0:6:18
Nice, simple theme of an R progression with Raid, Read, Ride, Road, and Rude. I enjoyed assigning clues to either Jeff or Angela as I went along: CUTER (14A: Cuddlier, say) = Angela; NOLANRYAN (33D: All-time career record-holder [by a lot!] for strikeouts) = Jeff. Too stereotyped? Yes, but can't a guy have some fun while he's doing a Monday puzzle? C'mon, cut me some slack! In fact, I'm gonna take it to the next level - BEERS (31A: Coors and Corona) (Come on, Jeff, you gotta step it up a notch) and GAMS (57D: Pinup's legs) = Jeff. PINK (63A: Flamingo's color) and READINTO (28A: Find a subtext of) = Angela.
Seriously, though, I enjoyed this one for other reasons, too. Like I said, the theme was simple and clean, and RAIDTHEFRIDGE (20A: Get a midnight snack, say) and RUDEAWAKENING (53A: Unpleasant shock) are both really nice 13s. Not really anything groan-worthy. And yes, I'm including YUK (48D: Big laugh), I kind of liked that one, actually. FLAMEWAR (39D: Nasty online arguement) is awesome.
It had a lot of sports-related clues, but I also like the symmetrical musical answers of STAFF (1A: Five lines on sheet music) and RESTS (67A: Pauses on sheet music), with the bonus half-musical answer FRETOVER (5D: Worry about).
Overall, an enjoyable Monday.
- Horace
7:23
ReplyDeleteOddly, I knew NOLANRYAN right away. I thought BEERS and CUTER were a bit weak, but I agree with the two long answers being pretty good. I also liked CHAGRIN and HOLEINONE. A good Monday.