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Swarm of Bees

by bewilderingly

As you've probably noticed, I'm experimenting with adding images to the beginnings of my reviews. The thought is that having the completed crossword alongside the text will help with the longevity of these posts, since if you're not there to solve the crossword the words are otherwise meaningless. Let me know what you think! Anyway, on to the normal review.

Oh boy is Puzzmo not giving me a break with the crossword lately. Today's was obscenely difficult. And I don't say that frivolously. There are some clues in this grid that are absolutely devilish, wordplay without the question mark that preserves just the barest thread of meaning.

Here, let me give you an example: "Bring to a tidy conclusion" (SEWUP). If you didn't fill TIEUP as your first answer I don't believe you. This clue is easily deserving of a question mark, or at least a "perhaps". My sewing is anything but tidy.

I'm not sure there's a theme here. I mean, there certainly are a lot of B's ("Swarm of Bees", by the way). But what do DUBBLEBUBBLE and BABYBACKRIBS have to do with one another? As far as I can tell, nothing. That's not to discount the impressive feat of starting every clue with a B, even if I didn't notice it until I read the post-solve description. I blame puzzle-induced tunnel vision.

I tried to be strategic with my hint usage, but you can't really blame me for feeling constantly tempted with clues like "Babushka, Yiddish-style" and "'But I'm a Cheerleader' director Jamie". I got lucky in that both of my hints were instantly attainable and helped me fill in some critical letters for BABYBACKRIBS. If anything I should've hinted earlier.

BBQRUB for "Brisket flavoring" is so non-specific it almost feels wrong. Not TENDER or SAVORY or CRISPY. Just BBQRUB. Nice. Has the constructor eaten a Brisket before? If it only tastes like BBQRUB I feel sorry for them.

"Baseball club" BAT also has me reeling in disbelief. If a bat is used for baseball, doesn't that disqualify it as a "club" because it isn't used as a weapon? Like, a baseball bat becomes a "club" in application, otherwise it's just a baseball bat. Look, I'm just trying to justify my time here, help me out.

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