![]() ![]() Which brings me to one of my main problems with this theme: FRANKENFOOD suggests something, well, horrifying, or at least unappetizing, and, well, MANGO and BANANA go great together, actually, as do OLIVE and RICE and TOMATO and CORN. Throw in the never-seen-it-in-the-singular VAGARY, and you have one untasty soup down there. "active ingredients"? I was wholly willing to believe that were ACTIVOS, as I had regular crosswordese ODESSA at 120A: Mesopotamian metropolis instead of godawful crosswordese EDESSA. Never good to finish the puzzle with "holy s***, that is Awful!" but that is exactly how this one concluded. A "claro" is a "light-colored usually mild cigar" (). ![]() I knew that some fancy cigars came from Cuba, but I was looking for a cigar type, not a cigar place of origin, is the problem. I wanted CLAROS for 26D: Some quality cigars. GENZER is just a desperate attempt to debut a new term Yep, it's a debut. That is what they are called, if they are called anything. The wikipedia page for "Generation Z" begins, "Generation Z, colloquially known as zoomers." So there you go. XERs have the "-ER" but ZER!? Oof, doesn't work. GEN Z'ER, ugh, no ( 47D: Many a TikTok user, informally). I spell BLECH with two "C"s (at least), so that was weird ( 37D: "Disgusting!"). Except for WHAP, what is that? This is like when the puzzle tried to convince me that OWLS say WHOO! Remember that? Of course you do, it was two days ago. Is it a "PARTY" just because you've "invited" three ingredients into the grid?Īs for the fill, it's fine, if you enjoy shooting SLO-MO TAE BO on your GOPRO. I don't even really get the "PARTY" angle. Conceptually and execution-wise, this one feels a bit of a mess, which seems very strange for a puzzle with a theme that is really very straightforward and basic. That is, I'm sure it's a thing to someone, somewhere, but what a completely ridiculous way to clue BASIL. I also reject that an "Italian mojito" (!?!?!) is a thing ( 41A: Italian mojito). So let's just say that I formally reject BASIL as theme-related. Which leads me to the next problem: am I supposed to buy BASIL as some kind of bonus theme answer? It does sit dead center, and you do find BASIL on pizzas from time to time. but then I realized I was thinking LEAF, as in BASIL leaf. I actually thought DON'T LEAVE was a theme answer for a bit. From a structural perspective, the grid feels very poorly built, in that TIME BOMBS and DON'T LEAVE are exactly as long as the theme answers they abut, so they really really look like / feel like / wanna be theme answers. But even if the theme answers had been perfect, the puzzle remains fairly thin-just a three-part, last-words-type puzzle. weaker, in that sauce is sauce is sauce, and ditto the "cheese" in " SAY CHEESE!" I think BIG CHEESE or something more obviously metaphorical like that might've been better. UPPER CRUST did a great job (that "crust" has nothing to do with pizza), but WEAK SAUCE is a little. And not all of them really hid / repurposed the pizza ingredients adequately. actually, no, scrap that, thin crust can be delicious. Let's stick with the "thin crust" metaphor for now. This felt a little WEAK SAUCE, a little thin. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jett's other notable songs include " Bad Reputation ", " Light of Day ", " I Hate Myself for Loving You " and her covers of " Crimson and Clover ", " Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) " and " Dirty Deeds ". With The Blackhearts, Jett is known for her rendition of the song " I Love Rock 'n Roll " which was number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1982. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and performing with the Runaways, which recorded and released the hit song " Cherry Bomb ". Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Word of the Day: Joan JETT ( 39A: Rock's Joan _ & the Blackhearts). WEAK SAUCE (28A: Something unimpressive, slangily).UPPER CRUST (18A: High-society, metaphorically).THEME: PIZZA PARTY (62A: Social event hinted at by the ends of 18-, 28- and 48-Across) - theme answers end in CRUST, SAUCE, and CHEESE, respectively: ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |