Horace and Frannie discuss the NYTXP for realz this time:
HF: So, do you want to write up today’s puzzle?
FP: Well, if it would help you out....
HF: It was pretty nice, I thought.
FP: I liked it, although, as I said, Rex was all fussy pants
about it. [can we keep this in, or not?]
HF: The “broken” days were evenly spaced throughout.
FP: I was under 10 minutes until I had to try to find my
error.
HF: He’s always fussy. I agree that it was harder than a
usual Monday.
FP: Whaaa??
HF: I took 7:29. MOMBASA? Not Monday.
FP: That seemed okay to me because the downs were gettable.
HF: Well, yes.
FP: Maybe I don't have enough Monday puzzle experience. I
got stuck on the Tyler Perry clue. L
Maybe it's a Monday-level topic, but I do not know much about Mr. Perry.
HF: Yeah, I didn’t know that one at all. MADEA. What the??
FP: I had MAlEA in there, which looked equally fine to me. I
put in DIETcOlA instead of DIETSODA for 63A and was so sure it was correct, I didn't think
to confirm it with the downs.
HF: MWAH was a little surprising.
FP: We've seen that before.
HF: And EDDA.
FP: EDDA is old hat, so to speak. :)
HF: I mean, sure, we’ve heard of it, but it’s not Monday, to
me, anyway.
FP: Oh.
HF: Still, there was a lot of good stuff in here.
FP: Maybe you should write up the puzzle then.
HF: I could.
4:31
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the theme at all until I finished the puzzle. That's a fun thing to do, definitely off the beaten path. I like the fill as well, even if it isn't entirely Monday level. It felt like a themeless. SHEILA, MOMBASA, ONEIDA are all a little tough. I liked the nod to Passover with EXODUS. I had to think a couple of seconds to get MADEA; I've never seen one of those movies, but I've definitely heard of them.
Pretty nice opening day in baseball today.
13:30
ReplyDeleteI like the discussion format. This definitely ran slightly difficult for a Monday. I've never seen any Tyler Perry movie, and won't, because they look ridiculous in an extremely unfunny way. I liked EXODUS, too, and it's cross (SAXON); have I mentioned that I once read the entire Bible? MARTINIS was nice, reminding me of a raucous hot tub (RHT), a normal [SA][T] happening at the YBH. I didn't love MOMBASA or CELLI. 30D is possible Huygens fill (too much? Maybe I should erase that...).
!
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