Saturday, September 28, 2013, Joe Krozel

1:15:27

A decent challenge from Mr. Krozel today. Our solve went more or less counter clockwise from 1A. The first few passes yielded very little, but as we handed it back and forth (and yes, the tandem solve made this one much easier today), each of us was able to build on what the other had figured out, and, well, eventually we got there.

Some good, some bad. Let's start with the good. The favorite might have been 26A: It can be found beneath the lower crust (PIETIN). I wrote in "mantle" at first, even though "lower crust" in the context of layers of the earth didn't really make sense to me. 33A: Beginning of time? (BIGBANG), on the other hand, was an impulsive, immediate fill-in that held up. Not bad. 50A: Mobile advertising medium? (TSHIRT) was pretty good, and 6D: What the French think? (IDEES) was a fun one for us francophiles. And speaking of France, 39D: Ones above military heads (BERETS), and GARNI (43D: Adorned, per menus) were also good, and it's lucky I read so much about cooking, because while I don't know how to make a MIGNONETTE (28A: Sauce often served with oysters), I do know it as a sauce name, which helped. Lastly, in the plus column (well, not that this is all of the good, but it's all that we're writing about), 46D: Something with round parts? (BOUT) was nice.

In the other column, there were proper names I didn't know (MOSHE, HUA, BARTOLI, OSSIE), and things like GERMAN LIT (43A: With 32-Across, study of Hesse and Mann, informally) and TURNALOSS (30D: See red?) (Isn't "turn" used more often with "a profit?"). Not that they're terrible, or unfair, but they just weren't to my liking. And what the heck is TREEN (13D: Woodenware)? Well, I'll tell you - "Small domestic wooden objects, esp. antiques." Seems legit. I've never heard it before in my life, but I'll try to start using it from now on.

Overall, it had lots of clever stuff, and it was a decent challenge. So... good Saturday.

- Horace