Jonathan Kaufman author page
2 puzzles by Jonathan Kaufman
with Jeff Chen comments
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| S | W | O | R | N | L | E | A | F | S |
I CAN'T TELL.
WHAT IN THE HECK?
DON'T BE THAT WAY!
Talk about SPEAK ONE'S MIND! Love the conversational tone.
Themelesses heavy on 7-letter slots often don't have as much color as I expect. Longer-length slots have a higher percentage of multi-word entries, while 7-letter slots contain a ton of neutral material like PENCILS, PRESALE, PRIMERS.
However, Jonathan did a nice job of pushing his 7s, achieving reasonable pizzazz with CITADEL, KEYNOTE, ONLY NOW, YES LET'S. Most tack-on-a-preposition entries are dull, like LED INTO and TUNES IN, but RIDES UP is a standout, given its cluing potential. If only the clue had played on "boxers" getting "cramped," it would have been hilarious!
Much appreciation for the SLURP clue. Some previous uses of this entry didn't feel great, and this Asian slurped today's up.
Standout clue: [Ones unlikely to rule in your favor] had me spinning my wheels about various judges. No giveaway question mark, as in [Defense mechanisms?] (which refers to an oral defense that doctoral candidates must undergo). What a delight to piece together DESPOTS, who are most decidedly not going to rule in anyone's favor but their own.
It's difficult to squeeze enough juice out of a themeless mostly featuring 7-letter slots, but Jonathan did well to pack his six long slots with enough sparkle to help compensate.