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Themeless #18

◆◆ · By SporcleMirror · Published 2024-07-08T19:35:17.975Z

I think this puzzle has more Saturday-style trickery than my average themeless. You've been warned.
My first (and most likely only, for a long time) shot at a themeless with an open middle and minimal amount of 3s (just 4). This required some fill compromises (I really, really DO NOT like the "Odd Job" answer at 39A - explanation in comments). 34D isn't exactly sparkling fill, either. Besides the middle, the 5x5 NE/SW corners also turned out to be hard to fill cleanly.
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Comments

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  • Sendhil Revuluri 🤓6:26 · 2024-07-08T20:54:33.258Z
    Very nice, and challenging! Some nice mid-length entries (9D was a good one), very clever cluing (45A was probably my favorite; 5D was also nice), diverse range of content, some new things to learn (like 41D & 6D & 52A), all with minimal glue (11D may be the only one that I see). Only two nits: I’m not sure I’d say “time” is inverse to frequency (wavelength or period, maybe); and I didn’t love 1A (though I see the wordplay).
  • SporcleMirror constructor · 2024-07-08T19:47:24.698Z
    Odd Job: A Rex Parker-ism (https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2006/12/saturday-dec-9-2006-robert-h-wolfe.html) for a "verb + -ER" kind of answer that barely even looks like an actual word. UNDOER? Ugh. Also, I had to use RUNTIEST because the alternatives were all RUN phrases that would lead to crossing RUNs with RUNDEEP.
    Feel free to ask about specific clues if you need any clarifications. I'll mention just a few:
    ERASER - (MS) Paint
    DETAILS - Not SECONDS, "miNUTE" is an adjective here
    TERRORS - Not TREMORS, quaking in fear
    OMANI - What's interesting here is that there's a small portion of Oman entirely surrounded by the UAE, and it contains a tiny bit of UAE land, creating a weird nesting doll of enclaves within enclaves. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJSdYCkoWk&list=PLyXor-IbFvGR37eL0G4eSwO9GczeUcY89&index=3
    • Sendhil Revuluri 🤓6:26 · 2024-07-09T16:38:38.027Z
      Looking up Madha afterwards, I found this description of the two remaining "second-order enclaves"…
    • kurtalert 🤓9:04 · 2024-07-09T21:06:04.525Z
      This was really good- definitely some clever cluing in here. Thank you!
      • kieranjboyd 🤓9:13 · 2024-07-09T21:55:35.123Z
        I enjoyed it!
        Play today's daily mini crossword
        1A
        Chicks may gather around one
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        8
        9
        10
        11
        12
        13
        14
        15
        16
        17
        18
        19
        20
        21
        22
        23
        24
        25
        26
        27
        28
        29
        30
        31
        32
        33
        34
        35
        36
        37
        38
        39
        40
        41
        42
        43
        44
        45
        46
        47
        48
        49
        50
        51
        52
        53
        54
        55
        56
        57
        Across
        1. 1A
          Chicks may gather around one
        2. 5A
          Follow imperatives
        3. 9A
          Kind of rugby play
        4. 14A
          Rid of data
        5. 15A
          Conductor in a circuit
        6. 16A
          Word before "song" or "park"
        7. 17A
          "No idea"
        8. 19A
          Feet in a meter
        9. 20A
          Says "...or else!" to, say
        10. 21A
          They cause quaking
        11. 23A
          Skinny
        12. 24A
          Extra for the extra-diligent
        13. 25A
          Over-seen, maybe
        14. 27A
          Do some art work
        15. 28A
          Top gear?
        16. 29A
          Wave catcher without a board
        17. 33A
          ___ Escape (technically inappropriately-titled game series that involves catching monkeys)
        18. 34A
          Have a significant impact
        19. 35A
          City whose full name includes a month
        20. 36A
          McDonaldland villain with a portmanteau name
        21. 38A
          Wavy 'do
        22. 39A
          One ruining things
        23. 40A
          What you try to get by lying
        24. 41A
          Golden agers
        25. 44A
          Tear's partner
        26. 45A
          Bond order
        27. 46A
          Sensation from a really, really good song, in slang
        28. 49A
          Stan
        29. 50A
          "I'm not amused", sarcastically
        30. 52A
          Big Ben in the UK?
        31. 53A
          Get working?
        32. 54A
          Legend's legendary achievement
        33. 55A
          All thumbs
        34. 56A
          One may target saps
        35. 57A
          Creator of Peter and Lois
        Down
        1. 1D
          Sink : fail = ____ : succeed
        2. 2D
          t in a physics test, usually
        3. 3D
          "Get out of bed already!"
        4. 4D
          Minute parts
        5. 5D
          Young parliament member
        6. 6D
          Propic go-withs
        7. 7D
          EMT workplaces
        8. 8D
          The past
        9. 9D
          Bob Marley hit with the lyric "Your recipe, darling, is so tasty"
        10. 10D
          Like some arranged flights
        11. 11D
          Give a second swabbing
        12. 12D
          Shadowy region in an eclipse
        13. 13D
          Like some buns
        14. 18D
          One chain by one furlong, per the traditional definition
        15. 22D
          Paint tool that turns everything white
        16. 24D
          Bamboozles
        17. 25D
          Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was the last one
        18. 26D
          Tortilla de patatas, for one
        19. 27D
          Its mouth is at a place called Banana (...yes, really)
        20. 29D
          That one person in a group project who does absolutely nothing, e. g.
        21. 30D
          Descriptor on some egg cartons
        22. 31D
          Endonym for a Dubliner
        23. 32D
          Victory against an underdog, perhaps
        24. 34D
          Most undersized
        25. 37D
          Sightseer's ride, often
        26. 38D
          Really annoys, hyperbolically
        27. 40D
          Bit of medieval workforce
        28. 41D
          Inhabitant of the enclave of Madha, which is completely surrounded by the UAE
        29. 42D
          Like a jackass at work
        30. 43D
          Herd... or herded
        31. 44D
          ____ Manor (residence above the Batcave)
        32. 46D
          Shows lack of interest by saying "I could care less", say
        33. 47D
          Gunk in artworks of the Pokémon Cubchoo
        34. 48D
          Columbus' belief that the earth was flat, e. g.
        35. 51D
          Glace in a different state
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