0:10:56
Hmm... I see now that there is a math theme in the circles. Huh. Not terribly exciting, and I only noticed it now because I am writing the review and saw the circles. Perhaps the practical non-existence of the theme allowed for a smoother puzzle, I don't know, but this one felt pretty good while it was being solved. At the end I just could not see what could happen with AE_OE! Frannie, however, saw it right away (AEPOE (15A: Author of Gothic short stories, in short)). The other square that was problematic, and which ended up being an educated (by vague memory of puzzles past) guess was the N in SANA (44A: Yemen's capital) and KENAI (38D: Alaskan peninsula). That was a toughie!
Nothing terribly exciting in the grid, but it's always nice to see our old friend EEYORE (61A: Mopey donkey of children's literature), and EURO (58A: Coin whose front varies by country) was nicely appropriate. (We fly home today, so these references should slowly fade out.) BESTOW is a nice word, as is GRIFT, and I like seeing 52D: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse ____ (TYSON), in the grid, 'though it reminds us that we missed the last episode of the new "Cosmos." Oh well, something to look forward to upon our return.
Speaking of which, I've got to go pack! See you back stateside tomorrow.
- Horace
10:56(!)
ReplyDeleteOf course, I loved the theme, even though it was just the four basic operations (really, two). 39A Hooch (BOOZE), 67A Doughnut's shape (TORUS), 49D "Monty Python" actor John (CLEESE) and the aforementioned TYSON were all starred. Also, the REDUX/SEX cross was quite nice. Have a great trip back.
9:20
ReplyDeleteI was helped today by Cece.We had trouble with 44A: Yemen's capital and 38D: Alaskan peninsula, both of which turned into a random guessing game. I would say the theme is only okay, although the revealer is cute. Cece guessed Poe for the writer of Gothic tales, but we didn't initially (get it?) see how it fit in. She was also all over TYSON, CLEESE (we've raised her right), and ADELE (win some, lose some). She knew that HINDUs think a lot about karma, so all around, an excellent puzzling experience together, even if the puzzle itself was only okay.
Hey, she could be into singers far worse than Adele!
ReplyDeleteAnd Huygens, this is the first time we've had the exact same time, is it not?
To my knowledge, yes.
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