0:16:44
Most of the puzzle was smooth sailing, but I got in over my head in the
northeast. First I put in killer for 4D. Kind of instinct, but that
didn't float. I thought
my ship had come in when the lower crosses supplied MAL. I tried aniMAL, but I had a sinking feeling when I couldn't get any
crosses. Eventually my ship came in when JUMP sprang to mind (1A. Bound), and I realized it was PRIMAL going down.
The raft of clumping of hair clues in this one did not float my boat. (63A. & 64A. Clump of hair (KNOT & TUFT)). On the other hand it was swell to have two Winnie-the-Pooh clues, especially his catchphrase (9D. OHBOTHER). I say that myself sometimes when the waters are troubled.
Quite a surge of Huyguens material, if you were on the look out for it: 6D. Lumber (WOOD); 13D. Unyielding (STEELY); 24D. Eleven plus one (NOON); and 73A. Cry at deli (NEXT).
Surprisingly little side-splitting humor, but I did enjoy 2D. One side in a close encounter (UFO) and 5D. Sun block? ECLIPSE.
Oh, and did I mention that the theme was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the
Titanic? Although, as regards 28A What scientists use to predict the
rates of chemical reactions (COLLISIONTHEORY), I might ask, too soon?
~Frannie
10:07
ReplyDeleteNOON and NEXT? I don't get those as Huygens material, but I may be being obtuse. And what about HOGS (43D)? And how about the blue clue 23A Pitch tents, say? (Too much?) The others are acknowledged, but the clues 6D Lumber and 13D Unyielding leave something to be desired. 19A Pickling liquid (BRINE) had me thinking of rye, but I was able to fill in the correct answer right away regardless. I didn't know 33A Golf's Ernie (ELS) but was able to get it with the crosses. I, too, loved OHBOTHER as well as UNGER (35A Felix of "The Odd Couple," but I've had enough of EWOK (5A Cuddly sci-fi creature). This was an OK puzzle.