0:22:26
This went by too quickly for a Saturday. We got in fast with AUTOLOAN, DEER, DOCE, LAWOMAN, DRDRE, DOLAPS, and FAULT, and then SATURN, LUCKBEALADY, and even CAMERATRIPOD came easily with a few crosses.
So, CAMELCAVALRY (7D: Once-common desert fighting force) was a real thing? And I'm not terribly familiar with, or fond of, the term BUGBEARS (17D: Sources of chronic annoyance), but it is not wholly unknown. Also into the questionable category I add ACERBITY (33D: Tartness). I'm sure it's a thing, but it just seems odd.
BRUCELEE (12D: Many watch his movies for kicks), on the other hand, is fill I heartily endorse. PAOLOVERONESE (32A: Italian artist with the largest painting in the Louvre) is also good, full-name fill, as well as being interesting trivia.
Loved the clue for PURITANS (32D: Group living at zero latitude?), and I tried "undead" for 51A: Cousin of a zombie (MAITAI). Hah!
It was decent enough, but maybe too much of it was too squarely in our collective wheelhouse.
- Horace
34:44
ReplyDeleteThis was a very easy Saturday for me, too. I knew that 17A was either Austria or PRAGUE, so with the number of letters in the answer, that was easy. I also knew its related answer, ANTONS, right away. KOALA came quickly, and the MAITAI clue is the best one that I've seen. For blue fill we have 40D Kindle (AROUSE). Instead of CAMELCAVALRY I put in theratpatrol at first based on the old TV show starring Christopher George that took place in the desert, but of course that was removed very fast. I liked AUPAIR, but, like Horace, dislike ACERBITY strongly.
30:10. Had a very hard time with the NW, but fortunately Hope was here to finish it off, supplying PLAT, FAULT, and AUTOLOAN. The rest I had finished in about 18 minutes, so you can see how stuck I was. LUCKBEALADY and VERONESE were good entries, although it took some time to get PAOLO. I like MODELED next to CAMERATRIPOD, even though I don't really like the latter. Oh, also, Hope figured out MAITAI. Well, I had thought of it, especially when I had _AITAI, but was stuck thinking of the other kind of "zombie".
ReplyDeleteClues I liked: "Group living at zero latitude?" I wanted some population living on the equator, but nothing came to mind. Then PURITANS jumped out at me and I laughed. "Fail at stoicism, say," is a wonderful clue for a 3-letter answer, CRY. I think the first answer I put in was KOALA, recalling that bit of trivia from a visit to the San Diego zoo in February. Yes, they were all asleep, but still cute as heck.
ENS also got entered relatively early (and did not help with the NW at all). I'm getting used to these metaclues. I wanted to put IMPulse in for IMPLORE (Urge). That's a nice dual meaning clue.
Overall, I liked it.