An unusual theme of movies that are not silent movies, but that all start with a silent letter. I like it.
I was tricked immediately, because after filling in SAP (1A: Easy mark), I looked at 1D: Beginning or end of "Athena," and wanted "alpha," so that whole quadrant took a little extra effort before I finally gave the two-schwa version of "aha" upon seeing SCHWA! After that, AFORE, PREK, and REMI aren't that great, but they're not terrible, either. Actually, I kind of liked REMI, in an "it makes me think of the Sound of Music, which is set in the Alps, and we were just in the Alps" kind of way...
Icaraus Fob et fils will surely have enjoyed SPINET (47D: Small piano), and I'm sure we all enjoyed CAT (17D: Subject of many a viral video). As I look this over, however, there seems to be a lot of the old stuff, but a few new clues - like the one for ALI (68A: Arabic name meaning "high") (I guessed "ArI" at first), and for our old favorite EEL (34A: Kabayaki fish) (never heard of it). And speaking of things I like, "The Big Lebowski" is my in-flight movie of choice. On the way over, I only got up to the musical interlude (set to "Just Dropped In") before I conked out. I'll see how it turns out on the way back. Anyway, I was happy to fill in JOHNGOODMAN without hesitation.
Favorite clue/answer: 53D: Jet fighter?/SHARK.
Now, MOI, je vais me promener un peu en ville, et chercher quelque chose à manger.
- Horace
10:15
ReplyDeleteSPINET was nice to have in the grid, as was PREZ/ZORRO, PSYCHO and LOATHE. I filled in DJANGOUNCHAINED right away, but have yet to see the movie. I knew Maestro MEHTA immediately and loved the EEL cluing even though I'd never heard of that particular method, either. Nice cross of REDO/EDITMENU, and who doesn't love ALGAE? A good Tuesday offering.
8:36
ReplyDeleteI should have done this avec mon fils. He just finished watching West Side Story in school and would have loved the reference, as I did. He probably would have done better with this one than yesterday, what with WRECKITRALPH and all. Although it may be a little while before he sees a Tarantino film... I do try to (mostly) let him work through Mondays, but I've done Tuesday and Wednesdays myself on the grounds that as the week moves on there are likely to be more references he wouldn't know. Of course, on the turn, I go slowly enough so he can help out anyway!
Yes, SPINET was a gimme.
7:57, because it took me forever to figure out ANNE (Rice, on a shelf). I mean, really. I liked a whole ton about this grid. PSYCHO, AMBIEN, ACTRESS, MEHTA. And special credit for ARNO, because we were there not so long ago. Yes, I will be holding on to that for a long time, especially while Horace pushes all things French in our faces. JOHNGOODMAN confused me for some time simply because I thought it was going to be a theme answer. Djohn Goodman?!
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