Sunday, March 21, 2021

Monday, March 22, 2021, Daniel Grinberg

Today's revealer is the title of Stephen King's novel, FIRESTARTER - and the first part of each theme answer could be used to do just that: MATCHBOXCAR, FLINTMICHIGAN, TINDERPROFILE. While I never read King's book, I did see the movie that was based on it. According to IMDB, its tagline was "If you get on her bad side...YOU'RE TOAST - ha. I also noticed that the movie was followed by a made-for-TV sequel called "Firestarter 2: Rekindled." Those writers were on a hot streak. 

As I solved I noticed first an X - then another X, then a V, a Y, a K, a W, and finally a Q and I thought we might have a pangram puzzle on our hands, but no, every letter UPTO but not including Z.  However, the clue at 61D specifically mentioned the letter Z ("Point for a 'Z' in Scrabble") so maybe that kinda sorta counts?

24A: SAAB
Ursaab, the prototype for the Saab 92 – Saab's first automobile

I've been known to enjoy a language class and have studied more than a few SYNTAXES in my time. I liked the C/AP's "Submitted a resume" (APPLIED) and BITOFF for "Removed with the teeth" - you don't come across that definition every day. WARBLE and FREAKED are nice fill and "Band aid" for AMP was amusing. 

I  noticed a few sets like the door parts JAMBS and KNOB, also LPS at the top right and CDS at the bottom right, not to mention, AMI, HENRI, and EAU. Maybe the constructor likes playing with matches. 

~Frannie 

2 comments:

  1. Cute theme and cute review. And it is kind of funny that he added a Z in the clue for the very last Down answer. I wonder if that was intentional?

    And what about that SAAB?!?

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  2. A fine theme. I thought it was going much faster until I finished and looked at the time (6:19), which is slow for a Monday for me. I must say I never read the book FIRESTARTER or saw the movie. I suppose I'd probably enjoy both to a certain extent. Sue loves SEQUINS, as they're sparkly. Funny that EROTIC crosses TINDERPROFILE.

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