Constructor: Stacy Cooper and Ken Cohen
Relative problem: Straightforward (solved Downs-only)
THEME: “WHAT’S CRACKING?” (51A: Slangy greeting … or a touch to the begins of 20-, 25- and 45-Throughout) — theme solutions begin with stuff you may crack:
- CODE OF CONDUCT (20A: Guidelines on how one can behave)
- EGGPLANT DIP (25A: Baba ghanouj, e.g.)
- KNUCKLEHEAD (45A: Goofball)
Phrase of the Day: MOSCOW MULE (11D: Cocktail served in a copper mug) —
A Moscow mule is a cocktail made with vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice; garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, and a sprig of mint. The drink, being a sort of buck, is usually referred to as vodka buck. It’s popularly served in a copper mug, which takes on the chilly temperature of the liquid.
Some public well being advisories advocate copper mugs with a protecting coating (comparable to stainless-steel) on the within and the lip, to scale back the chance of copper toxicity.
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Numerous issues off right here. Let’s begin with the revealer, which completely positively for sure needs to be “WHAT’S CRACKIN’?,” not “WHAT’S CRACKING?” It is a slang expression the place the terminal “g” is most decidedly dropped. Look it up. It’s normal, and it is nearly all the time, so far as I can inform, “g”-less. Predictive textual content would not even need the “g”—take a look at what occurs once you do a google search:
Sure, you are provided the “cracking” model, however the prime predicted search is “crackin'”—”g”-less. This is a restaurant referred to as “WHAT’S CRACKIN'”
It is on memes, novelty t-shirts, all the time “g”-less.
Respect the slang, is what I am saying. Or sayin’, I assume. CRACKING feels awkward, like somebody utilizing slang that isn’t native to them. Tin-eared. Boo. The opposite awkward factor about this theme is that the gadgets in query should not, actually, crackin(g). Somebody (you?) is cracking them. The code would not crack, you crack the code. The egg would not crack, you crack the egg. The knuckle would not crack, you crack the knuckle, and by the way in which, you crack knuckles, plural. Whoever cracked a single knuckle? Come on, man. This theme is conceptually OK, however by way of execution, it is half-baked.
This was on the better aspect, as Downs-only solves go. Actually had hassle with IPADAPPS, primarily as a result of I knew I used to be coping with APPS, however nothing about these APPS appeared notably IPADish, and APPS would not work within the first areas, and APPLICATIONS was too lengthy … so I sort of needed to resolve round it till the letters concerned turned clear. Then there was the again finish (the FAN half) of EMO FAN, that was bizarre. I needed to work out how one can spell LAH-DI-DAH (it has appeared within the NYTXW as LADIDA as not too long ago as 2023, and I wasn’t solely certain LA(H)-DI-DA(H) was proper within the first place). I received LACUNA very simply, but additionally did not totally belief it as a result of LAH-DI-DAH that could be a fairly fancy vocabulary phrase for a Monday puzzle—though perhaps not as fancy as I believed: that is its third early-week look (out of 10 complete appearances within the Trendy Period). MOSCOW MULE and GODFATHERS have been gimmes. When each your longest Downs are gimmes, it is most likely gonna be a straightforward Downs-only resolve. And it was. Not one of the brief stuff gave me any hassle in any respect (to its credit score, the brief stuff is rock stable and nearly cringe-free).
- 31A: “Fuzzy Wuzzy ___ a bear …” (“WAS“) — that is an especially foolish clue for “WAS,” however I am into it. You possibly can’t do quite a bit with WAS, so why not pull up the randomest quote you possibly can consider? Manner higher than [“As I ___ saying…”], say.
- 41A: 2003 Will Ferrell Christmas film (ELF) — simply solved a puzzle the place this film was clued as one thing like [Buddy comedy of 2003?] and I believed that was actually intelligent (Buddy is the title of Ferrell’s character). Props to whoever’s puzzle that was (I am doing like 10 puzzles a day now, no means I am gonna be capable to keep in mind who did what).
- 50A: Like diamonds and calculus issues (HARD) — this felt condescending. Calculus isn’t all the time HARD. Nicely, math calculus is not. Non-math calculus (def. 3a, right here) = hardened mineral salts, so yeah, that’s … HARD, I assume, by definition.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
