Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014, Jean O'Conor

0:10:13

Well, call me easy, but I love this kind of silly, false definition theme. MEASURINGCUP (22A: Undergarment fitting device?) is just so absurd. I guess, since Jean O'Conor is female, she was maybe thinking of a bra cup, but my mind went immediately to the "sports cup," which made it even funnier, I think. MICROWAVE (43A: Hardly an attraction for a surfer?) is another funny one, but my favorite might be the last, CHAFINGDISH (56A: Attractive, but annoying date?). That's some quality material right there.

The fill, though it did contain a fair number of threes, was not that bad, I didn't think. I mean, if you're going to start with a three letter answer, it might as well be BLT (1A: Sandwich usually served with mayo). Heck, the theme must have put me in a great mood, because I don't even mind OHHI (19A: "I'm surprised to see you!").

TVCHANNELS (3D: Just 2 to 13, once) was tricky, especially since we never had a channel 13! And the other non-theme ten was also nice - GETAWAYCAR (27D: Aid for a bank heist). There's not much else that stands out - except, perhaps, for GHIA (55D: Karmann ____, classic German sports car) - and yes, there's a fair amount of AVEO, ELEV, SAXE, SIM, HPS, etc., but sue me, I still liked it. It was an enjoyable theme and it put me in a good mood. Can you ask anything else of a Wednesday?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to TOGUP and get to work!

- Horace

2 comments:

  1. 16:41
    I just recently got rid of my last surviving knob-type television. The VHF dial had channels two through thirteen on it, but channels 3, 8, 9, 11 and 13 never had stations associated with them. Around our area for most of my childhood, channel 2 was PBS, 4 & 10 were NBC, 5 & 12 were ABC and 6 & 7 were CBS. Then there was another slot for UHF which was tuned in to activate the lower knob on which one could watch 25 (FOX), 27 (the call letters escape me), 38 (SBK), 44 (GBX) and 56 (LVI). FOX was, of course, later, and sometimes, as I recall, fainter stations such as 68 could be accessed. Well, anyway, yes, this was a great Wednesday puzzle. I liked, since I'm in the business, CANOPENER (30A Jailer with a key ring?). I was thinking along different lines with 66A Jerks (SPASMS), and the real meaning of the clue brought back terrible memories.

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  2. 6:15. I agree, this was a lot of fun, and in addition to the kitchen-based themes, we can add in TURNIP greens, CHEF, and SEASON (maybe). OHHI is terrible. Otherwise I loved the fill, especially TVCHANNELS and GETAWAYCAR.

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