Jerry Miccolis’s New York Times crossword, “Triple Features” — Nate’s write-up
10.20.2024 Sunday New York Times Crossword
23A: BIG GIANT MONSTER [Marquee at the Tri-Plex mistaken as a promo for … “Godzilla”?]
37A: WITNESS ALIEN ARRIVAL [… “E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial”?]
54A: HANCOCK SIGNS THE PAPER [… “Independence Day”?]
75A: TANGLED FROZEN TRAFFIC [… “Rush Hour”?]
91A: WIRED SLEEPERS MISERY [… “Insomnia”?]
110: MANHATTAN HOOK UP [… “Sex and the City”?]
This puzzle had a theme I found quite enjoyable, with solid themers and a nice cluing conceit. Each clued film is described using the titles of three other films, to largely successful effect. (I think SLEEPERS needs an apostrophe somewhere for a possessive moment to make the clue work, but otherwise the rest seem solid.)
The SORE SPOT in this puzzle for me, unfortunately, was the fill. There was A LOT of crosswordese throughout the grid, and I almost stopped solving entirely after I realized that [Emasculates] at 8D was trying to clue UNMANS. Genuinely, in what year is this puzzle is running? (To preempt the run of “but actually”s in the comments section, I indeed see that MW supports this definition / denotation, but I would argue that the primary connotation of “unman” these days – though even now this use is also antiquated – would be in the context of an unmanned (unpersoned) vessel, like a spaceship.)
And seriously – JAI alai, LST, RIA, AGUE, RILL, RUSSE, TAW, TALI, WHENCE and many more entries made this grid a really tough one to (want to) get through. Also, I’m pretty sure that 31A is commonly understood to be an anti-Irish slur, so that didn’t feel great. BRUTAL. Was the editor having an OFF DAY when this puzzle was sent to print? I wish the fill and cluing were as strong and fun as the theme set was. (NB: I would certainly be more forgiving of the fill it this were the constructor’s first NYT puzzle or even first NYT Sunday puzzle. It is not.)
What did you think of the puzzle? I’m hopeful you found the puzzle more enjoyable and that the theme at least made you smile! Can you think of any other fun triplet combos of movie titles that might work as an extra themer? Let us know in the comments – and have a nice weekend!
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Long Division” — Matt’s write-up
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Long Division” solution, 10/20/24
Little bit different this week, with a 19×23 grid and two disconnected halves. Well, kind of, but we’ll get there.
Four theme entries jump out and make it clear that we’re looking for something additional:
- 21a [Body of water meeting this puzzle’s landmark at a spot known in English as Old Ox Bay] YELLOW RIVER
- 29a [Reality competition series whose first season featured this puzzle’s landmark] THE AMAZING RACE
- 115a [Section of the eastern end of this puzzle’s landmark, so named for its resemblance to a mythical beast drinking from the sea] OLD DRAGONS HEAD
- 125a [Group that was in power when the best-preserved form of this puzzle’s landmark was built] MING DYNASTY
Hopefully it’s clear by this point that the puzzle’s theme is THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. And while it’s not clued or visible in the grid, it does have a place. If you theoretically solved acrosses-only, you wouldn’t notice, but the down entries just above and below the black row in the middle of the puzzle don’t quite match their clues, even if the entries are all valid (if at times musty) crossword entries. But they do match their clues if we insert THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA into that row — [Blast of wind] is GUST, [International Criminal Court locale, with “The”] is HAGUE, and so on.
A fun gimmick that’s a bit off the beaten path as themes go. I was torn during my solve between working out the altered entries and just ignoring them for the acrosses but much like a Schrodinger puzzle, it’s fun to go back after the fact.
Other highlights: the slightly stretchy [Light competition?] for DAY GAME / less familiar to me SATE (vs ‘satay’) at 96a / the tricky letter combination of HOV LANE that makes you second guess some of your crossings.
Hoping you found this as enjoyable as I did. And while we’re here, since I only blog on Sundays, it’s not too early for me to urge American Fiend readers who are eligible to make a plan to vote in the upcoming elections. Cheers!
NYT: I thought the theme was great fun and well executed. Extra point for being clever without trying to be punny. To my mind, those types of Sunday themes are rarely successful.
re NYT 31A … but it’s his name? maybe it’s a slur sometimes but it’s also a legit name. i think banning MICK Jagger from the puzzle seems .. oddly disrespectful in a way; he didn’t ask to be named something that is also used derogatorily.
yeah the fill was a little dated but the fun solid and consistent theme made up for that for me.
re NYT 31A … but it’s his name? maybe it’s a slur sometimes but it’s also a legit name. i think banning MICK Jagger from the puzzle seems .. oddly disrespectful in a way; he didn’t ask to be named something that is also used derogatorily.
yeah the fill was a little dated but the fun solid and consistent theme made up for that for me.
To be fair to today’s NYT most Sunday sized puzzles are a slog to get through because the format so often necessitates gloopy fill. This one at least has amusing theme entries. I would be perfectly happy though if the NYT only ran 15x15s.