But that was very minor as struggles go, and once I got traction, the puzzle became regular Tuesday-easy. banana.?") ( 1D: Symbol over the "i" in the Tropicana logo ( LEAF)). Weirdly struggled right out of the gate with this one, as I tried to make FINS work for 1A: Swimmer's set ( LAPS), and couldn't remember what the hell was on the Tropicana logo (". " YOINK!" may be my favorite answer in the whole thing, though I think of it more as a sound effect *accompanying* the snatching of something than the snatch itself. I had trouble parsing PUT-UP JOBS, but I have no objection to it. STORYBOOK and " I OWE YOU" are lovely (they sound like plausible Taylor SWIFT song titles, actually). The basic quality of the grid seems fine, even slightly better than your average Tuesday fare. If you're going to pay homage to an artist you like, you gotta do better than just list some hits. Again, from my perspective, Taylor SWIFT's talent (considerable, IMHO) is beside the point. The lack of real puzzleworthiness to this theme makes the whole thing seem like a publicity stunt-there's no doubt that social media is already *humming* with the buzz of adoring fans (as well as the grumping of non-fans and "kids these days" oldsters). ![]() If there were-if the revealer ( SWIFT) really snapped, or offered us anything besides merely literal explanation-it would be very easy to overlook, say, the odd placement of the revealer, or the non-symmetrical ("bonus"?) themers (since " PER" and " SOWN" are not Taylor SWIFT songs (that I know of.), " RED" and " BABE" are kind of left hanging out to dry. The *topic* is fine, but there is nothing *puzzle-worthy* in the theme execution. I mean, it's harmless-you can sort of enjoy it as a very easy themeless puzzle, which I imagine is how a lot of people enjoyed it-but I don't get how this passes muster as a NYTXW crossword puzzle. There's no wordplay, no cleverness, no nothing but a list of songs. ![]() I mean, if the themers were just Beatles songs and the revealer were merely THE BEATLES, people would be booing, not at the Beatles (well, mostly not at the Beatles), but at the weakness of the puzzle from a conceptual standpoint. If you love Taylor SWIFT and are thrilled to see all her songs here, just imagine this theme being done with an artist you don't like. I am in no way averse to the idea of a Taylor SWIFT-themed puzzle, but this ain't it. Its capital is Khartoum and its most populated city is Omdurman (part of the metropolitan area of Khartoum). It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011, since which both titles have been held by Algeria. ![]() It has a population of 45.70 million people as of 2022 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres (728,215 square miles), making it Africa's third-largest country by area, and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. Sudan ( English: / s uː ˈ d ɑː n/ or / s uː ˈ d æ n/ Arabic : السودان, romanized: as-Sūdān ), officially the Republic of the Sudan (Arabic: جمهورية السودان, romanized: Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān ), is a country in Northeast Africa. ![]() Word of the Day: SUDAN ( 40A: Formerly the largest country in Africa, but since 2011 the third-largest). DEAR JOHN (54A: *Start of a classic breakup letter).SHAKE IT OFF (41A: *Get over a minor injury, say).FEARLESS (20A: *Like daredevils, seemingly).THEME: Taylor SWIFT (49D: Taylor _, some of whose hit songs are featured in the answers to the starred clues) - that's it.
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