0:21:08
Is it the anniversary of the MOUNTSTHELENS (39A: It left parts of itself in 11 states in 1980) eruption? No, that was on May 18th. So it's just a random reference. Fine. It's a good enough reason for covering the puzzle with [ASH].
The rebus came to me very early today, right when I hit 8D: Not go together at all (CL[ASH]). And then that quickly gave ON[ASH]ORTLE[ASH]), and I was off to the races. The top and bottom were done in short order, but I didn't have much at all in the middle. I started at it for a while, then fell asleep. This morning, Frannie took up the fight, and handed the iPad back to me with the "Well Done" message in just a few minutes.
Eleven rebus squares seems like a lot, and I liked that you had no idea where they would pop up. (Sometimes they've been symmetrical, which seems to defeat the purpose.)
I enjoyed REPTILE (27D: Cold-blooded sort), PAR (36A: It's not unusual), LOO (42D: Throne room at Buckingham Palace) (LOL), NOOSES (51D: Deadly constrictors), and THR[ASH]ES (52A: Licks) (even though it's oh-so-close to TR[ASH]ES (66A: Bad-mouths)).
Didn't like OWE (35A: Must give) or WEPT (43A: Had pity (for)) - both seem slightly inaccurate. And I can never remember any of those damn 61A: Brit. military decorations (DSO).
I don't have much more to say. I liked it fine. Not my favorite ever, but a fine Thursday.
- Horace
26:56. It took way too long to figure out the rebus, even after looking at "/" and thinking "that's a slash." Hrmph. Once I figured it out, things moved along faster. I didn't get TEX[ASH]OLDEM for a long time because I had AREOLa for "anatomical ring." I disagree with AREOLE. I think that's wrong. I also didn't like the cluing for OWE, and I'm not fond of "Enlightens" for TELLS or "Need for support" for RELYON. So the rebus was fine, the puzzle was okay, but I didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteUntimed, but around forty minutes.
ReplyDeleteI have to part with both Horace and Colum on OWE; I thought that its cross with OWN was nice. It took me a little while to get the rebus, too, but once I got the revealer, at least I knew how many [ASH]s to expect, and it made the puzzle fall quickly. As I was solving, I was lamenting the fact that neither Horace's father nor my own attempt these puzzles. AREOLE is perfectly fine. I starred 26A Go off (ERR), which was a great clue for that oft-seen answer, and 51D Deadly constrictors (NOOSES), ditto.