Monday, May 12, 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014, Gary Cee

0:05:35

I thought for a moment that my dreams had been answered, and that this was a themeless Monday, but they were too SMART for me. Or should I say QUICK, or SHARP, or FAST? Still, it played exactly like a themeless, because I had no idea what the theme was, or even that there was one, until after I finished.

It's a pretty nice grid, I'd say. The theme compound phrases are all solid, and the long non-theme answers are very good: BRETHREN (9D: Fellow members of a congregation) and ALPHABET (42D: Kindergarten learning). Come to think of it, I suppose HOTFOOT (25D: Hurry, with "it") and RAREBIT (27D: Melted cheese on toast) (so that's what that is!?) could be part of the "clever" theme as well.

There's really a lot to like in here - BARHOP paired with RAWBAR, SEETHE, WILDE, ATTACK… and there's very little that gets the ol' hackles up. DYNE (74A: Unit of force) and LILI (10A: 1953 Leslie Caron musical) don't seem very Monday-ish, and KLEES (57D: Some German/Swiss artworks in MoMA) is one of those ridiculous, forced plurals, but on the whole, this is a pretty good start to the week.

- Horace

2 comments:

  1. 6:44
    I agree wholeheartedly. I starred only 48A Go carousing with a drinker, say (BARHOP), but I can't remember why. I could do without ASHE and UGLI, but I like a reminder of AIMEE Mann.

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  2. 5:27. Am I spoiled to think that a theme like this needs a clever "reveal?" Otherwise I have no real complaints except for the large number of 3-letter answers. AIMEE Mann is a nice entry; I really enjoy her music. APOP crossed with OPER... oh, well.

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