Joe Deeney’s New York Times crossword, “The Ayes Have It” — Nate’s write-up
09.29.2024 Sunday New York Times Crossword
All eyes up here, please! Or rather, two extra I’s in each of theme answers:
22A: CORNIER STORIES [Anecdotes that are more likely to elicit eye rolls?] (corner stores)
39A: TIRADE IDEALS [Qualities of a perfect rant?] (trade deals)
47A: WIRY SIMILE [“Skinny as a beanpole” or “thin as a rail”?] (wry smile)
68A: STEAMIER CLAIM [More risqué assertion?] (steamer clam)
87A: TAXI BIASES [Reasons that commuters might prefer Uber?] (tax bases)
95A: WAITER METIER [In-depth knowledge of the menu, perhaps?] (water meter)
118A: PLIANT GENIUSES [Ones with flexible minds and bodies?] (plant genuses)
I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, some of these theme entries are solid (TIRADE IDEALS) and their succinct clues (especially the one for PLIANT GENIUSES) are even more impressive. All but WIRY SIMILE avoided having I’s in their base phrase too, so swapping that out for another I-less base phrase themer might have elevated this puzzle even more for me. On the other hand, almost all of the base phrases felt a bit boring, which made the transformations feel less fun (to me at least, YMMV). And I stared at WAITER METIER for ages wondering what the heck METIER is – apparently, métier is “an occupation or activity that one is good at”. TIL! I wonder how many solvers will get stuck on the WAITER METIER / MOW crossing…
As a whole, this puzzle played a bit tougher for me, but I think I just couldn’t get on the same wavelength as the clues. How did it feel for you? Did any of the themers crack you up? Let us know in the comments below – and have a great weekend!
NYT: Seriously?? We have a theme where we remove the I’s from the answer to a lame punny clue to get to a moderately familiar, if fairly mundane, two-word phrase. But wait, there’s more!! We have one theme answer that has an extra “I” that doesn’t get removed!
Not a good way to close out my Saturday evening.
NYT: The theme reminded me of something I might see in the archives from 30 years ago.
I’m sure it was difficult to find phrases that worked with the constraints of the theme. I just wish the payoff had been more interesting.