Monday, January 25, 2016

Monday, January 25, 2016, Ian Livengood

3:04

WHAT!?

YEP, I'M YELLING.

FOUR SECONDS OFF!

I'm done now. You can take your fingers out of your ears. Really.

But, seriously, folks. Fastest by far for a Monday, beating my former fastest by nearly 20 seconds. The puzzle is straightforward, although it kind of breaks up into three separate sections. Since it's a Monday, that doesn't bother me as much. The NE to SW stretch is nice and open.

The theme is pretty loose: standard phrases where the second part only is a kind of CHEWTOY for a dog. I like 35D: *Inaptly named part of the elbow (FUNNYBONE) the best. I also like how the theme answers are placed: by crossing two in each corner, that open diagonal section is almost like a themeless. The center is particularly nice, with SKEWERS, HERESY, and KARMA. You also get the nice long downs at 15D: Mass assistant (ALTARBOY) and 33D: "Where does that guy get off?!" (THENERVE), my favorite clue-answer pair.

There are some strangely weak crossings, such as AVID and AVIS, DINER and DINERO, ONUS and OPUS, NEW and NEWT (!).

I enjoyed ATTILA next to Dan'l BOONE next to CONEY Island. A very strange juxtaposition, those three.

1A: Liberals, with "the" (LEFT). Well, I don't like having the "the" in the clue, so that knocks it down a few grades. I'll give it a B-. Feel the Bern!

- Colum

6 comments:

  1. 3:34
    When I had to go back and forth a little and still came away with my time, I wondered what I'd see from you! Not bad. Someday, you'll be in the twos.

    I liked this one, too, for all the reasons you mentioned. The theme shape was good, and the theme, too, is light and fun. Who knew puppies liked tropes?

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    Replies
    1. Nice time, Horace! he said earnestly and perhaps a bit smugly.

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    2. At the tournament, we'd both get the same bonus. :)

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  2. By the way, Colum - I registered for the ACPT this weekend - hint, hint - and Frannie claims she'll be doing so soon.

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  3. 6:30
    Well, if you add your two times together, I win! I, too, liked the puzzle today, even the odd pairings. HERESY is always nice, although it shouldn't be a crime, especially with such a terrible penalty ala Joan of Arc. Interesting that it crosses ALTARBOY, a position I held for many years, well into my atheism. Worst clue/answer? 21A "...and yet, here we ___" (ARE). C'mon.

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