being an precise expression one may use).  The remainder of the quick fill (besides perhaps –INI) is not really unhealthy, however an excessive amount of of the cluing both tries to be cute and misses or tries to get robust and simply annoys. For instance, the clue on INA (which is, really, fairly unhealthy fill). Cluing a two-word partial as a (singular) “preceder” (4D: Preceder of phrase or sense)!? Why are you going out of your approach to name consideration to a bit of fill you possibly can’t presumably need anybody to dwell on? Cluing OTTER as a paint shade? I consider odds being EVEN (no “S”), so the clue on EVENS (plural) feels significantly clunky (42D: Erroneous reply to “What are the percentages?”). Again, if there have been extra whiz-bang solutions on this factor, I in all probability would not even bear in mind these things. It can be a sideshow at finest. But when there are few highlights, I have a tendency to note each little creak.

For me the puzzle missed with its marquee reply, CREATES A MONSTER. It’s not simply that the clue feels … not fairly on the cash (“end result of 1’s actions” does not actually get at MONSTER), it is that CREATED A MONSTER is so so so so so significantly better as a standalone reply that I’m super-distracted by the truth that it is not, the truth is, the reply. “I’ve created a monster,” that is the meaty phrase that everybody is aware of. CREATES (?) A MONSTER is … properly, a MEAT ALTERNATIVE by comparability. Speaking of MEAT, what the hell is up with the reply to that [Paleo, e.g.] clue!?! DIET FAD!? LOL, final I checked they had been known as FAD DIETs. It’s this type of tin-eared, close-enough, uncanny-valley high quality that makes the puzzle lower than totally pleasurable in the present day. I google CREATED A MONSTER and I get every kind of stuff: track titles, books, definitions, and so forth. I google CREATES A MONSTER and I get … “Paper Mario CREATES A MONSTER“!? (4 hits, all on the prime of the outcomes). What the hell even is that!?

There had been another moments that I preferred, although. The “?” clues labored in the present day. [Fed on the sly?] is NARC as a result of a NARC is a federal worker who works undercover, i.e. “on the sly.” Pretty good disguising of “Fed” there (with the capital masked by showing within the first place, the place all first letters are capitals). [Show up in labor?] additionally has good misdirection on each “present up” and “in labor” (OUTWORK). Not as thrilled with [Question asked without reservation?] since “IS THIS SEAT TAKEN?” is just not a query you’d ever ask in a scenario the place one usually has a reservation. Usually you are in a movie show or at an occasion of some variety the place there’s common admission, or perhaps the bar, or perhaps you need to sit from one other desk that does not seem like utilizing theirs … I just like the cleverness of the clue, however the contextual aptness is not actually … exact. There was one different little cluing second I preferred, and that was the successive clues at 26- and 27-Down (26D: British ___ / 27D: Whitish). It’s a small factor, however one thing about the best way they echo one another suffixially made me smile.

Wanted DIALS BACK at 30A: Moves from 9 to five, say. There does not actually appear to be something within the clue suggesting an “IT,” however I do just like the phrase DIALS IT BACK properly sufficient. I additionally just like the clue on SMALL TALK (33A: It’s generally weather-related), as it’s completely correct whereas having nothing on its floor to sign its relationship to speak. Not an enormous aha there, however a reasonably substantial “hey, that is true!,” which is one thing. Wish there’d been a couple of extra moments like that. Enjoy your Saturday, see you tomorrow.