i have lots of takes, all of them lukewarm
Hi all! Sorbier checking in here with my first foray on the website.
While Skep is a regular crossword fiend, polishing off crosswords from diverse sources every day, I admit that I have taken a long break from crosswording. It's been a few years since my last crossword, so if anyone around here is going to have lukewarm takes, it's going to be me.
AVCX+, May 15 by Hannah Slovut-Einerston
Themeless, titled "Get Ready!".
This crossword was delightful! A really fun re-introduction to crosswords.
Some clue highlights:
- 1A: Orange juice? (TRIPLESEC) — i don't know why, but this clue really tickled, especially since it was the opener... now I want an orange juice, though I wouldn't say no to an "orange juice" either
- 8D: People at the beginning of their love story, in a trope (ENEMIES) — god, the romance books are taking over culture and I love it. There's nothing quite like reading 100,000 words for the enemies to stare at each other from across the room (their hands brushing for the first time 50,000 words in, just so they can each ruminate on it during the next 45,000 words and wonder what it meant and if the other person meant to touch them on purpose) all in one night and getting 2 hours of sleep. Hypothetically.
Some answer highlights:
- 19A: IMPRESS ME (“Let's see what you can do!”) — the tone is so mean! I would hate to hear anyone say either the answer or clue to me in real life
- 22A: I BELIEVE (“We can do this”) — complete opposite energy!
- 30A: ASS (Word with hard or hat) — it must be because most of my crossword experience has been with the very sanitised New York Times, but I couldn't believe we were talking about hardasses and asshats in a crossword
- 43A: CLOUT CHASER — such a relevant phrase, fun surprise, so fresh compared to what we usually get in crosswords
- 46A: SOLE HEIR — another great one, current with all the recent talk of nepo babies, wealth inequality, so on and so forth...
- 12D: TOP SEED — I am totally numbskulled when it comes to sports, but in the most surprising move ever, I got this answer without a sweat thanks to watching HOURS OF COMPETITIVE POKEMON
I just love snappy medium-to-long answers!
I did get tripped up at the beginning, since I dropped in SCAPEGOAT for 17A (Someone to make an example of) without any crosses, then felt reluctant to remove it since it fit so well. In the same way, I really wanted 49A (Without support, in a way) to be BRALESS but at least that time I was saved by it being the wrong number of letters.
On the other hand, STRESS CLEAN (27A: Tidy in response to anxiety), which I also dropped in right off the bat, ended up helping me a lot with the downs in that section; I finished off the northeast part of the grid first before rounding the corner into the southwest corner.
(I will take this chance to complain about 10D, LOCAL COLOR, for its spelling... one day I will find a Canadian-constructed crossword that spells words right. In a context where every letter matters, and the lateral thinking relies on visualising words, being used to different spellings really bites you.)
The northwest corner was the hardest; it took me a while to make much headway and having SCAPEGOAT there really didn't help. After I scrapped it, I got another false start with 5D (Green flavor) which I insisted to myself was ALOE. Maybe I've been drinking too many canned drinks from Asia.
That said, I did get to drop in ERHU (53D: Instrument sometimes known as a Chinese violin) without hesitating... now that's cultural representation.
Gripes (which I saved for the end because there is nothing more unserious than crossword nitpicks):
- 14D: Crossword solving tool without an easy way to undo (PEN) — why do crosswords always get self-referential? the number of times I've seen some corny winky clue about solving crosswords... we are not in a Marvel movie! you need not break the fourth wall!!!
- 25D: “Music for films” artist Brian (ENO) — yet another regular among the crossword filler crowd, I guess it's unfair to complain about ENO since it's required glue, but it bores me every time I see it
- 37D: “Hahahahaha” (LOLOLOL) — wow, I hate this clue-answer pair so much... first, it's so on the nose. Hahaha is literally just Lololol. No creative way to clue Lololol emerged at all??? On top of that... if they insist on cluing Lololol this way, why not at least match the number of "ha"s with the number of "lol"s??? As it is, “Hahahahaha” is uncanny valley LOLOLOL: almost the same but off in one infuriating way.