11/10, no notes

by Ken Stern

• Play it ↗
• Difficulty: hard

I was paged at 5AM this morning for something that ended up being nothing. What better time to start the crossword? Now I'm left wondering whether this crossword is actually hard or it's just my lack of early-morning cognitive abilities. Probably both. Actually, it's just hard.

One failed attempt to go back to sleep later, here I am writing this review. This crossword kicked my butt!

There's no way I could've solved this crossword without hints, it's absolutely brimming with pop culture esoterica. Here are a few of the proper nouns required in this puzzle:

• Viola Davis: apparently there's such a thing as an EGOT, which is winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Who knew?

• Anika NONI Rose: won a Tony for Caroline, or Change in 2004.

• LONI Anderson: WKRP in Cincinnati is a sitcom from the late 70s.

• Tony Bennett: I'm assuming the clue references the album Love for Sale which is a collaborative album with Lady Gaga. How about that?

• Isaac Hayes: Black Moses is a 1971 American soul album.

Some of the clues in this puzzle feel like trivia night at my local brewery, where the venn diagram of "plays bingo for fun" and "knows the answers to these questions" is a complete circle. A little bit before my time, I'd say.

Despite my qualms with the trivia, most of the cluing in this puzzle is interesting and enjoyable. "Summer sign?" (SIGMA) is a personal favorite of mine. Who doesn't love some math wordplay? I also liked "It might be hair raising" (STATIC), "Loooong list" (LITANY), among others.

This puzzle reminds me that I loathe Puzzmo's anagram hints. It frustrates me to no end when I ask for help and get back a synonym and a word salad: "Padded envelope that anagrams to 'Elmira'". What the heck is an Elmira?

Send your comments to [email protected].