0:05:21
A somewhat surprising DIRTYWORDS (60A: Curses ... or the starts of 17-, 27-, and 44-Across?) theme today, with three nice long theme entries. My personal favorite of those being GREASYSPOONS (27A: Low-class diners). I love a good greasy spoon, but and have seen too many disappear. First The Tasty in Harvard Square, then that little place on Church Street, and now Leo's Place just closed! Where will I get breakfast?! But I digress.
I liked the puzzle just fine. SPURN (39A: Give the cold shoulder), GENDER (57A: Male or female), STUNG (28D: Attacked by bees), ARGYLE (48D: Diamond-shaped stocking design)... those are all good words. And there's some good long stuff, too, like SPLITPEA (52A: Kind of soup), and THECLOUD (27A: Where many digital files are now stored).
Sure, I don't love ACNED (43A: Pimply), for many reasons, but overall, I like the puzzle just fine.
- Horace
3:50. Yes, you read that right. I will take a moment now to bask in my under fourness.
ReplyDeleteI'm back. I did this puzzle almost entirely through the down clues, which may be a better idea than having to worry about the themed entries. I'm going to try it next Monday and see if it works. The only answers I got stuck for more than a split second were CELS and CDROM. The theme is clever. The best is STAINEDGLASS, because in the context of the actual phrase, the word is not at all connoting uncleanliness. In other areas, I don't like the answer STUNG for "Attacked by bees," which suggests "swarmed" to me. The answer in the puzzle is correct, but feels off.
6:18
ReplyDeleteNot much to mention here. The fill was nice. I hadn't thought of the aspect of STAINEDGLASS that Colum mentioned; I'd only thought of the fact that it contains "ass," and it pleased me. Very dirty, indeed.
Yes, Colum, it was because we were away that we have not commented on this spectacular feat. You have bested my best-ever Monday by a full ten seconds! I will definitely be trying your "downs only" strategy next Monday!
ReplyDeleteI always feel that I am at a slight disadvantage with the iPad because, although I've gotten pretty good with my thumbs, I am not nearly as fast with them as I am typing with all my fingers. But I digress, and I detract from your accomplishment, which was, again, quite impressive.
And Huygens, your comment made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDelete