KWAME Kilpatrick is set up in the very center of this grid, almost as a marquee answer. I looked him up just now, and he's not the kind of guy you want featured in a puzzle. His Wikipedia entry is one of the longest I've ever seen, most of it filled with details of the felony charges (and convictions) he has racked up. It's not a name I knew, it's not a name I'm happy to have learned, and it's not a name I want to see in a crossword puzzle.
The theme is fun. The first clue, "18A: Compliment for a fruit-of-the-month club?" (NOTBADATALL) is both tortured and absurd, but the others, especially "24A: Compliment for a planetarium?" (STELLAR) and "60A: Compliment for a charcoal seller?" (YOUREONFIRE) are good.
Nice to see STAD (8D: Dutch burg) in the grid, as both Frannie and I have been learning Dutch lately. And I like that "1D: Chillaxes" (HANGS) is used. That's a great word. Huygens didn't like "Turkey and roast beef" as the clue for MEATS yesterday, but at least those to things are meats. Today's "11D: Pepperoni or sausage" for MEAT could be challenged by some as being made up of many different things, only one of which is meat.
1A: Airport with many connecting flights (HUB). C.
Favorite clue/answer - 12D: Slug (BELT).
Least favorite - 62D: Suffix with differ (ENT). Bring back Tolkien if that's all you've got.
- Horace
6:13 (FWTE)
ReplyDeleteI was pretty distracted as the older child was submitting college applications to two colleges while I was solving. That's my excuse for not noticing that BaLl was not correct (12D: BELT). Otherwise the puzzle is fine, and I love TRAMPOLINE.
11:42
ReplyDeleteI agree that this MEAT answer is worse than yesterday's, and that STELLAR was, well, stellar, but it's too bad that MEADE wasn't clued as a pairing to that answer by using the telescope brand instead of a Civil War reference. I, too, loved the clue for TRAMPOLINE. Other than that, it was a typical Tuesday puzzle with not much to stick disagreeably in one's CRAW. Agree re: ENT.