Tricky! A lot of fun stuff in this one, which was technically a FWOE for us because I entered "eSE" for OSE (30A: Malt finisher?), and never looked back, even when ORSINe was filled in for ORSINO (12D: Duke of Illyria, in Shakespeare). Other than that, though, no troubles.
Some nicely misleading clues here. 16A: Point of origin for some flights (AERIE) had us stumped for a long time on a very common crossword entry. 19A: Cause of many unwelcome lines (AGE) was cute, but I got that one right away. One of the benefits of being so old, perhaps… I enjoyed the references to Ratso Rizzo (ENRICO (21A: Ratso's given name)), and the ROADRUNNER (24A: Predigital beeper?).
Frannie seemed to recognize that PINKYSWEAR (48A: Use a two-digit confirmation code) was a thing. I was thinking along those lines, but was stuck on "Scout's Honor," even though that's three, I think. Was Cub Scouts two? Anyway, it's not important.
SQUIRTGUN (57A: One may soak a competitor) and PUTSASIDE (61A: Tables or shelves) (great clue!) was a good pair down in the SE. Crossing NEOLOGIC (37D: Linguistically adventurous) and GERTRUDE (38D: "Most seeming-virtuous queen," in Shakespeare) too. A lovely corner.
Also enjoyed, for once, a HANGOVER (2D: It can be a headache), IDEEFIXE (3D: Preoccupation) was some nice French (that major is finally paying off!), and MAGNUMOPUS (10D: Prime piece) is lovely.
Not super-familiar with the expression 54D: Give ____ (have any interest) ARAP, but I suppose I ought to be. One little thing, though - Couldn't a MYOPE (10A: Person lacking foresight?) be thought of as someone who has "fore" sight? I mean, I get it, they can't see into the future ("far"), but it sounds like the opposite, doesn't it?
Overall, this was a very enjoyable Saturday puzzle. Thumbs up!
- Horace
I'll call it a FWOE for the same reason as you, in 41:16. A lot of truly excellent clues and answers. I had the NW filled pretty quickly after I guessed CROAKS correctly. But I was stuck in the SW for a long time since I had CELERYSalt. I never use either in my salad dressings, but oh, well. I also tried "bluecheese". Another adventurous entry was "xenoglot" for NEOLOGIC. Things I loved: PUTSASIDE (Tables or shelves), GERTRUDE and ORSINO, IDEEFIXE, and MAGNUMOPUS. Things I didn't like: BSA and TSA right next to each other, OTO, DOST, and MYOPE. AANDE got me for the umpteenth time. EEYORE and PISCES were well-clued right next to each other. Over all an excellent Saturday.
ReplyDeleteWe had the exact same problem in the SW, and were stuck down there for at least 30% of the time. Then we spent probably five more minutes looking for that OSE!
ReplyDeleteAlso a FWOE in 42:43 in the same place with ORSINE. Foolish because I played lute for Twelve Night in college and was thinking ORSINO, but not MALTOSE.
ReplyDeleteCuriously, we finished the SW first in about 5 minutes thanks to OPERAS, ONLINE, ENLIST, RETRO, TEST, and PINKYSWEAR (Double PINKYSWEAR if it's really important, I believe). All came quite easily. It was the east that gave us trouble. We liked ROADRUNNER, IDEEFIXE, STAINED teeth and glass, and seeing KOFI Annan in there. I hate to see the CHICKFIL-A zealot get any publicity, even in a grid. And I liked the cluing effort misdirect made on the otherwise crosswordese ABUTS (50D: Meets) and AERIE (16A: Point of origin for some flights.
63:12
ReplyDeleteSign me up for the FWOE! What's that, all four of us? I wonder if it was a popular error outside of this blog. EVINCE was nice, DEXTER is always welcome, even though it had a few meh seasons. What about GASSY (18A Overly talkative)? I've never heard that used in a sentence. And it's quite timely to see CHICKFILA in there (1A Big chain closed on Sundays), as its founder died the next morning (Sunday) at, I think, 93 years old. Even the REEL/REED pairing was nicely clued (34A An early Disney cartoon had one and 46A Harmonica piece). And need I say that no one likes a RADIOEDIT; just play the whole damned thing.