Erika Ettin author page
2 puzzles by Erika Ettin
with Jeff Chen comments
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Such a fresh concept! "Words for DAY in different languages" is novel enough to be noticeable, and the wordplay in LET'S CALL IT A DAY makes this one memorable. Red-letter DAY for Erika!
There's something about DAGNABBIT that makes it so much fun to say. Great themer selection.
TAGS ALONG is better than a lot of "add-a-preposition" phrases.
DENTIST works, although editors tend to pooh-pooh single-word themers.
DIAMOND WEDDING is a valid term — in British English, at least. I don't know that I'd call it themer-worthy, since DIAMOND anniversary is so much more common here. Perhaps DIAMOND JUBILEE would have sparkled more.
While the shaded squares did their job, it would have been more elegant to use theme phrases that isolated the foreign words; entries like TAG YOU'RE IT, DEN OF THIEVES, DAG HAMMARSKJOLD. Entries like these can add so much color, too, especially for us weirdly obsessed with the United Nations.
I enjoyed all the snazzy bonuses in the fill. TESLA COIL is an amusing way to think of the mess Elon Musk has made with Twitter. Talk about SHADINESS.
Although NOT ONE IOTA is great fill, it sure confused me, wondering in which language NOT means DAY. Not one, as i-ota have known. That's a danger with such long Across fill, especially when it overshadows shorties like DENTIST.
I loved the theme concept. With some adjustments in execution, this could easily have been a POW! pick.
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Drum (roll) please ... It's time to play NAME … THAT … THEME!
1.) PRIVATE EYE
Letter homophones! EYE, YOU, SEE—
2.) PAY IT FORWARD
Uh … hold on—
3.) HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Whaaa? Wait, I got it! Private + pay + hotel = Donald Trump!
Bzzt!
4.) HIDDEN CAMERA
C, I told U it was Donald Trump!
Bzzt bzzt bzzzzzt!!!
I enjoy getting stumped, when there's a reasonable chance I could have figured it out. EYE roll, FORWARD roll, CALIFORNIA roll, CAMERA roll—let's ROLL WITH IT (add ROLL to a word) indeed!
It's not as satisfying as an earlier ROLL puzzle, because this one boils down to "words that can precede X," a theme type that's at the end of its life cycle. There are so many types of rolls — barrel roll, egg roll, jelly roll, crescent roll, rainbow roll, and on they roll — that it's too easy to produce dozens of themer possibilities.
Still, I enjoyed the phrases Erika picked. PRIVATE EYE is great, PAY IT FORWARD is a beautiful sentiment, HOTEL CALIFORNIA such an earworm, HIDDEN CAMERA no doubt laden with imagery.
It's a shame that there's no long bonus fill. Getting rid of the black square between OBIE/SETS and/or EVE/OLAF and/or PLAYA/ANNE is usually a reasonable way to achieve that.
Last time PLAYA appeared in a crossword, I heard much consternation that it "wasn't something I should have to know." I understand how annoying it is when a crossword makes you feel stupid — happens to me all the time (and not just because I am stupid) — but PLAYA is a real word, and it's in place names like PLAYA del Rey. That said, crossing it with two toughies in UPCS and TARO does seem unfair.
I love "clue echoes," when the same clue is used in different ways. [Popular berry] and [Popular Berry] for ACAI and HALLE, that's a winner!
Entertaining debut offering; I enjoy when Name That Theme beats me fair and square. Sigh, I was on such a roll.