Constructor: Ari Halpern
Relative problem: Straightforward (solved Downs-only)
THEME: MOVIE OF THE WEEK (53A: Nineteen Seventies-’80s TV staple … or a touch to 16-, 25- and 42-Throughout) — films with days of the week of their titles:
- ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (16A: 1999 sports activities drama co-starring Al Pacino)
- ASH WEDNESDAY (25A: 1973 marital drama co-starring Elizabeth Taylor)
- FREAKY FRIDAY (42A: 2003 fantasy comedy co-starring Lindsay Lohan)
Phrase of the Day: ASH WEDNESDAY (25A) —
Ash Wednesday is a 1973 American drama movie directed by Larry Peerce and starring Elizabeth Taylor. It was produced by Dominick Dunne. The screenplay by Jean-Claude Tramont focuses on the impact that in depth beauty surgical procedure has on the lifetime of a middle-aged married girl. // In a determined try to avoid wasting her faltering marriage, 55-year-old Barbara Sawyer submits to full-body cosmetic surgery in a Swiss clinic, then checks into an unique ski resort, Cortina d’Ampezzo, to await the arrival of her attorney-husband Mark. Reveling in her significantly youthful and tauter look, she permits playboy Erich to seduce her. When Mark lastly arrives, he makes an announcement that modifications Barbara’s preliminary plans eternally. […] In a critique that spoils the plot, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Solar-Instances wrote, “The film’s story shouldn’t be actually very fascinating, however we’re intrigued as a result of the star is Taylor. She’s 40 or 41 now, and but she seems to be nice. [ed: !!!!!?] There is a type of voyeuristic sensuality in watching her take a look at herself within the mirror (which she spends no finish of time doing)…Perhaps the basic drawback with the film is that we will not fairly consider any man would go away Elizabeth Taylor. It is a good factor we by no means see Henry Fonda’s bimbo [ed: !!!!!?], as a result of if we did, we would not be satisfied.” (wikipedia)
• • •
They’re extra “Films of the Day,” aren’t they? The place’s the remainder of the week? Perhaps this could’ve been a Sunday-sized puzzle. Although as you possibly can inform, they’re already stretching the bounds of film familiarity fairly skinny with ASH WEDNESDAY, what the hell is that? I didn’t know that film existed till I solved this puzzle. Fortunately, since I used to be Downs-only, it did not matter in any respect that I hadn’t heard of the film, as a result of I had heard of ASH WEDNESDAY as an idea, clearly, so inferring it was (finally) fairly straightforward. My level is that this can be a brief and fully arbitrary set of films, wildly divergent when it comes to their normal fame. So it is type of a shrug, themewise. However as a Downs-only resolve, it was fairly thrilling, as I needed to navigate treacherous-seeming lengthy Downs instantly, within the NW, and once more within the SE (symmetry!). Facet-by-side lengthy Downs are at all times doubtlessly horrible hassle spots in a Downs-only resolve. You possibly can simply clean on each, leaving you with a gaping chasm that you simply simply should hope you’ll work your means into through inferred crosses. However immediately, I plopped down BRAIN STEM instantly and … it match … and … it was proper! After all I plopped down ELONGATES proper subsequent to it, and that was incorrect, however it was fairly straightforward to see which of the primary 4 Downs was incorrect once they had been all laid out beside each other (BRAIN STEM, ELONGATES, EDY’S, DOG), and so I yanked ELONGATES, inferred the primary two letters (“L” in BLED, “E” in REDO), and bam, there it was, the right reply: LENGTHENS.
Tremendous straightforward all through the remainder of the Downs-only resolve. Bought to the top and braced myself to take care of the second pair of lengthy Downs, however I had two theme solutions working by means of each of them earlier than I ever checked out their clues, and that was sufficient: “NERD ALERT” immediately, ESCAPE KEY immediately. So this ended up one of many simpler Downs-only solves I’ve ever carried out—and but one way or the other not boring. These lengthy Downs within the NW and SE give this puzzle slightly zing, slightly sauce, and maintain it from being considerably of a nap. Such is the ability of Downs-only resolve. Total, I want the theme had been tighter immediately, one way or the other, however all in all this can be a respectable and suitably straightforward Monday puzzle.
Unsure why this puzzle wasn’t simply shrunk to 14 vast. The revealer’s a 14, simply push the grid in by one column. It isn’t extraordinary. As an alternative we get this bizarre block of black squares within the NW/SE. Maybe the fill simply turned out higher this manner. It is attainable the 14-wide grid was simply too constraining. Regardless of. The puzzle’s commonplace 15-square width shouldn’t be a fault, however it is a call. 14s are the rarest size of reply. They’re simply clumsy to take care of in most circumstances (in a standard-sized puzzle), however the best way the scenario is dealt with right here, with the ensuing black-square blocks tucked neatly into the corners, could be very unobtrusive. The one reply that I had the slightest little bit of hassle with, past that temporary tussle with LENGTHENS, was FARINA … do folks actually say “mmm, cannot await my morning bowlful of FARINA?” The one motive I do know the phrase FARINA is as a result of that is what Cream O’ Wheat is, and I used to eat that on a regular basis as a child. Oh, and there is Dennis FARINA, in fact. Phrase association-wise, in case you give me FARINA I am most likely gonna provide you with “Dennis.” Relating to [Hot breakfast bowlful]s, although, the one issues I may consider had been OATMEAL and PORRIDGE and GRITS, and clearly none of these match, so I simply needed to wait round for some assist from inferred crosses. Fortunately, that wasn’t too lengthy in coming.
[warning: profanity & violence]
Bullet factors:
- 9D: Melodious yellow chook (CANARY) — earlier than I began actually listening to birds (through the pandemic), CANARY would most likely have been the one chook that occurred to me right here. I would’ve thrown it down instantly and moved on. However simply yesterday I noticed multitudes of “melodious” yellow warblers, and checked out a stunning little yellow goldfinch by means of binoculars, so these had been the primary two birds that got here to thoughts. A couple of beats later, I used to be like “oh, proper, CANARY … that’s the yellow singing chook of biggest fame.” I consider the CANARY as a captive chook, which is presumably why I do not consider it in any respect (cannot think about wanting to maintain a chook in a cage).
- 26D: Bunch of greenback payments, say (WAD) — OK, certain, bodily that might make a WAD, however I consider WAD additionally no less than implying some huge cash, i.e. excessive worth, not simply bodily fatness. “Greenback payments” usually are not what I consider as the first elements of a WAD. It is arduous for me to maintain these in any respect nowadays. They only go straight into tip jars.
- 42A: 2003 fantasy comedy co-starring Lindsay Lohan (FREAKY FRIDAY) — simply wanna put in a very good phrase for the unique 1976 model of this film, starring the nice Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris, each of whom had been nominated for Finest Actress Golden Globes for his or her performances. I simply discovered that the Lohan / Jamie Lee Curtis remake was certainly one of three (!) remakes of this film, and that the primary remake was a 1995 made-for-TV film starring Shelley Lengthy (!?!?). Hey, it was directed by Melanie Mayron, of Girlfriends / thirtysomething fame! Enjoyable details in your Memorial Day.
See you subsequent time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
