0:40:14
PASSING GRADES
Kind of a rough start with ADES (1A: Summer refreshers) and BIBI (5A: Israel's Netanyahu, informally), and I didn't realize that there was more than one actor in the family of ALDAS, but it perked up nicely, with the likes of MACHETE (28A: Crude coconut opener), BEDOFROSES (7D: Comfortable state), and CHIMERA (84A: Mythological monster). And the theme of changing Fs to Ds is fun. My favorite might be DISHANDCHIPS (15D: Two things seen beside James Bond at a casino?), but TWODIVESFORATEN (49A: Snorkeling bargain?) was also nice.
Things like BALDER (62D: Like Bruce Willis, in his later movie roles), JILTERS (81D: Altar no-shows), and SOLI (41D: Most arias) rub me the wrong way. The clue for the crosswordese ANIL (55A: What makes blue jeans blue), however, is interesting, and it's nice to see OTTO (39D: "The Simpsons" character with a habit of calling things "gnarly") getting into the grid.
Frannie liked it all right, and she did most of it, so let's give it a passing grade.
- Horace
59 mins.
ReplyDeleteJust under the wire, there. 14D Keys on a piano (ALICIA) was a stumper (I had bLaCks in there for a little while, which threw that whole NE corner off). The two song references (MOHAIR - 56A and LOLA - 63D) were fine, and I love a reminder of 22A Actress Cuthbert of "24" (ELISHA). I'll have to accept 98D Hosiery brand (HANES) as racy, I guess, since there were no other clues of that nature OFNOTE. Also, I'm a fan of RAINMAN (37A Dustin Hoffman title role). As far as the theme goes, I thought it was fine, but NODRILLSAIRLINE was a bit of a stretch. And I thought that Horace wouldn't like the CENSER/PATEN cross too much.
24 minutes, a day late. The theme idea is clever, but the execution sometimes left me cold. The best ones smoothly fill in, like SCIENCEDICTION and TWODIVESFORATEN. I agree with Huygens about the airline one, and DAREINCREASE is only okay. I'm not sure I understand the DISH in the casino. Is it supposed to be an attractive woman? Why at a casino? Because of the CHIPS? I guess. On the positive side, 4D: Pulled strings, maybe? (STRUMMED) was a nice clue, although I'm not sure it needed the "maybe". BEDOFROSES and MUSCLECELL are very nice, and CHIMERA should be in puzzles more often. CLORIS Leachman ("Frau Blucher") deserves mention as well.
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