12:04 (Horace's time - we each did the puzzle on our own today)
It's time to talk turkey. And gravy, squash, and dressing. A real smörgåsbord. Clues ran from tough nuts to crack (at least for this reviewer) like 10D: LaCrosse, for one (BUICKSEDAN) to easy as pie (71A: "That threw me for a __" (ALOOP)). Being a Wednesday puzzle there wasn't a lot to sink one's teeth into, but one or two clues had me ruminating. In addition to car models (not in my wheelhouse), I have never seen LOOIES as slang for lieutenant (57A: Officers above sarges). Nor have I ever heard of Lisa LOEB (46A: with the 1997 hit "I Do"). I also first entered udon for SOBA (58A: Noodles in Japanese cookery),
possibly because I have no idea what kind of noodle is what, but, the crosses kept me from having to eat crow and I was able to submit without error.
Some other nice food references to fill the plate: ORZO (59D: Rice-size pasta), 69A: Fillet (BONE), and 35D. Egg: Prefix (OVI), and one of Horace's favorites, QUIK (25D: Old Nestle brand).
A possible point of interest in light of yesterday's language discussion: there's not a single obviously French word in this food-themed puzzle, unless you count ETTE (62A: Suffix with Rock). We have ENERO (15D: Warm month in South America), and MEZZO (68A: Many an aria singer, informally) in addition to the above mentioned ORZO, mais pas de mots français. Sacre bleu!
And last, but not least, my favorite clue of the day: 54D: Body measurement (GIRTH). Perfect for Huygens and Thanksgiving Day.
~Frannie
19:04
ReplyDeleteYes, I enjoyed GIRTH. Surprising you'd not heard of Lisa LOEB, famous eyeglass-wearing singer from the 80s or 90s. I couldn't have named any of her songs, but I seem to remember her videos all right. And LOOIES is fairly common and well-known to us military types. 14A Heavy work (TOME) had me stumped for awhile even though it's a typical type of clue for that answer, as did 20A Certain (SOME). I was thinking of a Native American with 8D Plain folk (AMISH), so that, too, took me a little while, as did 53D Nuts and bolts, e.g. (NOUNS), which always gets me. The theme was nice, but not entirely unexpected, given the week. I was pleased with the tricky bits and not annoyed with anything. I mean, BOZO mentioned in a puzzle is great, even though I'd have made the clue (60D Lamebrain) about the clown, not an insult. Nothing blue today, but the pairing of NERD and DWEEB was OK (both clued as "Hardly Mr. Cool").
7:41. I enjoyed this Weds a lot. RACK was clued well. DYES and RINSES were paired as well. And for the French speaking, how about CACHE? REKEY was poor, but I think they were in a tight spot there with the R from DRESSINGROOM two squares above the K from TURKEYTROT. I was glad to see Lisa LOEB in a puzzle. I remember her music, she was actually performing out of Providence for a while during her college years, which overlapped with mine almost exactly. Her biggest hit was "Stay."
ReplyDeleteI really loved this one too. Very pleasant walk-through Wednesday. I, also, had TOME highlighted, and of course I smiled and thought of Huygens when it became clear that "Body measurement" was going to be GIRTH. I wonder if anyone has used that clue for DICE before. I put a little asterisk next to 49-Across "Short-sheeting and such" not because I thought the clue of the answer was especially noteworthy, but rather because that particular prank seems so quaint and nostalgic these days, what with various stories about severe hazings, and all. Like the astronomer, I very much enjoyed seeing BOZO and DWEEB in the grid. I love the clown as much as anybody, but I also love the term as one of the gazillion words for "idiot." Horace, isn't the LaCrosse one of the cars that Shaq does ads for? Happy Thanksgiving to all in H&Fpuzzledom!
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