The theme answers today should have the word "down" added at the end to make them work perfectly, as in 3D: Headline after a toddler C.E.O. resigns, literally?" (BABYSTEPS (down)). Answers like THERESTHERUB (14D: "For a massage, go that way!," literally?) could work without the "down," but most of the others kind of need it to make sense. Like 77D: One answer to the question "What's your favorite music genre," literally? (JAZZHANDS (down)). It's a little tortured, but it's fine.
Things I did not know before today:
AMARNA = Where cuneiform was discovered.
NOLITA = Manhattan neighborhood next to the Lower East Side
ICET = Potrayer of TV's Det. Fin Tutola
ASHLAR = Squared building stone
THEFBI = 1960s-'70s police drama
NEWT = Seventh-year exam in Harry Potter
EGAN = Jennifer who wrote "Manhattan Beach"
SWEDEN = First country to legalize changing one's gender identity (1972) - Wow!
But even with all that (and a few others), the solve was not unduly long.
I would like to point out the following clues:
68A: Hole foods? (DONUTS)
41A: Where one might be well-suited (MENSSHOP)
the amusingly odd
1D: Embarrassment for an art curator (FAKE)
the very tricky
102D: Quote from a letter (RENT)
and my favorite
93D: Barbie attender (AUSSIE)
Good stuff.
And how about the risqué BADASS (60D: Total baller). I'm not sure how that one slipped by the censors!
Frannie takes over today. I'm not sure if she's going to write anything about today's puzzle, so I guess I'd better put in an image.
TATA!
- Horace
I did not understand the theme at all until I finished the whole puzzle, and looked it over (which I guess says something about how quickly I finished it, well below average time for a Sunday). But once I got it, I actually laughed out loud over several of the answers. My favorites are ELEGANTLYPUT[DOWN] and JAZZHANDS[DOWN]. Excellent stuff.
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