0:09:39
It's kind of odd today that there are two entries longer than any of the theme answers, and, quite frankly, more interesting, too. OCEANBREEZE (24D: Beachgoer's cooler-offer) (ixnay on the ooler-cay offer-ay), is especially appropriate for me today, as I find myself once again (UNABASHEDLY) on the shore of the Atlantic. And furthermore, I happen to be with sometimes-reader EnglishTeacher59, who complains that the theme answers begin quite familiar in tone - HOWYOUBEEN ("What's goin' on?") and PUTERTHERE ("Let's shake") - but the last one, GIVEMETHAT ("Hand it over!") really ought to be "Gimme that" to fit in perfectly. Oh well.
I liked a few things in this - HEM (15A: Shorten, perhaps) was tricky, and HOOHAHS (44D: Big kerfuffles) is good in both answer and clue. But aren't we tired of ECARDS (49A: Online birthday greeting)? And why 12D: The black pawns, e.g. (OCTET) and not the white pawns? I guess that one doesn't matter all that much. And is KARTS (26A: Motorized racers) ok without the "Go" part? Hmmm.... just like "BEEN THERE DONE THAT" ought to end with "Bought the T-Shirt."
Oh, I don't know... it's Wednesday. I guess I get what I get.
- Horace
8:44. It's gotten to the point that I entered ECARD without any crosses. I liked the theme fine, and I held back from looking at 69A until I'd entered all the long answers, which gave me a cute little Aha moment. Brief, but cute. I agree with the long down clues being more interesting. The rest of the fill is meh. PERYEAR... OLDTOWN... BONAMI... READON?! I liked the clue for OCTET, which should have come faster than it did. The clue for 67A (Common-sense) threw me, as I was not expecting the adjective form that the dash implies. A number of abbreviations add to the lack of interest (ETS, SPEC, CERT, PRES, ADM). Meh overall.
ReplyDelete14:22
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Cary ELWES of "The Princess Bride," but I'm sure I'd recognize the person since I love that movie. EGADS? I've heard that, but isn't it usually egad? Anyway, no problem for me either way. Fine puzzle overall.