Pumpkin-carver from Newark advances in Food Network series
Pumpkin-carver Titus Arensberg of Newark survived the first two rainsoaked rounds of Season 2 of Food Network’s “Outrageous Pumpkins” to advance to next week’s show and a chance at winning a prize of $25,000.
Arensberg competed against six other pumpkin-carvers from around the country, including Cincinnati’s William Wilson, who also kept his place in the competition after one of the carvers was sent home.
The first round of the competition allotted the competitors three hours to carve a jack-o’-lantern triptych, with each contestant assigned a different nursery rhyme as a theme on which to spin a creepy variation.
Arensberg, who tackled “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” imagined a version of the narrative in which the spider was turned into a wolf spider — glued onto the pumpkin.
“In three hours, you were able to do so much work,” noted host Alyson Hannigan.
While judge Marc Evan complained that he wished to see a more credible water spout, he also noted, “You were able to show off your sculpting skills.”
Round 2 gave the contestants six hours to arrange at least five large pumpkins, and whatever other vegetables they could scrounge up, into an underwater terror scene, making sure to use classic cut-through techniques.
Arensberg created a Sea Floor Vacuum Creature, complete with vacuum hose arms, scrounging the ocean floor for dead fish souls hiding in pumpkins.
Evan praised Arensberg’s use of purple sweet potato pieces as teeth, but noted that the creature’s “eyes could have been carved out more finely,” while fellow judge Terri Hardin said, “You have impressive skills, but maybe you just need to streamline the story better.” margaretquamme@hotmail.com The next round of “Outrageous Pumpkins” will be shown at 10 p.m. Oct. 10 on Food Network and streaming on Discovery+.