0:40:55
The theme of this themeless puzzle was definitely "X," and accordingly, that's how we solved it. Frannie started it off and filled in a solid swath from NW to SE, and then handed it over to me to complete the NE to SW arm. Some lovely fill in this one. SASHAY (51A: Walk ostentatiously), STANCH (30D: Stop), and LARYNX (9D: Pitch producer), to name just a few. For those, and all the "fancy letters," we'll swallow a fair amount of RESNAP (41D: Close again, as a change purse), and ASHIER (19A: Not so apple-cheeked).
Loved the tricky clue for OSOLEMIO (33D: Common number of gondoliers), and Frannie loved the simplicity and straightforwardness of HAT (7D: Monopoly token). We both liked the mention of Earl Scruggs and his BANJO. And speaking of proper names, Frannie just plopped down WINFREY for 36A: O, more formally, thinking that it would be nice if it were true, but thinking it probably wouldn't be. Similarly, I put in ESCALATORS (17A: They may lead to another story) with a single cross. It seemed we were both in the groove.
Neither of us knew the term HORSEOPERA (59A: Many a John Wayne pic), and EXITLINE (13D: Rhett Butler's "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," e.g.) seemed a little strained, but over all, this was a fun and interesting puzzle.
- Horace
DNF
ReplyDeleteI put LASTLINE in instead of EXITLINE and that led to many problems in the NE, and I wasn't able to get OSOLEMIO either, so the SW wasn't finished either. It took awhile to get PLAINJANES, but I got WINFREY and HORSEOPERA immediately. I noticed all of the Xs, but didn't get that that was a theme. Maybe that would have helped with EXITLINE, but who knows?
Well, I don't think it was a real theme, but there sure were a lot of them!
ReplyDelete