LES MISERABLE~?
I do believe this is a debut for author James Mattina; if so, then congratulations~! Composing this construction must have been complicated. I think the concept is brilliant - it's quite clever, fresh, and required some thinking on my part - but sadly, the "?" clues and proper names just drained some of the satisfaction from it. I ended up "cheating" to find where I went wrong - the truth is, I knew I had TESSA twice, and the instance that crossed five of the theme answers was where I made the mistake; I simply did not know 44D., nor two of three names in that SW corner. Oh well. A gimmick, a 14x16 grid, which, as I've pictured, is 'technically' 14x20, a fair balance of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter words, a ridiculous # of names - and not just Twurds, but we have a Thwurd this week - but hey, no circles . . . 😜
Rather than move all "theme" answers to the summary, I have highlighted them "in situ" - The "reveal";
54. Equestrian style, or, when parsed differently, a three-part instruction for making 19 clues ( not answers ) in this puzzle match their answers: SIDESADDLE - SIDES ADD 'LE' is the "three-part" parsing; in order to "get" the answers on the sides, one needs to 'add' "LE" - once I realized this - and at first I thought it was "SIDES ADDLE" ( which would have been worse ) then the first spanner came clear.
LEBut LEWait, There'sLE MoreLE~!
ACROSS:
1. Not-so-hot wheels: MONS - LEmons - Used automobiles that have more problems than they're worth
If it smells like a lemon and shows up at "2" on the chart below . . .
5. Recap: SUM UP
10. Range that measures acidity and alkalinity: PHSCA - pH scaLE
15. Seize eagerly, as an opportunity: APAT - LEap at - Having to parse a Twurd that's also missing letters might rattle several solvers today
16. __ acid: AMINO
17. Like clean water: POTAB - potabLE - 7 on the pH scale
18. Theaters that typically don't serve popcorn?: CTUREHALLS - LEcture halls - This one may well have been the hardest to get - starting with the implication that lecture hall = theater, then adding the "?" to the clue, making it far more vague, plus being part of the theme, and therefore missing letters . . .
20. Court action: DRIBB - dribbLE - I don't care for basketball, so that type of court never occurs to me
21. Singer Halliwell: GERI - I finally recalled she's a Spice Girl, but still a name, #1
Ginger Spice, go figure
22. Baby foxes: KITS - learned by doing crosswords
24. Round bump on a cactus: AREO - areoLE - we used to have a "Crossword Corner" image for this, but I believe it became "taboo", so let's just call it a "ring-like" structure 😁
25. Heavy reptile with a flexible carapace: ATHERBACKSEATURT - LEatherback sea turtLE - the first double-whammy 16 (20)-letter spanner theme fill
Pirates of the Caribbean
29. Economist who co-wrote "Freakonomics": VITT - Steven LEvitt - name, #2, and missing letters, which just doubles the cringe factor - but a good WAG on my part - thanks Jinx~!
30. Mud: JOE - coffee slang; did not occur to me until I had "_ O E" on my second pass, and name(ish)
31. Sink annoyance: DRIP - AND - 32A. Sink annoyances: AKS - LEaks
33. Spring event: THAW
35. Snack topped with cotija: TACO - yada yada snack with Español hint = TACO
36. Antelope that can go without water for long stretches: ORYX
37. Gets the gold: WINS
38. Big spender at a casino: WHA - whaLE - learned this term from Ocean's Thirteen
41. Gadget that has a click wheel: iPOD - I loved the "Apple product" D-Otto produced last Friday - "iDollar Tree" and the Ina Garten DeVito (baby) marriage from Copy Editor . . . wait til you get to 53D.
42. __ velvet cupcake: RED
43. Duo: COUP - coupLE - Duet wasn't going to fly; could not figure out what was going on . . .
44. Ring leader?: TSGETREADYTORUMB - the catch-phrase from MC Michael Buffer, the other double-whammy 16 (20)-letter spanner, "LEt's get ready to rumbLE". It's his 'leader' = opening "salvo" at sporting events; as you can see, A I has "announced" how not-so-intelligent it is . . .
Um, spelled wrong
49. "I Hope You Dance" singer Womack: EANN - LEe Ann - I confused her with LeAnn Rimes. Without grokking the gimmick, I thought maybe it was spelled Le-An - bzzzzt~! Name #3
50. Heritage gp. celebrated in May: AAPI - Asian American Pacific Islander - more here
51. Month during which the shofar is blown daily: ELUL - Well, I knew it wasn't EL AL . . .
52. Person represented by the sunset flag: SBIAN - LEsbian - the flag - that's as far as we'll go
58. Wright who plays Shuri in the MCU: TITIA - LEtitia - I'm completely uninterested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - too repetitive & CGI for me. In hindsight, I figured this was the correct spelling, but it's still name #4 - more from IMDb
59. Reorders a draft?: EDITS - as in "first draft" of a novel, or screenplay, script, etc.
60. Make possible: ENAB - enabLE
61. One-pointers in horseshoes: ANERS - LEaners - "Close" only counts in horseshoes & hand grenades - upon reading through several websites, scoring seems to be inconsistent
62. Many, informally: LOTSA - this reminds me of Winston Wolf "lotsa luck fellas" - WARNING~! Here's the NSFW link to the scene from Pulp Fiction
63. Place to hitch a ride?: STAB - stabLE - again, with a gimmick like this, a "?" clue only makes it that much more difficult . . . IMHO, a horse is usually "hitched" to a post, but housed in a stable
1. Bud: MAC - not PAL, so I was already in the hole before I even started . . . the def at dict. dot com
2. Make a call: OPT - I pondered "UMP"; Tuesday "O" 3LW dupe #1
3. Zeros: NAUGHTS - Brit-speak
4. Crosswalk spot: STREET - phew; Friday vague
5. Hindi honorific: SAHIB - phew; Friday vague
6. Actress Thurman: UMA - phew, Crossword staple - but still a name, #5
7. Guernsey, for one: MILK COW - good WAG on my part
8. As opposed to: UNLIKE
9. Shares on socials: POSTS
10. Abbr. for a rained-out event: PPD - PostPoneD
11. Fictional captain Hornblower: HORATIO - I am unfamiliar with this character, name #6
12. Foment: STIR UP
13. Giant pole tossed in Highland games: CABER - I knew this . . .
14. Monastery head: ABBOT - . . . and this, but something was just not working on the crossings . . .
19. Miscalculate: ERR - I thought I had ERRed, but then I got to the reveal
23. Midsize ride: SEDAN
25. Director DuVernay: AVA - name #7; a web page
26. Kesha's "__ Tok": TIK - seemed likely, but still too name(ish) for me, #8
27. Trojan War warrior: AJAX - actually looking for a proper Greek name, #9, more here
28. Shuttlecock paths: ARCS
33. Relaxed pace: TROT - Dah~! No LOPE
34. Monster slain by Hercules: HYDRA - it's "all Greek to me" part II
35. Neat: TIDY
36. Like businesses with no overhead?: OPEN AIR - meh. Another vague "?" Twurd clue
37. "Yay, team!": "WE DID IT~!" - "Yes~!" We have the "Thwurd" fill~!
38. "__ you like to know?": "WOULDN'T"
39. Fire on all cylinders: HUM
40. PD dispatch: APB - Police Dept., All Points Bulletin
41. Light: IGNITE
42. "¡Ándale!": "RAPIDO~!" - Español
43. Refinery inputs: CRUDES - I was thinking ORES, not liquids
44. Seed covering: TESTA - learning moment; the M-W def. here
46. Canvas support: EASEL - Dah~! Got caught thinking TENT POLE canvas - also like the clue/answer from this past Tuesday - not art canvas
47. Thompson of "Creed": TESSA - name #11 - another MCU character
48. Ipanema greeting: OLÁ - Geo name, Brazil - Tuesday dupe, #2; more here
53. "Hip Hop Is Dead" rapper: NAS - not up on my rappers - name #12; the irony~? His track samples Iron(y) Butterfly, and the song "In A Gadda Da Vida"- if you care to listen, and the riff is definitely an earworm, then here's the YouTube rap song link
55. Sci-fi beings: ETs
56. Anaheim team, on scoreboards: LAA - The Los Angeles Angels
57. Subside: EBB
Splynter
Grid Flow 19.6, which is low
A fiendishly clever
ReplyDeletepuzzle. It wasn’t long before I figured out “something funny” was going on. And then with (le)atherback sea turt(le), I figured out what the gimmick was.
It was off to the races from there.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteNothing was working in the NW, so I moved to the NE. Nothing working there, either. Like SubG, once ATHERBACK SEA TURT appeared, the mystery was solved. Thought CABER was spelled with a K. Fixed. This one ran right up against 20 minutes, and d-o almost got it...everything but the P at the AAPI/RAPIDO cross. Rats. Spanish is one of the many languages I'm no good at. Clever theme. Thanx, James and Splynter.
My 54 across reads "making 19 clues in this puzzle match their answers." Aren't there 21? Perhaps I missed something. Help!
ReplyDelete2 of them are double-ended grid spanners.
DeleteClever puzzle, I have not seen this used before. Not to nit pick but aren’t there 21 clues that need LE added? Not 19. Also, I’ve always played leaners were two points in horseshoes.
ReplyDelete19 clues.
ReplyDeleteThe other 2 are at each end of the gridspanners, so technically only 1 clue for those.
This is one I'm glad I did on paper! Once I caught on to the gimmick, I was able to write LEs all the way down both sides which cleared things up a lot. Something new under the sun from James.
ReplyDeleteSplynter, loved your title! Like our illustrious reviewer, I stumbled in the SW corner. Names crossing names and the only polio guy I knew was Salk.
The Sabin vaccine came out shortly after the Salk vaccine. It was an oral vaccine. It was much easier to get kids to volunteer for a sugar cube than a jab.
DeleteD-O, I assume you watched Jeopardy yesterday. Thought for a moment that Jamie might lose. What impressed me the most was that he not only bet big and got the answer, but that in parenthesis, he wrote (Salk's). Very specific.
DeleteHorrib
ReplyDeleteExcellent
DeleteTook 19:11, but messed up where Splynter did, though I opted for an "h". Oops.
ReplyDeleteOf the Actresses of the Day, I knew "Uma" & "Tessa," but not "[Le]titia".
Clever. But, not a fan of things like "ola" crossing "elul".
FIW, missing with lETIA x TESlA. Like previous commenters, I was trying to limit the "LE" appendages to 19.
ReplyDeleteCaught on to the gimmick at WHA(LE), which made the rest easier.
The amount of time and effort I spent on this one was greater than the amount of fun it rendered. But it featured AREO(LE), MONS and TACO, so really how bad could it have been?
Thanks to James for the workout, and to Splynter for explaining it all.
Oh and by the way, the Freakenomics guy was Steven (LE)VITT, not Scott (LE)VITT.
DeleteIt was aN 'almost' today but I stumbled in the SW. Knowing LE-ANERS, SABIN, OPEN AIR, and NAS didn't help. I've never heard of TESTA, LE-TITIA or the sunset flag. After starting with a blank NW and moving east, I knew there was a gimmick at the pH SCA-LE with all its perps as gimmes. Then I noticed TURT-LE and WHA-LE were missing the last two letters but didn't expect all the rest. The two spanners started and ended missing LE.
ReplyDeleteLE-VITT, AAPI, RAPIDO,- perps for those unknowns.
To SUM UP the puzzle, it was quite a doozy.
Anybody notice the DRIP next to the coffee-JOE? DW had a pot of it every morning.
YooperPhil here ~ WoW, what masterful construction which is UNLIKE any that I remember encountering, and a debut no less! I ultimately had to settle for a FIW as I had an ‘i’ in place of what should have been an ‘e’ in the CAREB/AREO cross. Thank you James for this particularly fun and challenging puzzle, and to Splynter for the review. Currently on a northbound train from Brighton to London on a gorgeous spring day in the U.K.
ReplyDeleteFIR. What a workout, even after I sussed out the theme. Way too many obscure proper names for my liking. And having some of them as part of the theme made this more difficult.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a WAG at testa because of Letitia (?). I've never heard of either.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Really enjoyed this puzzle, with the possible exception of that name-filled south-west corner. A superior adventure, worthy of a Friday, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteIt took a while to figure out the gimmick, and even then it was only when I had completed the CW that I noticed all the missing "LE"s were along the edges of the CW. Pure genius by constructor JM.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, BECAUSE I didn't get that all the missing "LE"s were along the edges of the CW, I struggled, had to go online, and even then needed several alpha runs. So although I did eventually (28 minutes!) fill all the cells with the correct letter, I'm gonna give myself a DNF. If I hafta do alpha runs, that's a big cheat = DNF.
Thanx Splynter for the terrific write-up. All your time and effort is appreciated.
Hi all ! James here - Thank you Splynter for the review!
ReplyDeleteYes it is my crossword debut today, greetings from Montreal! :) Thank you for the comments and working through the gimmick of this puzzle!
I was inspired by NYT 12/22/2016 puzzle with AL-UMINUM SIDING (split revealer) and found SIDESADDLE as a fun revealer that could work similarly. After seeing the 16-letter LETSGETREADYTORUMBLE and LEATHERBACKSEATURTLE, I decided to make a 14x16 puzzle. The 15-letter LEASTCOMMONMULTIPLE was less fun...
Originally, the revealer was elsewhere (upper right) as I found this kept the fill cleanest and I didn't mind an early spoiler... I had assumed after the 10th clue you'd probably figure out the gimmick anyway. The editing process changed the revealer location which changed everything except the grid spanners (my favourite part of this puzzle) and the rest was just finding the cleanest solution possible - sorry for all the proper names!
Very happy to see this run and thanks to the editors and everyone who spent time trying to work it all out. :D
Hi there~!
DeleteThank you so much for stopping by our Corner and treating us to some of the creative insights & details that go into making a puzzle~! - Hope you're OK with the title :7))
Splynter
Hahahah yes all good. I knew it would be a bit polarizing. Bonus points for that TIT(LE)
DeleteThanks for dropping by, James, and providing the interesting genesis of your puzzle. It was an impressive and delightful construction, especially for a debut.
DeleteThe SW was troublesome, as you may have noted from many comments above. There were three performers down there who were not familiar to a lot of us, anchored by good old TESTA (and I had thought I was pretty good with botanical terms!).
Thanks for a stimulating Friday diversion, and I look forward to a return engagement.
Thanks, Splynter, for so ably assisting us with your entertaining and helpful recap.
Yuck.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of hidden letters off the grid. No satisfaction in solving this one today. Clever? - yes, but it just seemed wrong for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI finished about 70% of the puzzle. I thought the puzzle clever, but I didn't particularly like trying to solve it. It was a nice Ah ha moment,, when I realized you had to add letters off the grid. I too do the puzzle on paper and had a lot of white out today. Too many unknown names, especially the SW corner.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-What a hoot! PHSCA(LE), POTAB(LE) and DRIBB(LE) had to be and then the heavens opened and I (like subgenius) was off to the races! Seeing that, dopey old me had to relearn that this fun gimmick applied on the left side too and then to both sides! Loved it!
-(LE)AKS – DOH!
-Pedestrian us sometimes consider a TACO to be an entrée.
-By the time I got to WHA(LE) I was rockin’ and rollin’!
-AAPI and TESTA went without a struggle
-My grandmother was a LETITIA who went by TISH
-If you’ve got a herd of gurenseys on your farm, your schedule adapts to theirs
-Sinatra’s one true love was an AVA but she does not make Patti’s clue list
-Our farmer’s markets are OPEN AIR and the reason we are not gardening this year
-Thanks for stopping by, James, and sharing some inside baseball with us about construction!
This is not my kind of puzzle, James. Between the names of people I don’t know and the gimmick, I TITT. But thank you for your efforts that many people enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Splynter for the review and the descriptive grid.