Constructor: Eli Cotham
Relative issue: Simple
THEME: THE FLOOR IS LAVA (58A: Wet-day recreation for youngsters, whose play is punnily prompt by 16-, 24-, 35- and 50-Throughout) — solutions all counsel motion on furnishings, i.e. actions you may take whereas enjoying THE FLOOR IS LAVA, a recreation the place touching the bottom (“FLOOR”) means “loss of life”:
Theme solutions:
- COUNTERBALANCE (16A: Offset, as one thing on a scale)
- TABLEHOP (24A: Gad about at a banquet)
- COUCHSURF (35A: Depend on the hospitality of buddies for lodging)
- BARCRAWL (50A: Hit the pubs)
Phrase of the Day: THE FLOOR IS LAVA (58A) —
The ground is lava is a recreation through which gamers faux that the ground or floor is product of lava (or another deadly substance, comparable to acid or quicksand), and thus should keep away from touching the bottom, as touching the bottom would “kill” the participant who did so. The gamers keep off the ground by standing on furnishings or the room’s structure. The gamers usually might not stay nonetheless, and are required to maneuver from one piece of furnishings to the subsequent. This is because of some folks saying that the furnishings is acidic, sinking, or in another means time-limited in its use. The sport could be performed with a gaggle or alone for self amusement. There might even be a aim, to which the gamers should race. The sport may be performed outside in playgrounds or comparable areas.
This recreation is just like the standard youngsters’s recreation “Puss within the Nook“, or “Puss Needs a Nook”, the place youngsters occupying the nook of a room are “secure”, whereas the Puss, the participant who’s “It” in the midst of the room, tries to occupy an empty nook as the opposite gamers sprint from one nook to a different. This recreation was usually performed at school shelter-sheds in Victoria, with the bench-seats alongside the partitions of the shelter-shed getting used as platforms becoming a member of the nook, whereas gamers crossing the ground may very well be caught by the Puss. (wikipedia)
• • •
The revealer actually rescued this one for me. I had seen the furnishings ingredient as I went alongside, however did not see any form of thematic coherence past that till the sport confirmed up close to the top and made me discover the second (motion) halves of the solutions as properly. I by no means performed THE FLOOR IS LAVA as a child (or as an grownup). I’ve by no means even seen it performed. I do know of it solely from current popular culture, and even then I do not know the way the secret bought into my mind. Some particular TV present? Apparently there’s a Netflix present known as THE FLOOR IS LAVA that premiered in 2020—possibly I caught sight of that title whereas scrolling by way of 1000’s of film titles to seek out one thing non-mediocre. Extra seemingly that somebody on some TV present talked about it on some episode blah blah who is aware of how these items get in your mind? The purpose is, I had sufficient of a way of how the sport is performed to understand the theme. I didn’t, nevertheless, admire the fill, and that is Actually changing into a difficulty of late—grid negligence, or grid grime, or no matter identify you wanna name it. I winced by way of a complete lot of this grid, which is simply inundated with brief overcommon or ugly stuff. So many initialisms! Plus drained or archaic stuff; NIGH OGLE NYMET one lone TAPA OPART ENUF USN ISAY CST TPED TSAR UMS TEAMO ERST ATOB SST ELO TGEL. You would not squawk a lot about a couple of of those, however the load of them? Yeesh. The longer Downs sometimes make up for the shorter dreck (they’re all fairly good, exc. possibly the inconceivable comparative adj. GLUMMER and the Latin ADASTRA, that are nonetheless high quality). However there was a stretch there from the NW by way of the middle of the grid (roughly OGLE to ERST) the place I believed the crosswordese onslaught would by no means finish. I nonetheless assume the puzzle results in Optimistic territory ultimately, however simply barely.
One other unlucky pattern in current puzzles: easiness. There ought to be a minimum of slightly resistance in a Wednesday puzzle. However at present, solely the NW and SE gave me any form of pushback, and it wasn’t a lot. It is at all times hardest getting began, so slightly skidding round earlier than you get traction is regular (I bought OGLE and nothing else at first within the NW, so I simply moved over to Jimmy CHOO and began there). As for the SE, I wrote within the cookware model TFAL as an alternative of the dandruff shampoo TGEL (not the primary time I’ve made this error—there’s additionally a medicated shampoo known as TSAL, which has by no means been used, however which exists nonetheless, and thus provides to my confusion). Due to that mistake, and since the TED TALK clue was vaguely arduous (44D: The primary one was delivered in 1984) (me: “… TEST-TUBE BABY?”). I took longer within the SE than elsewhere. All over the place else, it was simply paint by numbers, join the dots. Nothing notably thorny.
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| [53D: Eudora ___, Pulitzer winner for “The Optimist’s Daughter”] |
Except for the preponderance of crosswordesey stuff, the one a part of the puzzle that bugged me was the spelling of WOOSH (51D: “Sound” of some extent crusing over somebody’s head). I don’t consider in it. That appears like a typo. Particularly, it seems such as you overlooked the primary “H” (following the preliminary “W”). I understand that spelling sounds are more likely to end in approximations and variations, however the dictionary entry is certainly “Whoosh.” If I did not use the phrase loads to explain a sure form of quick and exhilarating motion by way of the puzzle, possibly I would not be so explicit … however then, possibly I might. A number of on-line dictionaries grudgingly give “WOOSH” as a variant, however yuck and ick and “no” and “unhealthy.” Extraordinarily ugly to take a look at. When WOOSH appeared in ’02 and ’04, the puzzle had the decency to mark it as a variant (“Var.”). However since then (’18, ’22, now), no extra. Please return to “Var.” It is extra sincere.
Additional notes:
- 38A: “Star Wars” species on Tatooine (JAWA) — noticed that it was 4 letters ending in “A,” practically (instinctively) wrote in YODA. Bit bizarre to have “Tatooine” within the clues and TATTOO within the grid, however I do not assume that counts as a foul.
- 2D: “Ha ha ha!,” on April Fools’ Day (“I GOT YOU“) — wished “GOTCHA!” Nonetheless need “GOTCHA!” And until it is available in puzzle type, man do I hate the entire thought of “getting” folks on April 1. The world is full sufficient of fraud as it’s. Please preserve your April Fools’ gags distant from me, thx.
- 12D: Home with a long-unmowed garden, e.g. (EYESORE) — did an HOA write this clue? I really like the variegated, barely wild seems of unmown lawns. Yeah, some aren’t so fairly, I suppose, however immaculate vibrant inexperienced lawns are their very own form of chemically-induced horror present.
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| [bunny on my neighbor’s unmown lawn yesterday] |
That is all. See you subsequent time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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