I really liked this one. The theme of ice cream flavors dropping through the grid (or, I guess, piled up in the grid), was very nice, and the fill was decent and interesting. Although I usually like to see OOLALA (25A: "C'est magnifique!") spelled with an H, I didn't mind the naked Os here because A. Maybe that's how the French would spell it, and B. They go nicely with the Os in OMOO (38A: Novel subtitled "A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas"). The sub-theme of proper names (if we include SEENOEVIL (39A: Part of a three-monkey phrase) as the name of that particular monkey) was also nice. My friend KATESMITH (32A: Singer who said "Thanks for listenin'") just had a baby a few days ago, so it's nice to see her mentioned in the grid as well.
Recently, frequent commenter Huygens said that he often found these puzzles a bit racy. He won't be disappointed today, with answers like LUST (10A: The hots), and NUDE (27D: Like some sunbathers), and HOER... oh wait, that's something different...
Nice gratuitous Simpsons clue at 57D: "____ my shorts!": Bart Simpson (EAT), and I like my namesake getting a shout out at 25D: Works of Horace (ODES). He wrote other things, of course, but he is, as he knew he would be, best remembered for those odes. Like the last one from his third book, which begins:
Exegi monumentum aere perennius
regalique situ pyramidum altius
quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
possit diruere aut innumerabilis
annorum series et fuga temporum.
Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei
vitabit Libitnam. Usque ego postera
crescam laude recens.
... and so on.
(I have created a monument longer-lasting than bronze
and higher than the royal structure of the pyramids
which neither the devouring rains, nor the violent North Wind
can demolish, nor the infinite
succession years and flight of time.
I will not wholly die, and a greater part of me
will avoid the goddess of death. And I, in posterity,
will increase in praise received...)
Hey, maybe this blog will do that for me, too. It's kind of the same thing, right? [*crickets*]
Favorite clue: 22A: Reason to drill (DECAY) (31A: Hangman turn (GUESS) was the runner-up.)
Least favorite answer: MUSCLY (44A: Bulked up like a weightlifter), but hey, if that's the worst of the day, it's a pretty good day.
- Horace
25:53
ReplyDeleteI thought that Horace would know ODES. I did enjoy the raciness, and didn't mind MUSCLY too much, though it's not a word that I can ever envision uttering. JOHNDENVER, often heard around the YBH, made an appearance, which I enjoyed seeing. Well, ADIOS for now since Sue (OOLALA) is due home and will not like her supper to be anywhere but on the table.
I call B.S. on the inclusion of ""Rapper ___ Dogg." Total B.S. First, the man is way too obscure for inclusion in a Times puzzle. Second, he was NOT a rapper. He was a singer who sometimes contributed to rapper's albums.
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