Tuesday January 8th 2019, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 7:16
Tuesday Average: 13:22
Best Tuesday: 5:05

I doubt I’ll be the only one complaining about the answer GOLD RING clued as “Powerful object in ‘The Hobbit.’” If you ever played the Middle Earth card game, you’d know that more often than not, a ring is just a ring. Of course, when I read that clue I’m thinking The One Ring, or maybe generic rings of power, or maybe even a palantir.

Meanwhile, I love the goofiness of clueing ENNUI as a “Ho hum feeling.” It’s not wrong, I suppose, but it still makes me laugh in a good way.

For the theme, it seems that ABTRACT ART could be created using a BLANK CANVAS, a BLACK BOX, GRAY AREAS, a TAN LINE, a RED SQUARE, and a GOLD RING. I suppose that’s true.

I can’t remember coming across ARARAT before crosswords, but I imagine it’s quite a boon to constructors. 

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