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Constructor: Barbara Lin
Relative issue: Medium-Challenging
THEME: one letter off … — six Across solutions should be learn twice, i.e. they’re truly two-part solutions, with the second half being only one letter off from the primary half in every case; the place the letter modifications, it’s essential to put each letters within the sq. they share as a way to make sense of the Down reply, so, for example, BREAK / BREAD goes within the grid as BREA(KD) in order that SOC(KD)RAWER can work within the Down:
Theme solutions:
- BREAK BREAD (20A: Eat, quaintly)
- FACE FACTS (28A: Confronts actuality)
- “DON’T DO IT” (32A: “That’s a nasty thought!”)
- TALL TALE (46A: Wildly outlandish story)
- POWER MOWER (53A: Lawn gear with an engine)
- GO TOE-TO-TOE (58A: Be in direct competitors)
Word of the Day: Cynthia ERIVO (37A: Cynthia who performed Harriet Tubman in 2019’s “Harriet”) —
Cynthia Erivo (; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the recipient of many prestigious accolades, together with a Daytime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award, along with nominations for 2 Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Erivo started performing in a 2011 stage manufacturing of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She gained recognition for starring within the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she gained the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into movies in 2018, taking part in roles within the heist movie Widows and the thriller Bad Times on the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman within the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo acquired a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she additionally wrote and carried out the tune “Stand Up” on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination within the Best Original Song class. She performed The Blue Fairy in Disney’s live-action remake of Pinocchio (2022).
On tv, Erivo had her first function within the British sequence Chewing Gum(2015). She went on to star within the crime drama miniseries The Outsider(2020), and acquired a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her portrayal of American singer Aretha Franklin in National Geographic‘s anthology sequence Genius: Aretha (2021). (wikipedia)
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Well this began out bizarre…
But then I figured it out it should be “It’s a DEAL” at 4D: “It’s a ___!” and so modified SUCK to VOID … and *then* (ultimately) modified DEAL to DATE. Sigh. Stumble stumble. Once I bought again on my ft after tripping over my laces there on the beginning line, I bought up a fairly good head of steam after which ran proper into the wall that I used to be alleged to run into, i.e. the theme. Wanted BREAK BREAD however could not work out the place the BREAD half had gone or was alleged to go. Off at a diagonal? Into a black sq.? Shrug. Worse, DON’T seemed Perfectly Good as the reply to 32A: “That’s a nasty thought!” and since *my* theme clues weren’t (helpfully!) italicized, however as a substitute appeared (unhelpfully, confusingly) inside citation marks, I had nothing (besides *double* citation marks, which I did not discover) to point I used to be coping with theme materials. Finally, SOCK DRAWER got here to the rescue. “Well, this must be SOCK DRAWER … however … wait, why does “KD” go in a single sq. right here, however with INORGANIC there’s simply that bizarre lacking letter … what do I do with INORGANC … I do not g- … oh”:
“DON’T DO IT!” Not “DON’T!” That modified all the things. After that, the predictably arduous half (grokking the theme) was over. There had been some common, much less predictably arduous components to come back (making an attempt to work out each single letter in ERIVO from crosses, making an attempt to be taught the time period CAT CONDO mid-solve, and many others.), however general it performed only a shade more durable than your ordinary Thursday.
The theme could be very intelligent and apparently executed, and I assumed GO TOE-TO-TOE was an extremely creative instance of the theme idea. The grid’s bought an honest quantity of non-thematic spice, and the Down solutions operating by the themers had been kinda enjoyable to work out (struggled most with LOSING TIME (largely as a result of it ran by that ERIVO part)). The very finish of my remedy was a brutal lifeless cease within the SE nook, the place I needed solely CAT COUCH at 40D: Item of feline furnishings, and I could not work out what the [Tiny pedestals] had been (that ought to’ve been straightforward) and I could not get [D.C. address?] to save lots of my life. Great, however brutal clue. A “?” clue sitting *straight beneath* one other “?” clue (68A: Make amends?), in a really small part. Seems kinda merciless. I needed break up / free ENDS, however CAT COUCH was making it not possible. Finally I bought EDIT after which TEES and was lastly compelled to confront the truth that one thing known as a CAT CONDO apparently exists. Is that what you name the multi-tiered climbing posts? Wow. This is the second time this month that some piece of pet furnishings has been an absolute wrench within the gears. Not a enjoyable method to finish. Overall … effectively, “I LOVED IT” might be too sturdy, however I positively appreciated it a complete lot.
See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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