0:07:13
A decent enough Monday. I was annoyed for a second at the theme, because I didn't see them all as blues songs, but then I re-read the revealer clue, 63A: What the artists of 16-, 27-, and 49-Across are doing (in reference to the last words of their hits)? (SINGINGTHEBLUES), and I realized that it was more about shades of blue than the blues, so, not bad after all. Only four answers are involved in the theme, but they're huge (2 15s and 2 13s), so it still adds up to a lot of theme squares.
Some nice non-theme long stuff in here, too. GETTYSBURG (29D: Locale for an 1863 address), AREWEALONE (2D: "Can anybody hear us?"), and the WOEISME (6D: "Alas!")/RUBITIN (9D: Gloat) pair. I don't know why I think of them as a pair, but I do. Both seven letters?
Some somewhat unusual stuff, especially for a Monday, like 17D: Nobel-winning author André (GIDE), and SENEGAL (44D: Dakar's land), and some all-too-normal stuff, like TSAR and ASEA. But overall I liked it just fine.
- Horace
7:37
ReplyDeleteI didn't stop once, and had no "write-overs," from TAMP on through. Typically easy puzzle for a Monday.BRA seems to be the only blue answer, and I enjoyed STPETER (46D Pearly Gates sentinel), though it, too, was easy.
I didn't time it, but I finished it on the can this afternoon without anything falling asleep. I guess I would concur with the "decent enough Monday" designation. I would have preferred "powder" to "baby," but that's just me. "Midnight" and "sky" are nice-- less commonly used than "royal," or "navy," and I think "powder" would have fit in nicely as the third. Or maybe even "Honolulu." Did you notice that all of the acrosses in the top row all end in P? I agree with Horace that little things like this must be intentional, or at least self-conscious. GETTYSBURG and SENEGAL are indeed high Monday quality, but they are offset somewhat by the :Write in . . ." aspect of "Salt lake state," "Barbie and others," "Garden of ____," "___ ed. (gym class)," and especially "Feb. follower." How about SISI right above HARHAR. Yes, very amusing. It's Monday and I ain't complaining.
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