I’ll be thinking about this theme all day. How did I never notice that RIB ROAST and CRAP SHOOT’s parts were synonyms? Those were by far my faves, but I also really got a kick out of reconsidering GOT CAUGHT, POTHEAD, and DROP KICK. I wish I hadn't found the final part of this (the SW) so unpleasantly frustrating, because I really do believe the bones of this puzzle are solid, and there are definitely some brilliant cluing moments in here. Had EDIE before EVIE (57A: Nickname that sounds like its first two letters), though I did not have EDS before EVS (35D: Chevy Bolts and Nissan Leafs, for short). I have trouble believing RAGE ROOMS are real because they seem so stupid-seems like a fictional idea from a bad TV show that people started pretending was real-but reality is so often stupid these days, so, sure, RAGE ROOMS, whatever ( 32D: Spaces where people pay to destroy household objects with sledgehammers). It's definitely the name for those things you wash dishes with, but I think I just call them "dishwashing pads" or I don't call them anything. Weird to me that SOAP PAD is a thing since I don't think I've ever called it that ( 20A: Brillo offering). Struggled with LUM, even though every part of her damn name(s) has been in the puzzle before (most often cluing NORA, I think) ( 31A: Nora _ a.k.a. I resent being stumped by a "?" clue and then having the answer be a damned corporation, so the clue on MICRO, though clever, can go jump in a lake ( 8A: Soft opening?). I was subjected to SUH-WEET again (twice this month?!), but fool me once etc. It's too bad that the long Downs are tangled in a bunch of ambiguous sludge, because they're fine, particularly GOING ONCE (29D: Presale alert?), which is maybe not the greatest standalone answer, but the "?" clue (again, hard as hell) works really well, and gave me that same "oh nice" feeling I had after getting ARM HAIR. But this is its third appearance in the NYTXW, so I guess it's a thing. SAW TO before SET TO down there as well ( 58A: Got busy on). It's really hard to get excited when the you are struggling *and* so much of your struggle is coming around answers that are ambiguous in this way-a CRAPSHOOT kind of way. See also GAH, which I had as UGH and BAH before getting anywhere near GAH (44A: "Blast!"). This is one of those _SAT phrases where I have no idea what's supposed to happen in the blank. There's ERHU, sure, but it crosses HITS AT (37A: Tries to swat). So even though I think this theme rules, my experience was more slog than joyride. Unfortunately, it's also the corner with the most unpleasantness / unlikeable things. or at least an amplifying effect, helping to make the SW corner the hardest section By A Longshot, such that it is almost all I remember. But it's never been in the NYTXW before, and my knowledge of Chinese stringed instruments begins and ends with the zither and the KOTO (the first and only thing I wanted, despite its having many more than two strings). It's a real thing alright, and not a bygone one either. This is not a knock on the validity of ERHU. that kind of difficulty is less thrilling. Difficulty that comes from a two-string instrument I don't know and have no hope in hell of spelling. When difficulty ends with a revelation like *that*, I'm thrilled. Just a great repurposing of a familiar phrase. I sincerely thought "damn, that's good," in the moment, as I was solving. Scratch that "had to admit" sounds like I was grudging, and I wasn't. But then I worked some crosses and finally got it, and after being so mad at that clue. I had the ARM part and still no bleeping idea. Let me talk about toughness I loved, first: that clue on ARM HAIR (22D: Tricep curls?). Weirdly, ended up being mostly overshadowed by other, tougher parts of the puzzle-by toughness in general, and a toughness that was achieved. I discovered the gimmick early (not hard) and. Well the theme is really clever and I admire it a whole bunch. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. The erhu ( Chinese: 二胡 pinyin: èrhú ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a Southern Fiddle, and is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle. Word of the Day: ERHU ( 28D: Two-stringed Chinese instrument). THEME: Double duty - familiar compound words & two-word phrases are clued "_ / _," with the blank being a potential synonym for both parts of the words / phrases:
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