Jerry Miccolis’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Crossed Words”—Jim’s review
Today’s theme consists of not one, but two word ladders, both starting in the top row, crossing in the middle, and ending in the bottom row. Further, the two words in the top row form a phrase as do the two words in the bottom row with the first words being opposites and the second words having a different (though somewhat tenuous) connection. Got all that? Let’s dive in.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Crossed Words” · Jerry Miccolis · Wed., 11.6.24
1a is HARD, clued [Opposite of 60-Across, and, with 10-Across, close examination] with 10a being LOOK, clued [Old magazine that rivaled 62-Across (and see 1-Across)]. Together, they give us HARD LOOK.
At the bottom, 60a is EASY, clued [Opposite of 1-Across, and, with 62-Across, leisurely existence] with 62a being LIFE, clued [Old magazine that rivaled 10-Across (and see 60-Across)]. Together, they give us EASY LIFE.
These aren’t the most compelling of two-word phrases, but as someone who doesn’t mind a word ladder on occasion, I applaud the extra layer of having a starting phrase with each word “laddered” into different words that become an ending phrase. It couldn’t have been easy to find two phrases that would work together, so I’m happy to give some leeway.
But an involved theme usually puts constraints on the fill and that’s what happened here, mainly with the spate of proper names (similar to yesterday). The stack of ARISTOCATS and FAMOUS AMOS in the bottom right is wonderful, and there are some other nice entries as well, but then we have all the names: SONIA BRAGA, INGRES, BREL, ILENE, LAMONT, RONAN, DONOVAN, and ANDRESS. Plus thorny entries HADEAN, French EN AMI, and the ARU Islands. These really sapped the strength of the grid and probably made the solve frustrating for a lot of solvers.
Clues of note: 54a. [Mischievous]. ARCH. With so many proper names in the fill and thorny entries, why not choose a more common definition for this clue?
TL;DR: Nifty double word ladder theme was enjoyable to suss out, but the fill was compromised for the sake of the theme. 3.25 stars.
Adam Aaronson’s New York Times crossword — Sophia’s write-up
Major apologies to Adam, but the NYT tech guild is still on strike so here at Team Fiend we’re not crossing the picket line.
Have a safe evening, everyone.