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Constructor: Gustie Owens
Relative problem: Medium
THEME: “Gossip Session” — gossip-related verb phrases clued as if the topics have been engaged completely different actions / members of various professions:
Theme solutions:
- SHARES AN ACCOUNT (23A: “A lover of gossip, the Netflix person …”)
- HAS ALL THE JUICY DETAILS (41A: “The smoothie bar employee …”)
- SPILLS THE TEA (59A: “The Boston Harbor employee …”)
- STIRS UP DRAMA (72A: “The cooking present contestant …”)
- AIRS THEIR DIRTY LAUNDRY (89A: “The athlete within the locker room …”)
- WANTS TO HEAR MORE (114A: “And the up-and-coming trial choose…”)
Word of the Day: AMERICANAH (14D: Best-selling Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel whose protagonist leaves Nigeria for a U.S. college) —
Americanah is a 2013 novel by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for which Adichie gained the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.[1] Americanah tells the story of a younger Nigerian girl, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States to attend college. The novel traces Ifemelu’s life in each nations, threaded by her love story with highschool classmate Obinze. It was Adichie’s third novel, printed on May 14, 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf. A tv miniseries, starring and produced by Lupita Nyong’o, was in growth for HBO Max, however then was later dropped. (wikipedia)
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It’s an fascinating thought of a theme, however the execution did not fairly work for me. A couple of of the phrases felt a bit pressured when it comes to their phrasing. “HAS“!? HAS ALL THE JUICY DETAILS—that is a weak verb in comparison with the remainder of them. SHARES AN ACCOUNT does not actually convey *gossip* as closely as the opposite phrases. And WANTS TO HEAR MORE is not like the opposite solutions in any respect. Every different themer topic is dishing, however this trial choose simply desires to listen to? The solutions simply do not land as completely as they need to. The grid feels prefer it’s making an attempt to make up for a reasonably simple, pretty gentle theme with a reasonably toughly-clued grid, heavy on odd / ambiguous cluing and *particularly* heavy on correct nouns. Crossing two figures from the hip-hop / R&B realm is about nearly as good an thought as crossing two figures from any realm, i.e. not a good suggestion. Crossing names are all the time a possible downside, however ideally the names not less than come from completely different fields, particularly if the celebrity of not less than one will not be common. Now, CARDI B is exceedingly well-known, so even should you did not know CIARA (you are forgiven), it is best to most likely have been in a position to determine that “C”—however nonetheless, this puzzle is under no circumstances cautious with correct nouns. What on god’s inexperienced earth is occurring with the SHAKA SIGN / SERKIS crossing. First of all, SERKIS?! No thought (29A: Andy who voiced Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings”). Also, not a reputation I’ve ever recognized anybody to have, so no a part of it’s inferable. Second, the SHAKA a part of SHAKA SIGN!?!? I don’t know the place I pulled the time period from. The solely SHAKA I actually know is from the film title “SHAKA Zulu” … wait, is that even a film? And is that even the way it’s spelled? Hang on … seems prefer it was a mid-’80s TV miniseries. But the Zulu kingdom was in southern Africa, whereas I assumed “Hang free” was related to Hawaii and surf tradition (it’s), so I’m very confused. Anyway, SHAKA / SERKIS, yikes and yipes. And with the not-exceedingly-famous AMERICANAH operating proper via the identical space!? Rough stuff. There’s no identify that should not be right here, however you gotta watch the way you dole them out. Crowding names collectively is a recipe for unpleasantness.
Bullet factors:
- 22A: “Gotcha,” extra informally (“I’M HIP“) — Is it? Is it “extra casual.” I believe “extra quaintly” or “extra bygonely” may work, however “extra informally” feels factually unfaithful. You do not get way more “casual” than “Gotcha!”
- 63A: Denim jacket adornment (PATCH) — actually struggled with this one. No thought what the context is. Is it … a biker? What 12 months is it? Is this an iron-on PATCH? I assume I simply do not see denim jackets a lot any extra, and if I do, they’re one way or the other PATCH-free.
- 85D: Syd tha ___, onetime hip-hop moniker (KYD) — if it is “onetime,” perhaps it is best to respect that and transfer on to different KYDs … like Thomas! Everyone loves revenge tragedies, proper? Right!?
- 102D: Nightmarish deal with, for brief (ELM ST.) — “Nightmarish” due to the film “A Nightmare on ELM ST.” … which you have most likely found out by now.
- 103D: Slangy factor which may be “dropped” in a severe relationship (L-BOMB) — not every thing must be a “bomb.” F-BOMB, L-BOMB … sigh. I actually needed this to be TROU (actually the one time I’ve ever needed the reply to be TROU)
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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