Super Six maker of 1920s / FRI 4-17-15 / Lover of Jane Porter / Man who went into self-imposed exile in 2013 / Title Inuit of fi
THEME: none
Word of the Day: OCULI (15A: Eyelike designs) —
noun• • •
ARCHITECTURE
plural noun: oculi
a round or eyelike opening or design, in particular.
a circular window.
the central boss of a volute. (google)
I could tell by the grid pattern that this would likely be less than satisfying. Minimal marquee answers, a half dozen latticed 15s—thus, a highly segmented grid with tons and tons of 3-to-5-letter fill. So *all* of the interest ends up in the 15s, and some of those are likely to be contrived—most likely the Across ones, since you have to drive them through the four pre-existing Down 15s. And the puzzle pretty much lived up to my expectations. Those Across 15s are, indeed, contrived—that is, they are phrases one might say, but they don't stand alone very well. And then the overall fill is, indeed, below normal themeless standards. I knew just from solving the NW that this was going to be a semi-painful solving experience:
Actually, it was 4D: Sound heard a lot by new parents that was the harbinger of doom. Three seconds in to the solve and I have one of those "how do you spell the non-word sound?" moments. Solved the surrounding answers and at SUR- I was satisfied that the WAH thing wasn't an outlier—*all* of the short fill was going to be like this, and there was a Lot of it to get through. It was one of those puzzles that really benefits veterans w/ a deep store of crosswordese. I got OCULI no crosses (though I called it OBELI at first—those are words I'd put in the same category of desirability, i.e. Low). I somehow remembered ICAHN (yuck). SERIA STRO CERT NTHS ESSO ETNA BARI … the oldie/goodies kept coming. How could they not when you build a grid like this? Well, maybe if you actually cared about eliminating them. But the current state of affairs continues to be: if the theme is good, the fill doesn't matter, and if the 15s are acceptable / interesting (as some of these are) then whatever. This is what (some) constructors are learning. Here's what I wish they'd learn—compromises in the fill are OK if they are minimal and if the payoff (the marquee stuff) is gold. Here, the compromises are big, and the payoff is just pretty good. I really like all the long Downs. I do. I particularly love the semi-juxtaposition of MISTER PRESIDENT and ELIZABETH WARREN. But these 15s aren't worth everything else.
One other thing to note: CLEAN SWEEP and WHERE'S THAT? and (for timeliness) SNOWDEN are wonderful. But they are the *only* answers in that mid-range length (besides TIE GAME, which is also acceptable). It's either 15s or 3-4-5s with this one. On a Friday, you're going to get a much better payoff if you can get into that middle answer length (say, 7-10), where answers can really shine. Minimize the short stuff, don't fetishize the 15, and you can have yourself a great Friday puzzle. But this choppy, bullet-riddled, highly segmented grid spells trouble right out of the gate. All those short answers will bog a Friday themeless down right quick. Construct a grid that allows you to avoid over reliance on the 3-4-5s. I beg of you.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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