WEDNESDAY’S PUZZLE — Do you ever feel jaded as a solver? Feel like you’ve seen ‘em all?
Even if you feel like you’ve BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, you might not want to skip today’s puzzle by Jim Peredo.
Today’s puzzle delayed its “Aha!” moment until the very last Across entry, where we were told that this common phrase might be found on a T-SHIRT. Also, six entries make their debuts today: GIVE ME THAT, HOOHAHS, HOW YOU BEEN, READ ON, UNABASHEDLY and a refreshing OCEAN BREEZE.
Clue of the Day for me was “Half an exorbitant fee?” for ARM, as in an ARM and a leg.”
Let’s not be so jaded that we forget to check in with Mr. Peredo:
Constructor’s Notes:
We’ve all heard the phrase “Been there, done that.” Typically, it means we’ve already experienced something and are bored by it or have no desire to experience it again. Care to relive your puberty years? Been there. Done that.
But did you know the phrase has Caesarian origins? That’s right, in a letter to the Roman Senate around 46 BC, the ever-witty Julius remarks about his victory over Pharnaces II of Pontus, “Veni, vidi, vici, accepi toga,” which, roughly translated, means, “I came, I saw, I conquered, I received the toga.” For some reason, history seems to have forgotten about that last bit — guess it doesn’t flow as well.
So, in the spirit of Caesar’s victory, I set about creating this puzzle. What I like best about it is that I was able to find four phrases that were very conversational in nature. I think that helped to link the theme entries together. In my head, I even imagined them as parts of an exchange between two friends meeting up once again (with one of them being an overzealous hand-shaker).
What I like least about it is the segmented sections in the NW and SE. If I were making this puzzle today, I would try to alleviate that. However, it did allow me to get an interesting corner in the NW with APEMEN, BONAMI and LUDWIG stacked nicely.
Unfortunately for me, most of my clues were changed. I take that to mean that I need to do better. My favorite of mine that got through was for 18-A [Half an exorbitant fee?]. But I was sad that [Beethoven's first] didn’t make it through for 17-A, and correspondingly, [Descartes' first] for 36-D. Oh well.
If this theme makes you think “Been There, Done That” — as in, you’ve already done a puzzle with this theme — you might be right. Liz Gorski used the exact same theme for her Feb. 25, 2014, Crossword Nation puzzle. But mine was accepted in January 2013, so you can see that they were each created independently. For me, it shows I’m on the right track if I’m thinking along the same lines as one of the greats!
Until next time, here’s hoping your solving experience is not the same old, same old!
We’ve been there, done the Wednesday puzzle. On to the next one!
Your thoughts?