"Marie Antoinette's Dog" (Cryptic Mini #000000099)

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• dilly 🤓21:10 · 2024-07-18T11:22:50.569Z

  Great as always, especially liked 7A, 8A, and 9D. Thanks!

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  • bob weisz costruttore · 2024-07-18T17:07:55.848Z

    Thank you! 8A is a personal favorite :)

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• Aaron Riccio 7:44 · 2024-07-18T16:50:00.215Z

  Had to check a stupid typo I made at 12D YOR instead of YER, alas. What an amazing entry at 8A; misdirects everywhere. Ditto for 9D! Two reverse letter banks (3D is particularly impressive). I very much liked [with all its tails chopped off] as a first-letter indicator, 13A's treatment of [Val Kilmer gutted] and [Clooney's last] was very smooth.

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  • bob weisz costruttore · 2024-07-18T23:12:08.054Z

    Thanks Aaron! 13A went through so many revisions... started out as an NBA-heavy clue, then I was gunning for a 90s Batman angle, which I largely dropped but kept the actors still :-). Glad you enjoyed!

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    • Aaron Riccio 7:44 · 2024-07-19T01:31:22.050Z

      I was thinking you could've ended it with something like [being in a Tom Cruise film], but yeah, Batman was the first thing that came to mind with those two :)

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      • bob weisz costruttore · 2024-07-19T06:19:11.921Z

        Oh yeah I thought about that one too! But wasn't sure if that particular feature had enough staying power in the cultural consciousness. Plus, the "Asgard" angle gave people a hint even if they weren't familiar with the franchise, which would've been real tough with the Tom Cruise approach.

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• CanterburyEgg 4:00 · 2024-07-18T20:56:35.892Z

  Very fun! Had to reveal 2D, couldn't get around to it being an abbreviation double-def. Loved 1A and 13A! Probably could have done without poopoo and peepee, especially given we had hoohahs and cabooses already, but maybe that's just me. :)

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  • bob weisz costruttore · 2024-07-19T17:41:50.959Z

    That's fair! In fact I just changed 2D to help with the abbr: [Many a home in NYC is inclined (3)] ... I wanted that one to an easy step into the puzzle! Thanks for the feedback :)

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• SporcleMirror 🤓7:24 · 2024-07-19T07:30:44.726Z

  I've been watching a ton of GothamChess on YouTube recently and I MASSIVELY overthought 3D with FIRSTRANK. Which felt odd because all the (white) pieces start on the first rank, not just knights. Nevermind that it's (9) and not (5, 4), I just completely glossed over that. So I couldn't see CISGENDER for a while even though I knew the apple product was CIDER. And then without even trying to figure out the wordplay, I thought the answer could end in BACK and figured that it was going to be a football position or something, with Knight being the last name of an NFL player, maybe. Yeah, that's how my crossword-solving mind works at times.

  I really liked how well hidden the definition is in 9D.

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  • dilly 🤓21:10 · 2024-07-19T11:56:20.083Z

    I thought 3D was FIRSTRANK for the longest time too! I was like "Knight's position when playing" is the def & something something wordplay. I think the letter bank wordplay was unfamiliar to me, so I couldn't exactly parse it either way, so my mind defaulted to chess, lack of (5, 4) notwithstanding.

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