0:05:04
Well, would you look at that, a Little Women theme! I thought for a second when I put in the name LOUISAMAYALCOTT (39A: Author who created the characters named by the starts of 17-, 24-, 49-, and 61-Across) about whether or not I had put in anything else literary yet, but I was trying to go quickly, so I didn't figure out the theme until I had finished it up. After consulting with Frannie, I can report that they are not presented in order of age (Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy), but hey, you can't have everything all the time. Just ask Beth. … What? Too soon?
I enjoyed the puzzle just fine as it went along. I like the word SCALENE (47A: Having sides of different lengths, as a triangle), and being reminded of old-timers GAVIN (44A: Actor MacLeod of old TV) and 55A: Three-time A.L. batting champion Tony (OLIVA) was ok with me, plus - I always like seeing ORONO (15A: Maine university town) in the grid, because my Dad went there.
I've never heard of "poppers," but AMYLNITRITE (61D: Chemical compound in "poppers") was filled in entirely by crosses, so it didn't much matter.
I liked the Latin clue, 23A: "____, vidi, vici" (VENI), because, hey!, remember when I said I was sad because I hadn't signed up to read the Aeneid? Well, I signed up after all! And it's going great, thanks!
Lastly, once I put in BYEBYELOVE (11D: 1957 Everly Brothers hit with the repeated lyric "Hello loneliness"), it became the SOUNDTRACK to my solve, and there's nothing wrong with that.
- Horace
10:16
ReplyDeleteI loved SCALENE (of course), AMYLNITRITE (I'm familiar with poppers, though Dave wasn't), and knew that Frannie would enjoy the full LOUISAMAYALCOTT there in the middle of the grid. I mentioned GAVIN out loud while solving as a nice old-school shout-out. There weren't any racy clue/answers, but this was a nice Monday regardless.
I don't know what a popper is either, but I've heard of amyl nitrite.
ReplyDelete5:12. Had to check the grid to realize I'd entered Lucy LIU as LIe, leading to the famous eTNE reader. I mean, really. Some remarkably nice answers for a Monday, making up for the typical ACLU, RHOS, ERS, OBI, ASA, DEC. SCALENE as many have said was very pretty, as was AMALGAMATED, which seems like it ought to be in more grids, given all the A's. I also liked ARSENAL. Not sure about NESTINGSITE, which did not come naturally at all. I also want to note that the names for each character from Little Women were nicely buried in their answers, particularly JO and AMY.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what "poppers" are used for?
ReplyDeleteA quick Google search reveals that they are used as a recreational drug.
ReplyDelete