Hello fellow word enthusiasts! Frannie here, sitting down to comment on today's puzzle. I did the puzzle last night,or, perhaps, more correctly, very early this morning at about 1:30AM. Apparently, I completed it in a little over 10 minutes. I have almost no memory of it. Thinking about it later in the day, I did remember one answer, STEELYGAZE (96A: Intense look). I wanted the answer to be Blue Steel, or Magnum, but neither fit. I'm guessing that the ease with which I was able to enter most of the answers contributed to my poor recall. Many of the them were right in my wheelhouse. Could it be that Mr. Peredo is as old as I am? Clues such as 15A Record for later viewing (TAPE) and 16A Leaf gatherer (Rake) and, of course, 1A and 5D, APAIN/NECK give the impression of someone who has seen a few years go by, and might, by Zoolander's standards be OLD (60A Aged). Given some of these clue and answer pairs (HAPPYDAYS (33D The Fonz's sitcom) for example), maybe he even knew NOAH (64A Ark builder). Kidding! But it was a different time when HOES were still Tilling tools (27D). And when was the last time WAITERS were good at taking orders? (46D) Ha! Of course, ALIST (1D Group of preferred party attendees) and OAKLANDAS (11D Team in "Moneyball" (2011)) are more current. Possibly, the puzzle was written by a very young man back in 1993, and Will Shortz finally approved it. I kid, I kid.
LEST the way I phrase seem like puzzle malaise, I want to give Mr. Peredo's rhyming due praise. The only thing that would more amaze would have been the inclusion of Rutherford B. Hayes. :)
~Frannie
7:16
ReplyDeleteThis was easy. I thought that 41A Throb (PULSATE) was a bit racy, and I like seeing ISAACHAYES mentioned. And one doesn’t see MAYONNAISE in too many puzzles. Also, 25A Part of a project just before the end had me thinking “finish work,” which held me up a bit, but not too much. I never heard of the classic game MYST. Nice review, Frannie! Though I thought that englishteacher59 mentioned we shouldn't have a wheelhouse on a Monday.
Funny, I thought of the "wheelhouse" thing, too. I don't think Frannie is up-to-date on the posts... but I also think that even a Monday really can be in your wheelhouse, as she has demonstrated here.
ReplyDeleteVery amusing review, Frances. I had pretty much the same reaction to the puzzle. I completed it on the can late Monday night--I so love mentioning that; how long before it gets me banned from this blog?-- and I blew through it fast and made no notes and had very little memory of it when I looked at it again upon coming here. Who knew MAYONNAISE can get out crayon marks? Did you know that Huygens? I too enjoy seeing ISAACHAYES, the cat that won't cop out, when there's danger all about. Loved him on "Rockfish." Finally, which is racier--cluing PULSATE with "Throb" or making "throb" the answer to the clue "Pulsate"? I think the latter. Maybe I'll include it in one of my puzzles for the porch next summer. Just for the Dutchman.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'll be looking for it! I didn't know about the Magic of Mayonnaise. I don't remember ever needing to remove crayon from anything. And IMO, TMI re: the can. However, I'll leave it to Horace and Frances on the banning question.
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