Boy, I did myself in on this one with my uncertainty. I entered STEPPE (1A: Eurasian plain) without hesitation, but almost as quickly took it out again when I couldn't immediately get any of the downs. Then I went over to the NE and solved pretty much in a clockwise manner, finally ending up at STEPPE again. Well, MENIAL (15A: Like McJobs) (nice!) was actually the very last thing in, but who's keeping track?
On the other hand, I put in BUGJUICE (7A: Sugary punch, slangily) immediately too, but I loved it too much to take out again, and besides, the crosses there came more quickly. BUN, GIGI, and JOEL anyway. CEN (13D: 2000s, e.g.: Abbr.) (okay…), and EPT (14D: Competent, facetiously) (wow, they went there) took a little more time. I'd complain about those last two, but as I said, I like BUGJUICE an awful lot, and EPT is actually kind of funny.
And that's how it went today. Give me BUGJUICE and ECLAIRS (48D: Oblong pastries), and you can have all the ROS, EDS, LOD, SMA, OHO, and INS you want. Well, ok, that's kind of a lot, but hey, look, 56A: Loser to paper (ROCK)! That's worth a lot… and what about ENGARDE (3D: Fighting words, sort of)?! That's some quality clueing right there, I tell you what.
And I haven't even touched on the theme! Nature abhors a LANGUAGEBARRIER (64A: Foreigner's obstacle … or a hint to hidden words in 17-, 29-, 37-, and 49-Across), yet there it is. And there, too, are GERMAN, LATIN, THAI, and HEBREW hidden in the long theme answers. Mr. Schoenholz, you had me at LATIN.
I'm calling it good. I enjoyed myself. Thank you. Over and out.
- Horace
15:57
ReplyDeleteI had to search a little bit for THAI in SHORTHAIR; I just wasn't expecting it after seeing LATIN and GERMAN. I, too, had the most trouble in the NW and ended up solving that last (MENIAL may have been my final entry, too. BUGJUICE was great, and I entered that immediately, and I liked SCRAWL (52D Doctor's penmanship, stereotypically). I tried to put SCRAtch in there, but 1) it didn't fit, and 2) the crosses didn't work. I'll take slight umbrage with YESWEDO (47D "You take credit cards?" response), and with LOD (64D Israeli air hub locale), which I'd never heard of or seen before, but in general this puzzle was fine and an appropriate difficulty for Wednesday.
7:52. Cece got BEYONCE, ASH, and JOEL. The results of a classical education, I tell you. And just be happy I'm not writing this by hand, as apparently it would just be a SCRAWL. ROBB (LBJ in-law) would have been better clued with something from Game Of Thrones. ENGARDE was excellent. Overall, I approve.
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