0:06:30
A fun Monday puzzle. The theme is cute. I wonder which one Ms. Carla thought of first? My money is on LEARNLEAR (63A: Memorize lines for a Shakespearean king?) for some reason. It seems the least convoluted. Well… maybe DIVANDIVA (17A: Operatic singer on a sofa?) could have come up in conversation somehow… Anyway, I like them all just fine, and there's a sort of semi-related entry in 10D: New Jersey governor whose first name starts his last name (CHRISTIE).
It started out rough with WALSH (1A: "America's Most Wanted" host John) (no idea), and then we had AMIE (2D: Parisian girlfriend) (just saw this yesterday) (not Andrea Carla's fault), AMATI (14A: Prized violin), and LAVE (3D: Wash), but things perked up again with STANZA (4D: Lyric unit). I also enjoyed 7D: Software platform suitable for Starbucks? (JAVA) and 22D: Quarter of a quart (CUP) (this seems to be on the same "theme" wavelength, n'est-ce pas?), and who doesn't like a REPO (50A: "____ Man," Emilio Estevez film) reference?
Sure, there's a lot of standard stuff, plus IBE, IFWE, THEX and GOA, but today I don't care. 'Tis, perhaps, NOBLER in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fill if, as today, the theme makes me smile. Sometimes that's enough on a Monday.
- Horace
4:42. STANZA and ESTROGEN. Very nice for a Monday. Didn't love UHHUH and HAH right next to each other (and the cluing for HAH seems a little off - that's a "triumphant cry?"), but very little to complain about. I suspect she started with FREETOWNFREETOW first and built from there. Aren't puzzles usually built around the 15-letter answer if there is one?
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ReplyDeleteSue and I recently attended a musical at 57A Broadway's EUGENE O'Neill Theater, and just visited (yesterday) the 34D La BREA Tar Pits on the way to LAX. Sue liked both of those clue/answers.
Nice tie-ins, and nice progress with Sue! She "liked both!"
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