That was a proper Thursday! I will say that I struggled for sure, but it was largely rewarding. The puzzle is credited to Natan Last and the JASA class. The Wordplay blog explains that this is
the crossword construction class he teaches for the Jewish Association Serving the Aged. J.A.S.A. provides services that support older New Yorkers and partners to build strong communities.
My one gripe, before some notes, is that - as often happens - the stupid NYT xword app had a very particular way that everything needed to be entered to register as complete. I had to try 3 or 4 different variations before I got it.
I thought the revealer worked well
A Freudian conception of impulse control, requiring you to pair the id and ego. I worked this out with the first cross that required a rebus: I knew “MAMA SAID there’d be days like these”, but there wasn’t room for that to fit. The crosses helped me figure out that it had to be ID crammed into one box, then I got “dish near the water cooler” had to be the Thursday-level alternative meaning of OFFICEGOSSIP, EGO overlapping with ID, Freud in the revealer, and we were off (after a struggle to piece all of that together).
But I tried IDEGO and EGOID in each box before I figured out that you only had to write in one or the other in the app, or apparently per Wordplay I could have also separated them with a slash. Still, annoying… But shouldn’t be held against the actual puzzle, which I really liked.
Otherwise I thought the fill was good, the clues witty and tough but fair for a Thursday, and some fun words. Like LISSOME, SEASLUG, and a great piece of trivia for RUBEGOLDBERG.
That was a proper Thursday! I will say that I struggled for sure, but it was largely rewarding. The puzzle is credited to Natan Last and the JASA class. The Wordplay blog explains that this is
My one gripe, before some notes, is that - as often happens - the stupid NYT xword app had a very particular way that everything needed to be entered to register as complete. I had to try 3 or 4 different variations before I got it.
I thought the revealer worked well
A Freudian conception of impulse control, requiring you to pair the id and ego. I worked this out with the first cross that required a rebus: I knew “MAMA SAID there’d be days like these”, but there wasn’t room for that to fit. The crosses helped me figure out that it had to be ID crammed into one box, then I got “dish near the water cooler” had to be the Thursday-level alternative meaning of OFFICEGOSSIP, EGO overlapping with ID, Freud in the revealer, and we were off (after a struggle to piece all of that together).
But I tried IDEGO and EGOID in each box before I figured out that you only had to write in one or the other in the app, or apparently per Wordplay I could have also separated them with a slash. Still, annoying… But shouldn’t be held against the actual puzzle, which I really liked.
Otherwise I thought the fill was good, the clues witty and tough but fair for a Thursday, and some fun words. Like LISSOME, SEASLUG, and a great piece of trivia for RUBEGOLDBERG.