Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: "MS. CONCEPTIONS" — theme answers are various inventions by women, with the theme revealed in the answer MOTHERS OF INVENTION (104A: Rock group whose name is an appropriate alternative title for this puzzle); circles in grid spell out "bonus message": "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"
Word of the Day: Alexander IDEN (72D: Esquire in "Henry VI, Part 2") —
"Kentish gentleman" who is in exactly two scenes in "Henry VI, Part 2" — IV.x, V.i
• • •
As I was solving this, I was sure the puzzle would somehow end up celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill (which, if some new PBS show with Jon Meacham and that lady who used to be on MTV isn't lying, is also today). 
So many inventions ... I thought it was just a matter of time before I hit BIRTH CONTROL PILL. But no — it's MOTHER'S DAY, and that's the theme. My favorite part of the puzzle is the use of Frank Zappa's band as the theme-revealer. My least favorite part is (dramatic pause) the circles. I nominate this puzzle for "most ridiculous use of circles ever" — do you have any idea how many "bonus messages" you could derive from this grid. I found one that involves the word MOTHER in a *completely* different context, for instance. A not-suitable-for-Mother's-Day context. I'm just saying. I think you should all just create your own "bonus messages." How about "YOUR BRA IS MAKING ME HORNY." That's in there. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!Theme answers:
- 23A: Programming tool created by Grace Hopper (1906-92) (COBOL COMPUTER LANGUAGE)
29A: Item of apparel created by Mary Phelps Jacob (1891-1970) (THE MODERN BRASSIERE) — as opposed to the pre-modern brassiere, which was a pair of coconut shells, and the post-modern brassiere, which is merely theoretical- 50A: Medical discovery of Gertrude Elion (1918-99) (DRUG FOR LEUKEMIA)
- 64A: Woodworking tool created by Tabitha Babbitt (1784-1853) (CIRCULAR SAW)
- 71A: Office item created by Bette Nesmith Graham (1924-80) (LIQUID PAPER)
- 88A: Driving convenience created by Mary Anderson (1866-1953) (WINDSHIELD WIPER)
- 117A: Food formula created by Ruth Wakefield (1903-77) (TOLLHOUSE COOKIE RECIPE)
Never ever heard of this [Pilfer, old-style] nonsense. Guessed again at IDEN / ANDANTINO (94A: Slightly faster than moderately slow), the latter being a musical term I've never seen and the former a character I, and most of the world, have never heard of. Two scenes. In a play no one reads any more. Man oh man. IDEN! Taking obscurity to new levels. ANDANTINO looks common by comparison. Don't like IMARI (more obscure crosswordese) (19A: Japanese porcelain), but remembered it today, somehow. Big problem is the lower middle of the grid — south of LIQUID PAPER and north of MOTHERS OF INVENTION. There's a cavalcade of crud in there: IDEN, IT IN, INSO, NO IF (!?!!), RLS, IMRE ... it hurts. On the plus side, super happy to see the very important artist LEGER (17D: "La Grande Parade" artist Fernand) in the puzzle. Not sure why I don't see him more often — his name seems grid-friendly enough.Will must want mothers to feel good about their solving skills today, because man oh man this puzzle was easy. The easiest puzzle I've done in ages. I was done in under 10 — a shade over 9:30, in fact. Slowed a bit at IDEN and NO IF, and oh so slightly in the SILEX (126A: Proctor ___ (small appliance brand)) / MILT (114D: Jazz vibraphonist Jackson) region (at the very end), but other than that — straight shot to victory
Bullets:
- 41A: Active Japanese volcano (ASO) — Never even saw the clue, thank god. As I believe I've said before: APO I know, ASO ... I might have heard of before, but it just isn't sticking yet.
- 10D: Frolickers by a stream (OTTERS) — this may be the first time in my life I've ever beheld the word "frolickers." I kind of like it. My first encounter with the word "frolic" was likely in the lyrics to "Puff the Magic Dragon":
- 38D: Primitive percussion instrument (GOURD) — Very primitive. Also edible.
51D: Donate, to Burns (GIE) — I was like "hmm, what would Mr. Burns say instead of 'donate'?" — he's prone to saying olde-timey things, e.g. asking the gas station attendant to fill his car up with petroleum distillate and revulcanize his tires, post haste! Alas, wrong Burns.- 73D: "Eris ___ sum" ("You will be what I am") ("QUOD") — if you google this phrase, this is your first hit (wikipedia!):
"Eris Quod Sum" is the seventh episode of the third season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes and forty-first episode overall. The episode aired on October 27, 2008. "Eram quod es, eris quod sum" is a Latin phrase that is often found on gravestones and translates as "I was what you are, you will be what I am".
- 102D: Midnight Poison maker (DIOR) — ooh, I did not know this, though I should have guessed, with that name, it would have to be a fragrance. I was going to ask "Isn't there already a fragrance named 'Poison'?" but it turns out that's the DIOR original. Midnight is some kind of spin-off.
- @KristerR Hello, weekend! What's this? A cheap bottle of wine and a crossword puzzle? Be still my heart!
- @angefitzpatrick glories in the completion of 92% of the NYT crossword in just one day!
- @PHook4000 Folded my crossword perfectly today!
- @camillececilia Note to self: doing NY Times crossword puzzles on my iPhone is murder on the battery.
- @thatpuzzleguy Round of applause for Timothy Parker, who today ran his 1,000th puzzle with animal similes as its theme!
- @BrentPiaskoski Seriously, if kids can bring coloring books to church, is it so wrong to bring the crossword puzzle?
- @barben2 Just had brunch with David Bowie. He was surprisingly good with the NY Times crossword but his eye with the enlarged pupil was distracting.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
No comments:
Post a Comment