Home Puzzles Fulani braid ornament / FRI 9-16-22 / Treat with a hook / Chess prodigy protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit / G.O.A.T. materials / Big title in nail polish / Bygone Winter Palace resident / Platoon however not Dunkirk

Fulani braid ornament / FRI 9-16-22 / Treat with a hook / Chess prodigy protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit / G.O.A.T. materials / Big title in nail polish / Bygone Winter Palace resident / Platoon however not Dunkirk

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Fulani braid ornament / FRI 9-16-22 / Treat with a hook / Chess prodigy protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit / G.O.A.T. materials / Big title in nail polish / Bygone Winter Palace resident / Platoon however not Dunkirk

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Constructor: Juliana Tringali Golden

Relative problem: Medium+

Theme: none


Word of the Day:
 Kate UPTON (10D: Kate on the duvet of Vanity Fair’s One centesimal- anniversary problem) —

Katherine Elizabeth Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American mannequin. She first appeared within the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2011, and was the cowl mannequin for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 points. In addition, she was the topic of the One centesimal-anniversary Vanity Fair cowl.

Upton has additionally appeared within the movies Tower Heist (2011), The Other Woman (2014) and The Layover (2017). […] 

Upton began relationship then Detroit Tigers baseball participant Justin Verlander in early 2014, they usually had been engaged in 2016. On November 4, 2017 the couple married in Tuscany, Italy. (wikipedia)

• • •

This one performed a little bit more durable than traditional for me, largely due to the intentional vagueness of most of the clues, particularly the early ones. For instance—1A: Poles have them (ICE CAPS) … no thought which kinda “Poles” we’re speaking about; 1D: Film web site (IMDB) … no thought which kinda “movie” we’re speaking about. 2D: Heart (CORE) … yeah, “Heart” might be a lot of issues (thought possibly “GIST” at first); and so on. In different components of the puzzle, the puzzles simply did not fairly land proper. Like 65A: Essay writing, e.g. (PROSE). Never would’ve guessed one thing as generic as PROSE (which is almost *all* writing) from one thing as specific-sounding as “Essay writing,” which sounds extra like a job, homework, an project, an avocation, I dunno. And is SUPERGLUE an [Exemplar of stick-to-itiveness]? I get that it’s supremely sticky, but when that is what meant, then for certain the clue ought to have a “?” on it, since that has nothing to do with “stick-to-itiveness” because it’s generally (metaphorically) used. But possibly somebody who retains at one thing is alleged to be like SUPERGLUE? I’ve by no means heard that, however possibly it is a factor. Someone would possibly stick *to* somebody (i.e. beside somebody, close to somebody) like SUPERGLUE, I suppose, however that appears much less like stick-to-itiveness and extra like hounding, pestering, or stalking. Not certain what the clue on MLSCUP thought it was doing, cleverness-wise (25A: Goal-oriented ultimate match, in short?). What is the wordplay the clue goes for? I see how “goal-oriented” means one (metaphorical) factor in frequent parlance and right here is getting used to speak about (literal) soccer objectives, however what’s a “goal-oriented ultimate match”? That will not be a coherent phrase, and it is not a phrase that means something *however* soccer (or possibly hockey). It’s like they could not lay off the “goal-oriented” wordplay however then could not make it particular sufficient to suit the reply, so they simply turned it right into a weird mish-mash of pun and literal, and *then* added “in short” for good measure. People are “goal-oriented”—when you say a “match” is “goal-oriented,” you’ve got misplaced the misdirection and added confusion. [Showdown for the goal-oriented, in brief?], possibly? Not certain, simply know that the “?” we get as we speak is tough. 

There had been a number of pleasant moments as we speak, largely within the longer solutions. After that early wrestle with the brief stuff within the NW, I lastly checked out 13A: Sugar refinery byproduct, and ELIA and ASOkay (my solely two certain issues within the NW) offered me with sufficient letters to see MOLASSES, which then received me CORE BEAD IMDB and so on. Just after that got here a flurry of candy solutions capturing out of that nook in all instructions, beginning with CANDYCANE, then DRINK IT IN (very good) and “YOU NEVER KNOW…” (), which actually blew issues open:

AU NATUREL is a euphemism I do not hear a lot any extra however I nonetheless prefer it quite a bit. I additionally (weirdly) favored the child demanding to be picked up (“UP, UP“!). I used to be additionally very comfortable to see NEVILLE, not a lot as a result of I wish to see any extra clues about H*rry P*tter (I do not), however as a result of puzzle constructor NEVILLE Fogarty is one in every of two pricey crossword buddies I resolve cryptics with on (most) Tuesday nights. Fantastic constructor (you’ll be able to see his cryptic crosswords on the New Yorker generally), and a beautiful human being as well. Absolutely liked “EASY, TIGER,” despite the fact that I had it as “EASY THERE…” and that mistake prompted plenty of SE confusion (33D: “Hey, maintain your horses!”). I ought to’ve liked seeing NOIRISH, which is true up my private and pedagogical alley, however that clue … grrrr. “Hardboiled” and “noir” should not (not!) synonyms. There’s plenty of terminological collapse as a result of movie noir so incessantly characteristic hardboiled males (esp. detectives), however “hardboiled” describes an individual, or possibly the prose, whereas “noir” describes both the (fatalistic, downbeat) temper, tone, ambiance, worldview … or the precise movie qualities or strategies (expressive, typically high-contrast B&W pictures, flashbacks, voice-overs, and so on.). Plenty of noir movies and tales do not have something “hard-boiled” about them. I do not know in the event that they clue needs me to consider a film or of a personality within the film, however NOIRISH is fully inapt for a [Somewhat hardboiled] individual. This is a “shut sufficient” / “horseshoes hand grenades”-type clue and I hate it. Feels sloppy. I actually don’t love -IZE however I do like realizing that the significantly better “ICE” cannot go in that area for not one however two causes: first, ICE is already within the grid at ICE CAPS (1A), and second, ICE at 28A would get you SEC at 21D, which might provide you with SEC crossing … ONE SECOND. So the significantly better ICE would (sadly) provide you with a double dupe! And so that you get a suffix, with a cool “Z” as your comfort.

Notes, solely on the SW:

  • 59A: Immediate menace to seize, in a sport of Go (ATARI) — no thought why you do that along with your crosswordese. It’s crosswordese. Just personal it and transfer on. I solved this by getting crosses after which inferring the reply from “sport.”
  • 48D: G.O.A.T. materials (CHAMP) — completely not. There are champs and there are champs however there could be just one G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time). If you might be hopping on the hyperbole bus and deciding that “all time” means “this month,” then certain, any CHAMP will do. But I’m taking that “O.A.T.” critically. Iga Świątek is a champ, however Serena is the G.O.A.T. You see how that works? I thought the reply was going to be one of many phrases represented by the letters in “G.O.A.T.” however none of them would match.
  • 51D: Anne of “Mom” (FARIS) — I wrote in SARIS … is that anybody’s title? Besides movie critic Andrew SA(R)RIS, I imply? Harrumph. Not having the “F” made CRAFT PROJECT more durable than it ought to’ve been.
  • 50D: Roasted: Sp. (ASADO) — I assumed it was ASADA (as in “carne ASADA”—thanks, Taco Bell), however appears to be like like ASADA is only a Spanish adjective and as such is available in completely different genders. Just after I had ASADA and ADOBO sorted in my head, now I gotta take care of this ASADO enterprise, sigh.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. an IAMB is a metrical foot composed of 1 unstressed and one confused syllable, so … “Pla-TOON,” sure, “DUN-kirk,” no (55A: “Platoon,” however not “Dunkirk”).

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]



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