Mini crossword link (free to play, account not mandatory): https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/mini
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54 seconds
Ha! 0:52! I am the greetest.
1:01
I have to say, I did not get the theme here at all. Had to fill in with crosses but still managed to get through it. Faster than my usual Thursday by about 7 minutes, though. Clue level seemed about right for a Thursday.
Spoilers
Some clunkier parts of the fill were GENII (boo), ONDVD (what year is it?) YKNOW. But the long ones had some character. LOTUSPOSE, IRONHORSE, ESPERANTO, REGATTA.
But even after finishing and then looking at the Wordplay blog to have the theme explained to me, it doesn’t really click. “Take Five” seemed like I should be deleting the fifth letter or something. There’s nothing there to indicate that we’re actually adding 5 letters, or that the five precede the answer. “ADD five” would make more sense, but that’s not really a saying. It didn’t help that the clue for TAKEFIVE was kind of weak. “Get some rest” seems much more like TAKEANAP. “Take five” means to take a quick, temporary break from the current activity, then get back to it…
Also, clue it with the Dave Brubeck Quartet song instead! It’s right there for the taking. “Paul Desmond-penned jazz standard”? Or simply “best selling jazz song of all time”? Or add in something about it being in quintuple meter (5/4)?
Man, this one was about 5 minutes slower than my average. The theme was kinda rough but got it eventually.
spoiler
Some really tough/wonky fill on this one, imo. ACE for “Whips through” still seems like a stretch to me. I guess the theme was supposed to be “take five (from the first one and add it to the next one)” but it was a little rough. Not sure I would have gotten it if it were about the jazz songs though :D
Lousy theme, and some of the fill was… what? The northwest corner was a slog.
CUTNOICE & EREWHON were so esoteric that I just gave up on them, and did the crossfill, but even with all the right fill, it didnt look right.
Spoiler
Yeah. Somehow I dredged up CUTNOICE from some recess of my mind, but EREWHON was crazy. Mitigated somewhat by the fact that i could guess the last few letters based on the “nowhere” clue. In general, though, if you’re going to give a clue this esoteric, at least make it more interesting so I learn something.
