0:10:17
A pretty clean Monday with a solid theme. What more can one ask?
PERFUNCTORY (65A: Just going through the motions) is lovely 11-letter fill, and WELLGROOMED (18A: Neat in appearance) isn't bad either. The five theme answers plus the revealer drop symmetrically like raindrops through the middle of everything.
If I were pressed to call out drawbacks, I might mention OFA (36A: "The Tears ____ Clown"), RECUE (69A: Signal again, as an actor), and TSKED (72A: Expressed one's disapproval). And in the downs, ANDS, ATRUE, and TAPA (35D: Finger food at a fiesta). Does one ever hear that in America without the final "s"?
But I am not pressed to call out the bad, and I don't really want to focus on it today. This puzzle has enough decent material for a Monday. It's funny to see ELM TREE again so soon, and it's kind of funny to see ULE so close to YUL, although the former is quite weak.
Meh, ITLLDO.
- Horace
10:34
ReplyDeleteOriginally I'd guessed TACO instead of TAPA, but that didn't work. It seems odd without the "s." Pretty easy, as is typical with Monday puzzles.
As a side note, I printed out an extra copy of the blank puzzle. SJY said she'd try the Monday puzzles for a while and comment about her experiences with them on this blog, so we'll see what happens.
Well, we certainly look forward to any and all comments from SJY. Good luck to her with the solving!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we had TACO for TAPA, too.
7:24, but sloppy with five letters written over. I agree it's decent for a Monday. Too many three-letter words and not a gem among them. In fact, outside of the theme and, as Tom mentions, PERFUNCTORY, this puzzle has very little. But the theme is nice, especially GOODYGOODY. Sue will never comment.
ReplyDeleteHey, I didn't have to type in the two hard-to-decipher words!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I noticed that I could eliminate that when I was looking for a way to retrieve a comment of yours that I accidentally deleted a few days ago. Sorry. And, you're welcome.
ReplyDelete