A solid Saturday puzzle, in my opinion. Lots of fun, interesting stuff in the corners: LEADSTORY (33D: It gets attention when it runs), LIMELIGHT (12D: Star's spot), SATELLITE (56A: Triton, to Neptune), and HYPERTEXT (61A: It connects two pages). ROSAPARKS (31D: She wouldn't take an affront sitting down) is a little troubling, because she was sitting down. Of course, that's the trick, I suppose. "Sitting down, she wouldn't take affront."
I loved ANTENNA (42A: Where the waves come in?), HELLOKITTY (39A: Animated character who's five apples tall), and RALPHNADER (31A: Who said "Power has to be insecure to be responsive"). I just took a class on security last term, and this statement seems right on. Security is a paradox, a pipe dream, even. The more secure you are, the less you are alive. To be totally secure is to be dead. Figuratively, or literally. Take your pick. And speaking of being dead and/or secure, there's lots of religious stuff on the bottom, with AMEN, BIBLE, and KNEELER.
As usual, there are a bit of less-than-ideal stuff, too. LESE (53D: Un crime de ____-humanité). We've heard of lèse-majesté, and I suppose it's just a small leap from there to imagine a crime against humanity, but before today, I'd never seen it. I suppose that's a good thing, though, right? Heh. UDINE (46D: Italian city near the Slovenian border) is a toughie. And MYERSON (21D: Former Miss America who ran for the U.S. Senate in 1980) is not someone I've ever heard of. RHOMB, too, is tough.
Overall, though, I found it a good challenge and a satisfying puzzle to finish.
- Horace
58:33
ReplyDeleteI was happy to finish in under an hour. On my first pass, I entered almost nothing.The four nine-stacks (is that what they're called?) were top-notch, especially IMTOOSEXY, CLASSTRIP and the aforementioned SATELLITE and HYPERTEXT. I never heard of Ms. MYERSON either, and didn't know the HELLOKITTY reference, but when I mentioned it to Sue later, she knew it right away. Interesting (to me) trivia on the EMMY (20A It depicts a winged woman holding an atom), and the word KEMPT looks great in the grid.
Can't believe you have never HEARD of Bess Myerson!! First Jewish Miss America, 1945.
ReplyDeleteWell, in my defense, she won the contest more than twenty years before I was born. Still… interesting. Also, when she won she was the tallest Miss America, and when she died, she was still the only Jewish Miss America. Thanks for commenting!
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