Constructor: Andrew Linzer

Relative issue: Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Rhadamanthine (29D: STERN) —

: rigorously strict or simply […] In Greek mythology, there have been three judges of the underworld: Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Minos, a son of Zeus and Europa, had been the king of Crete earlier than turning into supreme choose within the underworld after his demise. Aeacus, one other son of Zeus, was king of Aegina earlier than becoming a member of the underworld triumvirate. Rhadamanthus, brother of Minos and king of the Cyclades Islands, was particularly identified for being rigid when administering his judgment – therefore, the that means of “rhadamanthine” as “rigorously strict or simply.” (wikipedia)

• • •

A strong, correct Saturday. Textbook. Hard however doable. Had some actual bother getting began, however as soon as I did, the puzzle opened up properly, and I by no means actually misplaced traction once more after I lastly bought out of the highest and into the center of the grid. The solely characteristic I did not actually take care of are the extremely remoted NW and SE corners. You’ve simply bought these teeny tiny corridors to get by, so your circulate is maximally interrupted. The penalties of this segmentation had been way more dire for me in the beginning than on the finish of the resolve. It took some work to flesh out the NW nook—I had ORE earlier than EMO (15A: Rock selection) and DIP earlier than SAG (17A: Temporary decline) (I believe “DIP” expresses “temporariness” significantly better, however that is neither right here nor there), however I took an opportunity on ORAL (!) (26A: Kind of well being) after which MELvin got here in and confirmed ORAL after which JAMES I was like “”Hey, I’m proper right here! You educate a whole interval of literature named after me, how are you not seeing me!?” in order that helped, and shortly thereafter: nook finished. And but …

I couldn’t get from [Taxes] to TRIES with simply the -ES in place, nor might I get to IMAGED (such an odd phrase) from [Scanned, perhaps] with simply the “I.” So I needed to go fishing for brief stuff within the adjoining NE nook simply so I might get my footing as soon as once more. . . and let me let you know, issues went very, very badly at first. My opening go at alllll the quick Downs within the NE was an 0fer (“O”-fer? … how do you spell that? Anyway, rhymes with “gopher,” means “zero for [however many attempts you made]”). Nothing, Nada. No HEM ALAS TEXT SATÉ ASHE FEEL or IDA. I spell “SATAY” like that, so despite the fact that that is the reply I needed, I by no means thought to spell it “SATÉ,” and I positively thought-about “FEEL” at 10D: Vibe however I assumed MOOD match higher (technically it does, however once more, as with DIP, it is merely fallacious *for this puzzle*). Incredibly for me to scan a whole financial institution of quick solutions and give you completely nothing. Weirdly, the longer Down up there got here way more rapidly. I took an informed guess with TAM (22A: Flat topper) and ELMS (25A: Trees that cover Central Park’s Literary Walk), which bought me STEAMY and RATTLES. Then I modified MOOD to FEEL and the tail ends of these lengthy Acrosses began coming into view. Finally, it was time to embark on the large, creamy center:

The center of the puzzle ended up falling very quick, after which the underside half of the grid performed like a Bizarro prime half, with JOANNE WADDLED simply opening up the entrance ends of the lengthy Acrosses, and the secluded SE nook being way more simple to interrupt into than the NW nook was to interrupt out of. SHAZAM, a gimme, BAZOOKA, a gimme, ALADDIN and KIA, each gimmes, the tip. Ultimately, all smiles, no cringe on this one. I particularly just like the stacks up prime and down under, every of which suggests a coherent scene THAT’S A FIRST! RELEASE DATE! IMAX THEATER! seems like hype for an enormous film’s opening weekend, whereas ONLINE POKER ONE MORE TIME MED STUDENTS seems like a pitch for a film about how playing dependancy results in determined, legal conduct at a big-city instructing hospital. Whatever the solutions on this puzzle recommend to you, I hope you in the end noticed what I noticed: a really properly put-together piece of labor.