Hello fellow xnerds. Bella here, making my debut into the world of crossword critiquing.
Current streak to date: 217
Today’s Time: 26:10 (which is about my average Wednesday solve time)
Looking back, I’m not sure why I couldn’t see the revealer. In my mind, I could only think of “Child Stars: Where are They Now?” The AHA moment came right at the end of my solving journey.
I felt like this whole grid was wreaking HAVOC on my mind. So many misdirections… DRAT for CRUD, WRITE for WROTE, GOES for GADS, OLGA for INGA (because I only read Frankenstein and never saw “Young Frankenstein” though I guess I should to bolster my crosswordese).
There were a few bad entries that really stuck out to me (SCHWA?? ENCLS??) But I guess the fill isn’t all horrible. I did like the timely appearance of FIRST SNOW, and I immediately wrote in CORN DOG, a favorite treat of my mother’s. But I will say the theme entries themselves are not exciting enough to warrant the sloggy fill of the grid. They are all normal phrases, but didn’t result in any joy from solving or make the solving any easier.
Here’s to hoping for a better Thursday ✌️
Solved this whilst wearing my ALDO shoes this morning on the way to work.
I liked the revealer, as I instantly thought of THEN AND NOW when imagining a documentary about Macaulay Culkin. Despite having my ego STROKED by an easy revealer, the puzzle was mostly meh for me. Loved SCHWA, don’t know what WASPISH or GADS actually mean. Though I suppose that now I do. Always knew Louie Armstrong as “Satchmo”, but I guess lazy people trimmed it down?
SHALOM!
I thought ALDO was a grocery store, so that corner took me a while… because I also thought HERA was the mother. And then for the longest time I had BRIBEBOSS because alliteration damn it!
I thought Satchmo was a boxer. Or Satchel Paige. Is Louis Armstrong a boxer? I thought he was a singer. I was very confused in that section. Also had WRITE, and CHAOS, and GDR, for more misdirection. And isn’t GCHAT still a thing?
Also could only think of “Where are they now”… until I saw GO – GET and DID – DO … CORNDOG also helped a great deal there! I’m glad I’m known for corndogs. And I’m glad Bella also properly categorized her entry ❣