0:08:00
Not my favorite Monday puzzle. Didn't love the theme. Seemed awfully contrived, and in MOORESSMORES, the vowel sound changes, at least in my dialect. Add to that complaint OVI (39A: Prefix with duct) (yeah, that's an everyday, Monday-type word, right?), EROSE (22A: Jagged, as a leaf's edge) (well, ok, I know that word, but it might just be from crosswords... I can no longer be sure), and AARE (57A: Bern's river) (definitely from crosswords), and, psst!, you've got kind of a weak puzzle.
25D: Direction in which the sun sets? Why not just clue this with 25D: Write W-E-S-T into these four boxes? Influenced, perhaps, by recent sporting events, I was almost tricked by 50D: Augusta's home, but when Georgia didn't fit, MAINE was easy enough.
In looking for other things to write about, I kept imagining other possible ways to clue certain things. Like 52D: ___ ___ half instead of 52D: Admitted at the door, and 53D: Obnoxious recurring character played by Chris Kattan on SNL for 53D: Tropical fruit. And, of course, 67A: Montoya who said: "You killed my father, prepare to die" instead of 67A: Architect Jones.
But let's end on a happy note, shall we? My favorite answer today: IKIDYOUNOT (29D: "No, seriously"). I kid you not.
- Horace
12:57
ReplyDeleteWow...you're tough to please. I'd have been able to come up with the answers for your clues for 25D and 67A, but not for 53D. Your 52D is a little dark. Don't tell me that you didn't like SHEENSBEANS, SWANKSFRANKS or HAWNSPRAWNS? You must have loved PITTSGRITS.
Must I have?
ReplyDeleteTom, occasionally one can tell we must be brothers. I had the same reaction to the theme: seemed a little forced and lame. Let's think of mostly unrelated food items that rhyme with the names of celebrities. Wow. How clever. Plus, I was going to mention IKIDYOUNOT. That was my favorite too. I swear! My time was 6:49, by the way. One more note, don't they need to ramp up the difficulty for the Mondays and Tuesdays? I mean, do any non-puzzle people really do the first two days and then bow out? They--like Dad--would probably be doing other puzzles. Get Shortz on it: I want a Monday that takes me at least 10 to 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI certainly wouldn't mind a slight ramp up in difficulty. Sometimes it seems almost pointless to do them at all, and then finding something to write about can also be hard. But then, they're've been some decent ones. And I guess it's fun to race the clock sometimes, although that can often drain whatever fun there is out of them, because you're racing too fast to appreciate them.
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