0:34:49
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am so full right now. Also, in the last 24 hours I made cranberry relish, a mince pie, hard sauce, roasted butternut and acorn squash, stuffing, a horseradish/Brussels sprouts dish, gravy, I cut up carrots and celery into sticks, canned some sauerkraut that I started a few weeks ago, and I cooked an 18-pound turkey, plus I shopped for most of the stuff and did most of the dishes. Also, did I mention that I am too full? Everything was under control until the very end, when I drank the better part of a quart of eggnog. Uhhgggghhhhh...
So anyway, the puzzle was fun enough. Frannie figured out the "language-y" "thank you" theme. What were there, three of those? I think I had something like "__A_ZIEMI__L_" for the Italian one when I handed it over, but I had no idea what was going on.
On the other hand, certain things, like POMELO and SCYLLA went right in. And POTOMAC (34D: It meets the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry) was just beautiful. So evocative! So American! See also 54A: Eastern terminus of the Erie Canal (ALBANY).
I also enjoyed BUZZ (25A: [Wrong!]), POUTS (40A: Classic diva performances?), LAURELS (2D: Honors), and RETORT (42D: Counter with a sharp edge) (Tricky!) But coffee connoisseurs are so "39D: Over and done with" JUTE as a 31D: Coffee sack material. They're being packed in Grainpro® nowadays, which keep in more of the "coffee-ness," and don't impart so much "jute-iness."
I thought of Huygens when I filled in JUDGEJUDY (31A: Highest paid TV star of 2014, by far), and of Colum when I put in DOSAGES (12D: Doctors' orders), although I don't think he actually writes prescriptions. (Do you?)
Overall, a very clean puzzle (didn't know AUEL, but the crosses were fair), and a decent Thursday puzzle. And before I close, I will say for the both of us, MUCHASGRACIAS, GRAZIEMILLE, and MERCIBEAUCOUP for looking in on us, whether you're one of our two or three regulars, a casual reader, or if this is your first time here, Thanks. We're having fun doing the puzzles and writing a little about them each day, and we hope you're having fun too. Now go eat some more pie!
- Horace
29:40
ReplyDeleteRightly so that JUDGEJUDY made you think of me. That, of course, went right in. I've been studying Mexican states lately (a bit), so after a couple of crosses I was able to fill in OAXACA. I'm not familiar with 1D Big citrus fruits (POMELOS), but will try one if I spot them at the Market Basket. I wonder if the POMELOS/OAXACA/MUCHASGRACIAS/PERU crosses were intentional (well, of course they were). I loved 41D Visits by Voyager 1, e.g. (FLYBYS) and filled it in with one cross (the MERCIBEAUCOUP). It allowed me to get the excellent 41A Minor inventions (FIBS). Nice puzzle all around. (Note: I've already finished the Friday puzzle, which was excellent!)
10:57, completed with Cece and my mother. JUDGEJUDY was a surprise! Who knew? DOSAGES is fine, and yes, I do write prescriptions, although mainly they're electronic at this point. I would have thought ALBANY would have brought me to mind more readily, though. Very little to complain about in this puzzle (RHEA's clue is so much better than the usual flightless bird nonsense), and much to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, Happy Thanksgiving to all. We had a lovely time in NYC, with an 18 pound bird and all the trimmings. I will tell you no FIBS: we all ATE too much.
Well, actually, I had written about you and ALBANY first, but then worried about privacy matters. You know, this being the internets and all… but since you mention it, yes, it did make us think of you!
ReplyDeleteAnd, hey, our bird was an 18-pounder, too!
ReplyDeleteWe would have finished this one a lot faster if the other four people in the house hadn't spent an hour saying that it couldn't possibly be Judge Judy.
ReplyDelete