Sunday, July 14, 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013, Daniel A. Finan

1:46:57

A clever puzzle which lost some of it's appeal when solving on an electronic device, I think. We have a "$" symbol, but not a "¢" symbol, so following the directions in a note accompanying the puzzle, we entered the letters to make the Across clues correct and let the downs fall as they may. For example, CAIHONHAND (3D: Some liquid assets) made me wish we had the paper edition. The answer, obviously, is "Cash on hand," with the I from the across where the S should be. Inelegant.

Frannie did most of the fill on this one. Horace's contribution was the realization of the need for a dollar sign and its composition of an I and an S or C. The force of the theme (Show Me the Money) was strong in this one, with a number of clues and answers related to money in addition to the themed items. I counted at least 20 such, but some of the ones I include in the group (93A. Holiday attraction at a mall SANTA) could be open to debate.

If it were up to me (H), there would be no money. Don't ask me how anything would work, because I don't know. All I know is that they figured it out in the fantasy world of Star Trek, so I figure somebody can figure it out for us here, too. All it really does is cause trouble anyway, so what's the big deal with getting rid of it?

But I'll spare you any further ranting, and get back to the situation at hand with some of the entries we liked the best such as 100D. Unionize? (MARRY) and the pair 79D. See 77-down and 77D. South of 79 down? / which turned out to be PARIS and SUD. A very good value for our dollar.

~Horace & Frannie


4 comments:

  1. I had fun with this one, but it certainly didn't take very long. I had a hard time finding MASSE, having tried GARDE and PASSE first. I very much liked FISCAL and CLIFF being the cross for DOLLARSANDCENTS. And a shout out to PLACEBO for a clever clue.

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  2. 52 mins. (timed with a wall clock)
    No, this didn't take long. I filled in the paper version, which was nice, but I can see where the electronic one would not have been as good. I liked seeing PENNYSTOCKS in there (I invest in one, but it's because I believe in the company) crossed with PRICEPOINT (very important, speaking as a business buff). Horace must not have liked 43D Baptism, e.g. SACRAMENT, but I didn't mind it too much. I quite enjoyed 4D Ones unlikely to write memoirs? AMNESIACS. Brilliant clue. And those who know me know that I love SUNKCOSTS (112A Unrecoverable investment expenses). We have many of those here at the YBH.

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  3. Yes, AMNESIACS, was very nice. And funny about the sunk costs. Too bad they couldn't have worked in "no dollar value."

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  4. Agreed. Then it would have been perfect.

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