Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Grid

by Will Eisenberg

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• Difficulty: medium

Awesome puzzle today, packed full of wordplay.

I cruised the top half of the grid, plonking BRASSTACKS almost immediately. The bottom half was a little more difficult, my first pass came up short with only a few answers. Once I figured out the WIND in WINDENERGY I went down a train of crosses, revealing STRINGBEAN and finishing out the grid.

The theme is OK, though I didn't need it for the solve. Each of BRASSTACKS, WINDENERGY, and STRINGBEAN include a section of an orchestra: BRASS, WIND, and STRING. I appreciate that the letters weren't circled like in yesterday's "Fire Safety"; I wonder how the editors determine whether a categorical theme highlights its categories? Maybe it has something to do with difficulty.

Speaking of difficulty, I rated this one a medium even though my time would normally tag it as easy. My reasoning has to do with the amount of wordplay, and today's puzzle is absolutely packed to the brim. "Got lippy?" (KISSED), "Forward thinker?" (SEER), "High-quality snack?" (EDIBLE), you get the idea. There's also some clever misdirects that aren't marked with a question mark: "Sit in a celler, say" (AGE). This stuff rules.

Before I was chasing the timer for a good score, I used to challenge myself with wordplay clues by trying to solve them with as few crosses as possible. Clearly not the best way to solve a crossword, but it's a fun twist to puzzle out a clue like it's a riddle.

YOUDO strikes close to home because it's exactly the sort of non-question that I ask my partner to the point of aggravation. "Is it?" "Think so?" "Is that right?" I've got a penchant for annoying questions, what can I say. Although, in the case of "Question I might ask in shock after hearing someone say 'I hate Star Wars'" I'd probably lean more towards the "Honestly, that makes total sense." Let's be real, those prequals are rough.

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