0:27:46
What an odd theme, based solely on the syllabic length of the clues. Very strange. We got it from FOURSYLLABLES (57A: The theme, part 3), and then were able to fill in the first two parts, but still... I'm not terribly wowed by the whole thing.
Furthermore, LOANERCAR (6D: Wheels for a while) would probably have been better as "rental car," and "19A: What walls might hide" (SAFES), should probably have been "What pictures might hide," but it would have been too many syllables. And "23A: It may be felt" (TEXTILES) seems a little weak, too. And LIFEBELTS? OK, whatever.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but if I had to sum it up in four syllables, they might be "Not a fun solve."
- Horace
37:43
ReplyDeleteOK, LIFEBELTS was bad and TEXTILES was weak, but the puzzle on the whole was fine, although I guess it's not too difficult to work clues into FOURSYLLABLES. I liked seeing CANTATA and MCCOY in there. PETRI and LATEX certainly aren't your everyday crosswordese, and I thought that LOANERCAR was perfectly DECENT. One doesn't see ONSTAR much, and one could read ATEAT at least two ways, one of which is blue, as is 58D Demanding test (ORAL) and 56D Surefooted beasts (ASSES), so this puzzle is COOL by me, more or LESS.
12:55. So I didn't realize that the theme was referring to all of the clues in the puzzle until just now. I thought it was an odd theme that each of the theme clues was 4 syllables, not a particularly difficult thing to do. Anyway, I didn't think it was a terrible puzzle, although definitely below the level of what I'd hope for on a Thursday. I'm fine with LOANERCAR, which I got immediately. TEXTILES wasn't bad either, although the plural doesn't seem to fit with the clue. ALMA was fairly random, but CARLY is very welcome as is MCCOY. Oh well. In four syllables? Italia.
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