0:34:46
Einstein quote: "Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
Not sure I completely agree with that, but whatever.
I'm a francofile and I don't even like the answer ABBE (15A: French cleric). The very next across, however, CAPN (16A: Superior of a bos'n) pretty much made up for it. I don't know why, but that clue and answer made me smile. Maybe because it made me think of Cap'n Crunch cereal... Nice to see cerium and samarium getting a shout out as rare EARTHS (22A: Cerium and samarium are rare ones) - I like it when I learn something new from doing a puzzle. Now if I can remember those two elements, I'll be even happier. I might remember cerium, as it was named after Ceres (the planet and the goddess, I guess), and who doesn't like astronomy and/or Classical mythology? And speaking of that, it's always nice to picture a nice crown of LAUREL (23A: Classic prize), isn't it? A RHODO is a (29A: Showy bloom, to flower enthusiasts)? Who knew? Is it really just short for rhododendron? Lame. SARA (60A: "_____ Smile" (1976 top 5 hit)) Really? Wow.
Doesn't YAR (20D: Quick to the helm) make you think of Katharine Hepburn? Me too. And what's wrong with that? The ESSO (26A: It, in Italy) / OSSIE (28D: Actor Davis) cross was a tough one. It could, I suppose, have been ESSa and aSSIE, but then Assie is even odder a name than Ossie, so I guess it was guessable. Still, not great. Also, I had never heard of a DHOTI (30D: Indian attire), and I wasn't positive that NERO (37A: 2009 "Star Trek" villain) was correct, even though I've seen that movie twice, but Nero is a known name, and could easily be a villain, so, again, guessable.
I kind of like it when two answers are clued in the exact same way, but I like it more when the meanings of the answers are completely different. This is not the case with DATED (36D: Went out with) and SAW (40D: Went out with). Both answers refer to seeing someone socially. I'd rather have seen "dated" and "exited" or something like that. I wish I had a better example, but I think you get the idea.
- Horace
My, she was yar...
ReplyDeleteAnd it's because of you, Sanderson, that yar does make me think of her.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one. I had a cross of write-overs in the middle, which was unfortunate because I knew Ossie Davis. For some reason, I let myself write in Ozzie since I thought "Be half-asleep had to be "snooze." When I think about it more, I know it doesn't quite work. Horace, you don't know the great Hall and Oates classic "Sara Smile"??? I thought 1-down SPACED for "Like this" was very clever and original. Enjoyed PILL for "Hard to tolerate sort." Mostly, though, this one was fun because of the quote. I read "on which Stephen Colbert commented" and I was excited to find out what it was. Granted, the answer was slightly disappointing, but sometimes the anticipation is better than the payoff. Agree that EARTHS is very good.
ReplyDeleteNot only didn't I know it, but I am surprised to learn that Hall and Oates were putting out hits in 1976. I consider them to be more of an 80's band, but then, I didn't really pay any attention to them in those years, either. The "SPACED" clue was a nice one, I agree.
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