0:37:11
Well, well, well, if it isn't our old friend Mr. Rebus! I've always got him in the back of my mind on Thursdays, but we filled in so much of this one before figuring it out that I kind of thought he was gone for another week. Still, there was that three-square 12A: "How to Marry a Millionaire" actress. I thought at one point, "Was Mae West in that? And would they really go with just a first name?" And the same in the other corner - Frannie thought "Doesn't that have to be Maria Callas?" But it was 67A: Extremely tight (TOOCLOSETO[CALL]) that finally cracked it open for us. Once that corner was in, all the others were filled in immediately, and I could finally put in the thing that popped into my head immediately for 38A: Audition rebuff (DONT[CALL]USWELL[CALL]YOU). Whew!
One thing that helped to throw me a bit in this one was all the apostrophes. "17A: Suspended avian home," for example, I wanted to be "oriole nest" when I just had a single cross, but it didn't fit. And the "we'll" of "we'll call you" ... well, ok, that's just two apostrophes. Maybe it wasn't that big a deal. But that ORIOLESNEST didn't fall 'til Frannie landed GOSSIP for 7D: It may be full of dirt.
And speaking of Frannie, she dropped in "Marge" right away for 1D: Homer's Muse, which would have been so awesome. Another one she got right away that actually was right was STPAULIGIRL (65A: Commercial figure holding six beer mugs). Not bad.
Overall, pretty good puzzle. Some nice, tricky clues, and some fun or unusual ones, like HET (51A: Worked (up)) and 25A: Superior home?: Abbr. (WIS). We once stopped in Superior and took a little boat ride out onto the lake before heading over to Duluth, and down into Minnesota to visit my brother, but that was long ago, and I frequently can't remember which city is in which state. This will help, hopefully. That same brother, incidentally, might enjoy the stacking of dog clues at 49A: Lhasa ____ and 56A: Pooch, in Paris (APSOS, CHIEN), but me, well, I would have preferred cat clues. (And I'm not talking about the FATCATs and CAT[CALL]s!)
- Horace
55:37
ReplyDeleteI figured out the rebus (being ready for it on this Thursday) relatively quickly. HOWEVER, the dread NW corner took around 20 minutes to fill in after I'd solved the rest of the puzzle. I started out with [CALL]offthedogs and NOTHING was working. But I kept staring at 6D Quick combination and all I could think of was ONETWO, which, of course, was right. Plus I had FATCAT as the only possibility for 11D Moneybags. Once I had the epiphany of rearranging 1A to [CALL]THEDOGSOFF, everything worked. The only thing that I had off at first was 25A Superior home?: Abbr.: I'd put in ont, but of course it was WIS. Excellent puzzle.
I suppose you guys didn't fill in HAILE and DEPAUL immediately, as I did. Overall, I don't know, I really didn't think this puzzle was all that great. Wow, I can put six "calls" in a puzzle for no apparent reason. Plus, they vary arbitrarily among the word call and merely the letters c,a,l,l. It would be better if the acrosses were one and the downs were the other. Or something. I suppose they are all "CALLBOXES," but I prefer a theme clue/answer that is a little more explicit. I didn't hate this puzzle, I just didn't think it was at all masterly. Loved seeing St. Pauli Girl. Enjoyed TOR, but only because I have always considered it crosswordese and paradoxically almost never in puzzles. I feel like I've known tor since doing those weird Telegram puzzles of the early 70s that had all those obscure two- and three-letter words. Oh, I did hate one thing: 15-across. I can't stand those stupid self-referential clues. If Shortz had any balls, he would ban them.
ReplyDeleteHorace, I'm not really a big Lhasa Apso fan. I remembered CHIEN from my French days, so I did like seeing that in the grid.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention the great clue/answer {Something}D Rogue (RAPS[CALL]ION)! I was going over the puzzle last night with the reluctant and impatient Sue and came across that brilliant entry.
ReplyDeleteenglishteacher59, I had to dig the puzzle out of the recycling. I didn't know HAILE, DEPAUL or TOR, but mostly got them with crosses. I had DoPAUL, though, so I guess I'm a DNF. What the hell is HET?
ReplyDeleteI sort of knew HAILE, and put it in immediately, but took it out for a short time when the NW (which was also where we finished) was not going so well. TOR, I also sort of knew, but DEPAUL, no.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the occasional self-referencial clue like 15A. And Huygens, hasn't Sue ever said "Don't get all het up about it!" or something similar?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard Sue say that. Maybe I should pay more attention....
ReplyDelete