Hello, everybody, it’s Clare for the final Tuesday of April!
Did you all simply hear that? Sure? That was me screaming with pleasure as a result of my Liverpool Reds received the Premier League title!! In our first yr with our new supervisor, we clinched the title with 4 video games left! So I’ve been on cloud 9 since Sunday. Life is sweet! Nicely, principally… A few weeks in the past, I had a motorcycle accident and ended up within the ER. Fortunately, there have been no vehicles concerned, and I’m all good now (I simply nonetheless have a really swollen finger and a painful neck). However I’ve bought a brand new bike now that I get to go choose up tomorrow! Within the meantime, I’ll preserve my toes up and watch some extra sports activities (like watching my Warriors eke out a win in opposition to the Rockets to go up 3-1 within the sequence).
Anywho, on to the puzzle…
Constructor: Gene Louise De Vera
Relative issue: Medium-hard
THEME: GROWING PAINS (21A: Early struggles for a brand new enterprise … or a touch to the shaded squares) — The shaded squares are phrases which can be often exclaimed when in ache and develop in variety of letters from left to proper within the puzzle
- TOO LATE NOW (28D: “You had your probability”)
- HIT THE ROOF (29D: Go berserk)
- DON’T SLOUCH (32D: Instruction to enhance posture)
- PHOTOSHOOT (34D: Cameraperson’s session)
Phrase of the Day: Juana INES de la Cruz (55D) —
Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana was a New Spanish author, thinker, composer and poet of the Baroque interval, in addition to a Hieronymite nun, nicknamed “The Tenth Muse”, “The Mexican Phoenix”, and “The Phoenix of America” by her up to date critics. She was additionally a pupil of science and corresponded with the English scientist Isaac Newton. As a Spanish-criolla, she was among the many important contributors to the Spanish Golden Age and is taken into account one of the vital feminine writers in Spanish language literature and the literature of Mexico. Sor Juana’s significance to completely different communities has various tremendously throughout time, having been introduced as a candidate for Catholic sainthood; a logo of Mexican nationalism; and a paragon of freedom of speech, ladies’s rights, and sexual variety, making her a determine of nice controversy and debate to at the present time. (Wiki)
• • •
This was a considerably difficult Tuesday puzzle and a pleasant debut from constructor Gene Louise De Vera. The theme didn’t excite me an entire lot at first look, however I appreciated it an entire lot extra after I realized that the 4 exclamations which can be the theme solutions develop in measurement from left to proper. SHOOT (34D) looks as if a little bit of an outlier, however I suppose it’s nonetheless one thing you’d say for those who stub a toe (otherwise you would possibly say a four-letter phrase that’s not fairly crossword-appropriate). My greatest criticism with the puzzle is that it certain appeared that TANGENT LINES (53A: Figures which can be straight approximations of curves, in geometry) ought to have some relation to the theme, on condition that it has the identical weight as GROWING PAINS (21A) and was towards the underside of the puzzle, the place the revealers had been. However then TANGENT LINES was simply there with no relation, which felt clunky.
I wasn’t significantly wild about any of the theme solutions, however they had been superb. PHOTOSHOOT (34D) was in all probability my favourite. DON’T SLOUCH (32D) was my least favourite, however perhaps that’s simply because I, in fact, have nice posture; or perhaps I simply repressed the reminiscence of my mother saying this to me repeatedly rising up. HIT THE ROOF (29D) appears antiquated, and I can take or go away TOO LATE NOW (28D).
It was good that there wasn’t a lot crosswordese; the development doesn’t lend itself to too many three-letter phrases (which additionally would possibly’ve had one thing to do with my discovering it to be a bit more durable Tuesday than normal). The construction of the puzzle is aesthetically good, too.
I struggled with a few of the correct nouns within the puzzle — EBSEN (35D: Buddy ___, Jed Clampett portrayer on “The Beverly Hillbillies”), ROS (39D: Youngsters’s writer Asquith), and INES (55D) tied me up for a bit. After which HIED (29A: Went in haste) and ELO (37A: Ranking system utilized in chess) are phrases that I knew someplace in my mind however that took some time for me to provide you with.
I cherished a few of the different phrases within the puzzle, like OOMPH (22D: That further punch), SCOWL (5D: Loss of life stare), and SHOD (56D: Like a racehorse’s toes). I additionally cherished the clue and reply for KING (8D: Double-decker checker). And ST. PAT’S (47A: Inexperienced day, familiarly?) is one other intelligent clue/reply. PRIMROSE (38A: Correct-sounding spring flower?) is each very intelligent and cute. DRAPERY (46D: Curtains) is an efficient phrase. ON A WHIM (58A: With out forethought, say) is a good phrase. I’m unsure why, however I appreciated seeing ICE WINE (48D: Dessert drink made with frozen grapes) within the puzzle.
Nonetheless, there have been another issues I don’t suppose labored. The clue for DNC (25A: Blues group, for brief?) is attempting a bit too laborious. I didn’t love HOT OR NOT (43A: Early 2000s score web site with a rhyming identify) being proper there on the middle of the puzzle. And is a SCEPTER (56A: Pageant prize) truly given to pageant winners now, or is it extra probably a tiara, a sash, and a bouquet?
Misc.:
- PRIMROSE (38A) jogs my memory of the youthful sister character in “The Starvation Video games” sequence, which I simply completed a reread of. I additionally learn the brand new e-book “Dawn on the Reaping.” It was emotionally devastating however so nicely completed. Now we’re getting casting information, and it seems to be prefer it’s going to be a stellar film (when it comes out in November 2026).
- I’m stretching a bit right here, however CODE (57D: What a software program developer develops with) additionally pertains to the medical area and is one thing that a physician would possibly say in an ER — like “CODE blue!” And… talking of ERs… Everybody ought to watch a drama on HBO (41A) referred to as “The Pitt,” the place every episode within the 15-episode season represents one hour of the identical shift within the ER. It’s implausible. Sensible. Stupendous. Great. All the nice issues!
- Seeing LENA Headey (18D: “Recreation of Thrones” co-star Headey) within the puzzle jogs my memory of this fairly humorous clip from a couple of years in the past that’s not too long ago been making the rounds on my TikTok, the place a comic has a present the place the premise is that she has to interview individuals she’s by no means heard of and guess who they’re.
- My pet is now six months previous and is, in fact, as lovable as ever (not that I’m biased or something)! Please admire the images beneath as a result of I’m formally a canine mother who wants to point out hers off on a regular basis. The truth that her identify is Purple is fairly good, as a result of my Reds simply received the Premier League, so I’d say she was luck attraction. My sister and I managed to snag the pic on the highest left (as she was attempting desperately to chew my jersey — or perhaps simply kiss the crest like little Purple).
And that’s all from me! See you all in Could.
Signed, Clare Carroll, nonetheless screaming aaaaaaAH
