Author: | Joel Fagliano |
Editor: | Will Shortz |
I keep a notebook in my backpack that's filled with scribbled half-themes. One day I was leafing through and noticed the line "The Anagrammys" and this theme sprung from there. It wasn't until late in the game when Frank Longo pointed out these weren't all Grammy-winners, as two of them were only nominated but never won. So we switched to the current title, which I think still captures the idea pretty well.
The fill here started with those long downs cutting through three themers (SPOILER ALERT and LETTER OPENER) and then I focused on making those stacked sevens in the middle lively and clean.
In the clues, I'm always happy when I can find a new angle on a familiar crossword answer. So while the IMAC clue was a little long-winded, I think it provides a little more fun than usual. As a poker player, I was happy to get that fresh angle on OUT, as well.
Neat concept, playing on MUSICAL REMIXES to anagram musicians / musical groups into funny phrases. It's neat that Joel went an extra step by keeping all the anagrams musically-oriented.
People sometimes ask why I say that creating a Sunday 140 word puzzle is so much harder than a weekday 78 word puzzle. To start off, if you simply scaled up a 15x15 78 word puzzle, you'd end up with a 21x21 puzzle containing 153 words. Wait — 153 words is a whole lot more than 140, isn't it?
Well, yes it is (I do good at maths). That means you have a whole lot fewer black squares to deploy than you might want, and that many more of your fill entries are going to have to cross multiple themers.
Take the lower left corner. In a weekday 78-word puzzle, you'd be able to separate GENIAL ROCK and NURSES SONG more. Toss in a black square at the S of STEWIE, perhaps. Much easier to fill! But if you do that in this 21x grid, you have to take a black square out somewhere else to compensate. Do you see any easy ones to remove? I don't. Joel manages to get this corner filled without using any short glue, which is impressive, and also gives us ON PATROL and REASSURE, two good entries.
In the opposite corner though, I'm not a huge fan of CLOSE CUT (FLAT TOP seems better to me) or AXILLARY (yikes, not just AXILLA, but AXILLARY!). It's still impressive that Joel doesn't have to resort to short ugly gluey bits, but these long guys don't exactly sing, to my ear anyway.
Overall, it's impressive that Joel can keep his high level of quality, avoiding the usual short cruddy entries necessary to hold a grid together. And although some of the mid to longer entries didn't wow me, I did love seeing such colorful answers as SAG AWARD, WINE RACK, even OOCYTE and ISRAEL with its interesting piece of trivia [Jacob's name after he wrestled with the angel]. Even if a thing like PAINT POT isn't familiar to you, it's fun to see something you don't run across every day.
1 S | 2 P | 3 L | 4 A | 5 T | 6 A | 7 S | 8 T | 9 I | 10 H | 11 A | 12 S | 13 P | 14 S | 15 J | 16 A | 17 C | 18 K |
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19 L | E | A | S | H | 20 I | P | A | D | 21 O | V | A | R | Y | 22 A | X | L | E |
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23 I | N | D | I | E | 24 C | L | O | N | E | 25 C | E | L | I | N | 26 E | D | I | O | N |
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27 P | A | Y | D | A | Y | 28 I | S | A | 29 A | K | 30 M | O | D | E | L | S | ||||
31 E | R | R | 32 O | L | 33 S | T | E | 34 P | 35 D | A | D | S | 36 L | E | 37 N |
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38 H | 39 A | 40 M | 41 M | I | X | E | 42 D | 43 M | Y | H | A | T | 44 L | A | C | Y |
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45 U | S | E | 46 M | Y | L | Y | R | I | 47 C | 48 M | I | L | E | 49 Y | 50 C | Y | R | U | S |
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51 R | A | R | E | 52 A | N | O | 53 M | A | L | Y | 54 O | O | C | Y | T | E |
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55 R | U | C | H | 56 E | 57 O | L | E | M | I | S | S | 58 M | U | T | E | |||||
59 A | N | Y | 60 W | 61 I | N | E | R | A | C | K | 62 L | O | T | 63 U | 64 S | 65 S | ||||
66 H | I | M | 67 A | E | S | T | R | O | 68 A | E | R | O | 69 S | M | I | T | 70 H |
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71 T | E | N | 72 R | O | T | 73 P | 74 A | 75 I | N | T | P | O | T | 76 B | A | A |
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77 N | 78 E | A | P | 79 M | A | M | M | O | T | H | 80 P | 81 O | E | T | S |
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82 A | 83 R | 84 O | U | S | E | 85 C | A | R | C | A | R | E | 86 A | R | I | A |
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87 G | E | N | I | A | L | 88 R | O | C | K | 89 C | A | R | 90 O | 91 L | 92 E | K | I | N | G |
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93 R | A | P | T | 94 A | L | A | R | 95 M | 96 K | O | R | E | A | 97 A | G | O |
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98 A | S | A | 99 S | 100 A | G | A | W | A | R | 101 D | 102 P | O | T | T | 103 S | |||||
104 S | T | 105 E | W | I | E | 106 N | I | O | 107 B | E | 108 O | C | T | 109 O | 110 P | 111 I |
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112 N | U | R | S | E | S | S | 113 O | 114 N | G | 115 G | U | N | 116 S | N | R | O | S | E | S |
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117 P | R | O | P | 118 L | O | U | I | E | 119 I | S | E | E | 120 O | N | T | A | P |
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121 R | E | L | Y | 122 E | N | T | E | R | 123 T | Y | R | A | 124 W | E | E | K | S |
Across | Down | |
1. Paintball sound : SPLAT 6. City between Turin and Genoa : ASTI 10. Padlocks lock them : HASPS 15. Nothing, slangily : JACK 19. Spot check? : LEASH 20. ___ Air : IPAD 21. Egg producer : OVARY 22. Drivetrain part : AXLE 23. Alternative band that sounds like every other alternative band? : INDIECLONE 25. #1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of 23-Across : CELINEDION 27. Check time : PAYDAY 28. "Wicked Game" singer Chris : ISAAK 30. Showroom display : MODELS 31. Documentarian Morris : ERROL 33. They're new to the family : STEPDADS 36. Mystery writer Deighton : LEN 38. Deli order : HAM 41. Like some drinks and emotions : MIXED 43. "Nonsense!" : MYHAT 44. Full of frills : LACY 45. Invitation for musical plagiarism? : USEMYLYRIC 48. #1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of 45-Across : MILEYCYRUS 51. Like first editions, often : RARE 52. Quirk : ANOMALY 54. Cell in a 21-Across : OOCYTE 55. Frilly trim : RUCHE 57. Rebels' school : OLEMISS 58. Remote possibility? : MUTE 59. "... ___ other name would smell as sweet": Juliet : ANY 60. Cellar setup : WINERACK 62. Good deal : LOT 63. Carrier letters : USS 66. Greeting to a conductor? : HIMAESTRO 68. #1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of 66-Across : AEROSMITH 71. Till bill : TEN 72. Turn to mush : ROT 73. Acrylic container : PAINTPOT 76. Welcome to the fold? : BAA 77. Tide type : NEAP 79. Enormous : MAMMOTH 80. Coffeehouse entertainers : POETS 82. Excite : AROUSE 85. Oil change, brake test, etc. : CARCARE 86. Performance often in Italian : ARIA 87. Friendly music genre? : GENIALROCK 89. #1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of 87-Across : CAROLEKING 93. Spellbound : RAPT 94. It's often set at night : ALARM 96. Kimchi is its national dish : KOREA 97. See 124-Across : AGO 98. Botanist Gray : ASA 99. Alternative to an Oscar : SAGAWARD 102. Pepper ___, Iron Man's love interest : POTTS 104. "Family Guy" baby : STEWIE 106. Mythical weeper : NIOBE 108. Sea creatures with beaks : OCTOPI 112. Part of a hospital playlist? : NURSESSONG 115. #1 Billboard artist that's an anagram of 112-Across : GUNSNROSES 117. Play thing : PROP 118. Emmy-nominated FX comedy : LOUIE 119. "Ohhh, O.K." : ISEE 120. Ready for use : ONTAP 121. Count (on) : RELY 122. Punch in : ENTER 123. Banks with a lot of money : TYRA 124. With 97-Across, back some time : WEEKS |
1. Make a mistake : SLIP 2. Enrique ___ Nieto, Mexican president elected in 2012 : PENA 3. Word after leading or cleaning : LADY 4. Digression : ASIDE 5. Private sector? : THEARMY 6. Hurt : AIL 7. Caution in a movie review, maybe : SPOILERALERT 8. Whips : TANS 9. "___ are like beards; men do not have them until they grow up": Voltaire : IDEAS 10. Face wear for Jason Voorhees in "Friday the 13th" : HOCKEYMASK 11. Old greeting : AVE 12. ___ acetosella (KHC2O4) : SAL 13. Human, for one : PRIMATE 14. Church council : SYNOD 15. Light blue-green : JADE 16. Armpit-related : AXILLARY 17. Like military hairstyles : CLOSECUT 18. Actor Jeong of "The Hangover" : KEN 24. Saint with an alphabet named after him : CYRIL 26. Newsroom workers, for short : EDS 29. Twenty something? : ATM 32. California school attended by Obama, familiarly : OXY 34. N.L. East team, to fans : PHILS 35. New Year's Eve host Carson : DALY 37. Org. with a closing bell : NYSE 38. Triumphant cry : HURRAH 39. Together : ASAUNIT 40. "Heavens!" : MERCYME 42. Dough used for tortillas, maybe : DINERO 44. Aristotle's school : LYCEUM 46. "Whatever" : MEH 47. Head case? : COMA 49. "Et tu?" : YOUTOO 50. Bunkhouse feature : COT 53. Karaoke need : MIC 56. Maa in "Babe," e.g. : EWE 57. Leading : ONTOP 58. Turn (into) : MORPH 61. Jacob's name after he wrestled with the angel : ISRAEL 62. Makeshift weapon in a murder mystery : LETTEROPENER 64. Epitome of desolateness : SIBERIA 65. Making known : STATING 67. ___ coeptis (phrase on the back of a dollar bill) : ANNUIT 68. Hooded jacket : ANORAK 69. Nascar sponsor : STP 70. Tries : HASAGO 73. Figure in a Yogi Bear cartoon : PARKRANGER 74. "The Walking Dead" channel : AMC 75. Computer that sounds like a theater when pluralized : IMAC 78. That: Sp. : ESA 79. Noisy talker : MACAW 81. Virginia's ___ Hill Academy, alma mater of 20+ N.B.A. players : OAK 82. Taj Mahal city : AGRA 83. Comfort : REASSURE 84. Keeping the beat? : ONPATROL 85. ___ wars : COLA 88. Persists, as a forest fire : RAGESON 90. Spanish gold : ORO 91. Reveal : LETON 92. Lose face : EATCROW 95. Hosp. procedure : MRI 99. Winter Olympics powerhouse: Abbr. : SWE 100. Congressional divider : AISLE 101. Loaf : DOGIT 103. Something skipped : STONE 105. Spot : ESPY 107. Ornate : BUSY 109. Bone: Prefix : OSTE 110. Hit a high point : PEAK 111. AT&T and Comcast, for short : ISPS 112. "Science Friday" airer : NPR 113. Unseen winning card, in poker lingo : OUT 114. Never, in Berlin : NIE 116. Limitless quantity : SEA |
Answer summary: 12 unique to this puzzle, 3 debuted here and reused later, 3 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.
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