Surround Sound
Mr. Berry's puzzle is a delight. I smiled my way through the grid. How about 14D. George Eliot, but not Marilyn Manson (WOMAN). Fabulous. 56D. Candy from Austria (PEZ). Delicious. 68D. Require balm, say (CHAP). Hilarious. 87D. Drops out of the sky? (RAIN). Cleverious.
I think what I like the best in this puzzle is the finesse of the cluing. Every clue means what it says and says what it means. Here are a few examples: 124A. Excommunication provocation (HERESY). 54A. Earnest request (ENTREATY). And the lovely pair SWIVEL (120A. Turn while seated) and SIDLES (11D. Moves obliquely). See what I mean?
But this puzzle is not for MATURE audiences only. There is plenty of entertaining craziness in the theme answers. My favorite was 101A. Provides some idea of an object's size? (MENTIONSDIMENSIONS). Ha!
Of course, no entertainment is complete without a few kernels in the popcorn. Should I know 78D. Five-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (KELSO) or 121A. "Into the Wild" star Hirsch (EMILE), or any South American capital (37D. ASUNCION) at all? Kidding! Of course I should have known Emile Hirsch.
Oh, and just a RANDOMMEMORANDUM (23A. Office missive sent out arbitrarily), I love DATA mining (122A). Horace left that one for me to enter as a mark of his deep affection for me. Or, maybe he didn't know the answer!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
~ Frannie
34:28
ReplyDeleteI figured out the theme with RANDOMMEMORANDUM and just crushed the rest of this puzzle. I loved LUNARBALLOONER and PEWTERCOMPUTER, too. I didn't know a few of the answers (those mentioned by Frannie as well as DARREN Aronofsky (5A), but there were no un-gettable crosses. I thought that the weakest theme answer was ROTCPAPARAZZI, but maybe others liked it. Nice crossing of HASKELL and SANDLOT, both recalling a bygone era.
My favorite was ROTCPAPARAZZI! Definitely the most creative. I thought RANDOMMEMORANDOM was not as interesting.
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