Monday, June 24, 2013

Monday, June 24, 2013, Robert Seminara

0:06:03

I love all the long fill in this paean to the s'more. GRAHAMCRACKERS (26A: Ingredients in a 38-Across), CHOCOLATE, and HOTMARSHMALLOW (at first I thought that it was odd to say "hot" marshmallow, but I guess "toasted" would be too long a combo for a weekly grid), and even the non-theme CHESTNUT (52A: Joke you've heard many times before) was nice to see. Frannie loved that one.

Much of the rest, however, was less than great. It seemed odd, for example, to have SMASH (19A: Huge hit) and BASH (9D: Big party) so close together, and RELET (27D: Found a new tenant for) and RENEW (32D: Extend, as a lease) were odd, too. It might not have struck me as odd if the "lease" idea hadn't been used for that second one. I usually spell GISMO (26D: Gadget) with a "Z," and UTEP (45A: Lone Star State ssh. near the Rio Grande) is not at all familiar to me. U. Texas, El Paso, I presume. Meh. Got EELS (4D: Fish caught in pots), however, so that's nice...

STANHOPE (20A: Light horse-drawn carriage with one seat) seemed out of place here. I guess clueing it with a reference to Doug Stanhope would be out of the question. Still, it would be nice to get ol' Dougie into a grid.

Again, the theme was nice, and it was interesting to learn that the Girl Scouts may have been the first to make s'mores, but after that, it wasn't all that interesting.

- Horace


1 comment:

  1. 9:09
    Of course Frannie like CHESTNUT! I thought of her immediately on that one. I suppose a clue with Doug STANHOPE would've been more current. I originally thought that the school would be UTEX, but couldn't think of an answer for 33D Ooze that ended with an X. That held me up the longest. I was glad to be able to finish a puzzle quickly again! (I forgot to print out Sunday's puzzle, so I'll comment on that later in the week.)

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