0:05:54
Kind of an interesting theme of putting songs into genres that they clearly do not belong in by taking their titles literally. WHITERABBIT (17A: "Hip-hop" song of 1967) is the only one requiring a slight "leap," if you will, by using the fact that rabbits "hip-hop" along. KNOCKONWOOD (29A: "Rap" song of 1965) is more of a 1:1 relationship, and the last two use actual words in the titles. None of the songs was written fewer than 40 years ago, but still, I enjoyed it.
The puzzle as a whole, on the other hand, felt kind of stale. When's the last time "38A: 'No, No' woman of Broadway" (NANETTE) was in production? And "1A: Afternoon TV's Dr. ____" (PHIL) might still be doing a show (I have no idea, really) but his cultural significance has long been in decline, hasn't it?
Furthermore, the AMISH (32A: Mennonite group) are not Mennonites, are they? I thought they were distinct groups? Sure, they're both religious, but I think it would be like calling Congregationalists a Baptist group.
ITNO, AONE, TETRA, OKIES… it didn't have much to grab onto but the theme, and even though I liked it, it wasn't enough.
Favorite clue: 22D: Fictional Tom or real-life Diane (SAWYER).
- Horace
After a bit of research--Hello Wikipedia!--I am fine with the answer of AMISH for "Mennonite group." It seems that the Amish, led by semi-eponymous leader Jakob Ammann, split from the Mennonites back in 1693. For a time this new group was referred to as the "Amish Mennonites." It gets more complicated as we move closer to the present. I guess some sects of Amish re-integrated with the Mennonites, some hardliners maintained a separate identity. They both descend from Swiss Anabaptists. Anyhoo, I like this puzzle well enough. Cute theme. I would have preferred the theme clues without the quotation marks; would've been cooler. Interesting tandem dropping from the top row: ITISSAID and IDOTOO. Interesting in that they are both formalized versions of much more common phrases: "It's said" and "Me too." Incidentally, I did this in 5:57, which is close to the limit of how fast I can fill these things in. I really tore through it, never thinking for more than a few seconds about any one answer.
ReplyDelete4:56. Yeah, this one left me flat. The theme is really light, especially on a holiday associated with remembering those who died in wars. But leaving that aside, way too many compound answers: ITISSAID, SUNUP, LETUP, SNAPTO, ASTO, IDOTOO, AONE, ITNO, and I haven't even gotten out of the top half of the puzzle. UNBROKEN was a nice answer. But I agree heartily with Horace: this puzzle would not have been out of place in 1984.
ReplyDelete13 mins.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very long time for a Monday, but I was hung up in the mid-south because I put SandbagS in for 37D Coastal defenses against flooding (SEAWALLS); I was thinking way too small. I also had whiteLIE instead of TELLALIE for 39D, but I fixed them both eventually and everything got straightened out. I liked the cross of LETUP/SUNUP, but 67A It was dropped at Woodstock (LSD) seemed like too obvious a clue/answer, even for a Monday.
Do you ever think that our sense of whether a clue is hard or not has been skewed by the amount of puzzles we do? I just ask because in Wordplay, that very clue was singled out as being a misdirection clue worthy of a Monday.
DeleteDo you refer to the LSD answer? I suppose that clue could be considered as a misdirection, but it just seemed obvious to me. I mean, what else would be dropped at Woodstock? Trou?
DeleteThat is the answer to which I refer. I actually never saw the clue or the answer while solving the puzzle.
Delete