I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Any mention of EMMAPEEL (32A: Diana Rigg's role on "The Avengers") is a good thing, as is any reference to FISHANDCHIPS (27A: Some British pub food). VROOM (21A: Souped-up engine sound) and DRECK (37A: Junk, from Yiddish) are fun words, and the theme of "Jelly ____" is decent.
Add to all that the relative cleanliness of the whole thing (I don't particularly like the partials INAS (57D: Bring ____ a third party) or ICAN (29D: "Not if ____ help it), but they're not terrible), and you've got an enjoyable Monday romp.
A few more thoughts - I like the juxtaposition of COCOON (7D: What a butterfly emerges from) and TEEMED (8D: Overflowed (with)), with their symmetrical patterns of the identical vowels. I chuckled at the utter simplicity of the clue for SKY (5D: Clouds' locale), and speaking of straightforwardness and simplicity, I also enjoyed FATALLY (27D: How Hamlet stabs Polonius). No "through an arras," or "mistakenly," here - just "fatally." Heh.
Very nice.
- Horace
9:11
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Hamlet thing was odd...I mean, FATALLY? Oh well, I didn't NOT like it, I just thought it odd. I, too, enjoyed FISHANDCHIPS, something I devour every now and again. Soon, we'll be enjoying it in England. Well, in EPCOT's England, which is close enough. Odd, too, how three of the four theme answers refer to a tasty treat, while that one lone jellyfish is not so much of one. I learned of TUVALU today, which I'd never heard of before. According to my American Heritage Dictionary from 1982, the population is 7,500. Hopefully that hasn't changed much in 32 years. By the way, I knew ELWAY. And haven't we seen enough of SISSY Spacek for a little while now? Two days in a row: yesterday extreme NW; today extreme SE. Coincidence?
4:28. Not only SISSY returning, but the everpresent SNL, not clued nearly as well as the "Chase scene" clue from a few days ago. I liked the cross of ALEPH (Hebrew) and DRECK (Yiddish). I too laughed at FATALLY. Classic. Like they had to go all the way to Hamlet and Polonius to come up with an action for that adverb to describe. The theme is well put together, with a revealer that connects the four otherwise unrelated answers. My only complaint is that I've never heard ROLLOFTHEDIE. "A roll of the dice," yes. Singular die? I guess so. Otherwise thumbs up.
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