Constructor: Addison Snell
Relative problem: Easy
THEME: coded message — I assume that is imagined to have one thing to do with ALAN TURING (25A: English pc scientist who pioneered the breaking of ciphers generated by the 98-Across) and the film “IMITATION GAME” (40A: 2014 film portraying the work of 25-Across, with “The”) in that the grid comprises a CRYPTOGRAM (114A: Sort of encoded message discovered on this puzzle’s grid [SEE NOTE]), but when that is what an ENIGMA MACHINE is (98A: W.W. II-era encoding machine), I couldn’t be much less impressed—mainly all you do is a translate the circled squares by way of a easy letter-substitution code, which is simply handed to you in a “word” … like … what? This is kid’s placemat stuff.Â
- JITSU / EASED / LOOKS / EVERS / CLUNK / BY SEX / PINGS / AVERS
Decoded message:
- “CODES / AREAP / UZZLE / AGAME / JUSTL / IKEAN / YOTHE / RGAME”
Word of the Day:
GOITER (7A: Pain within the neck?) —A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling within the neck ensuing from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre could be related to a thyroid that isn’t functioning correctly.
Worldwide, over 90% of goitre circumstances are attributable to iodine deficiency. The time period is from the Latin gutturia, which means throat. Most goitres aren’t cancerous (benign), although they might be doubtlessly dangerous. (wikipedia)
• • •
This was grim. Grim. I actually cannot get my head round the concept that anybody thought this is able to be “enjoyable” to resolve. (“OVALTINE!? A crummy business!? Son of a b—!”) Basically I solved the whole puzzle, simply, without having to decode something. If I did not have to jot down this right here weblog, I assure you I might not even have bothered to do the letter-by-letter “decoding” to get to the “hidden” message, which is among the nice non-messages within the historical past of messages. What a banal and likewise inaccurate commentary. “Like some other sport!?” Games are totally different from each other. So many video games, all of them with totally different guidelines and conventions and every part. “Just like some other sport,” bah. What an absurd generalization. And what does it divulge to us? What about it’s sudden or insightful or fascinating or Anything? I assume I’m imagined to be impressed that the “code” was rendered within the type of eight symmetrically organized 5-letter phrases. Sure, congrats, however from the solver’s perspective, there’s zero, nada, nothing intriguing about writing in BYSEX or AVERS. It’s simply … fill. Ordinary. Unremarkable. The longer “theme” solutions are … properly, there are solely 4 of them, and they’re cohesive however largely they only take up area—the bit we’re imagined to ooh and aah at is all of the code stuff, and it is laborious to think about a extra anti-climactic end result than fixing this specific code. Not even value doing. I’m advised that the app does the code-breaking for you? Like … perhaps when you end one thing software-y occurs and also you’re imagined to ooh and aah at that? I’m simply baffled at the concept that fixing this is able to be anybody’s concept of a very good time. Looking at it, admiring its structure, perhaps. But fixing it? Grr.
What’s worse than the theme is the fill, which stopped me in my tracks a number of instances, so disagreeable was it on the entire. INATEXT!? LOL what? That is a horrible prepositional phrase, and esp. unhealthy since you’ve got already bought INOIL within the grid, virtually proper subsequent door. I went INATEXT, INOIL, INRI … and I needed to take a deep breath, as a result of it is just like the puzzle was intentionally making an attempt my persistence. It gave me nothing in the best way of sparkle or pizzazz. RESEATS RENEGE REEXAMINE … the place is the enjoyment? Probably essentially the most enjoyable I had throughout this clear up was determining the best way to spell DUMMKOPF (Two “M”s!? Wow, OK!). I additionally kinda like ERNIE PYLE, however when your spiciest reply is ERNIE PYLE, it is potential you have got a spice drawback. Maybe I’ll throw ANNA WINTOUR in there too. But OF YORE!? LOL, man, did I BLINK AT that, for certain. It’s laborious to do a Sunday puzzle properly—it is laborious to do any themed puzzle properly, however to should do it over that a lot terrain (21×21) is a tall order. I sympathize. But I’ve not often felt like a Sunday puzzle whiffed so unhealthy, on each theme and fill. It’s not even that the puzzle was *unhealthy*, precisely. It’s prefer it was very dedicated to an concept of *good* that I couldn’t fathom. Everything was driving on that code, and … properly, from the place I used to be sitting, that gamble simply didn’t work out.Â
Notes:
- 87D: Bird of the Baltic (SMEW) — on the one hand, I’m all the time completely satisfied to see extra hen names within the grid. On the opposite, extra essential hand, SMEW is crosswordese OF YORE and so I used to be not fully completely satisfied to see it return (I wanted each cross—I’d really forgotten it existed—used to get it confused with its crosswordese cousin SMEE on a regular basis).
- 89A: What a “Wheel of Fortune” contestant would possibly purchase when in search of _NSP_RAT_ON (AN “I”) — the ANI, just like the SMEW, is a crosswordese hen OF YORE. It was so named as a result of its name bears an uncanny resemblance to the voice of singer-songwriter ANI DiFranco. The solely factor I wish to say about in the present day’s ANI clue is, what sort of … individual … stares at _NSP_RAT_ON and thinks “Uh … I dunno … I higher purchase a vowel”?
- 74D: Alvin ___, first African American to be elected Manhattan’s district lawyer (BRAGG) — we have to know *district lawyer* names now!? That is a tall, tall order. U.S. Attorneys General, certain, these are nationwide. But municipal DAs!? Pfffff, OK …
- 61A: Thin porridges (GRUELS) — when’s the final time, or any time, you noticed this phrase within the plural? Aside from proper now?
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
