I no longer trust the time given online for my solves if I complete the puzzle over two separate sittings, or on more than one device. I am certain that I spent over ten minutes looking at this puzzle last night, and this morning I opened it again and finished it over coffee. I looked up to see the time and it said "12:40," which is probably what I spent on it this morning, but what happened to the time from last night? This probably happened yesterday, too, because 15 minutes is pretty fast for me for a Friday.
All that aside, however, this was another enjoyable themeless puzzle. I got very little up top at first, but JUDGEWAPNER (35A: Arbiter of 1980s TV) was a gimme, and provided a solid foothold in the center. ONENAME (24D: Something Rihanna and Madonna each have), RANK (33D: Malodorous), and the humorous WECARE (21D: Clichéd company slogan) all came quickly off of that.
1A: "Yes, I already know her" (WEMET) is a bit of a weak spot, since I'd much prefer "we've met," so I'm giving it a C. I've never heard AWK used as "7D: Aviary cry," but ZEE, for once!, didn't fool me (8D: One of two slices of pizza?). NOSYPARKER (17A: Buttinsky) is a thing I only know from crosswords, but Frannie seems to have heard it before.
Excellent clues for ADREP (43A: One dealing in space and time) and FSTOP (45A: Setting for Ansel Adams) (first thought it would be something "museum-y" and tried "Frame"), but INS (42A: Well-connected people) is weak no matter how it's clued, and I've just about OD'd on ODON. And speaking of ODing, what the hell is BUTTERBEER? Frannie tells me it has something to do with Harry Potter, but I'm much happier thinking of LIMEADES. Although we did have butter tea once at a Nepalese restaurant, and that wasn't half bad. (The tea part was good... [rimshot!])
Favorite clue/answer 40D: Negotiation's terse conclusion (NODEAL). I just love its terseness, for one thing, and it was a funny surprise. At least to me.
Good end to the week. Onward to the non-weekday, and then we start all over again!
- Horace
57:34 (FWTW, again)
ReplyDeleteKABUL/KIDORY and KABUL/ERYKAHBADU crosses. I put in bABeL as a guess, which was wrong. (Change ONELINE above to ONENAME, Horace.) I agree that WEMET is bad, for the same reason. I enjoyed ISMELLARAT (55A "Something seems off...") even though it's clued in quotes, BIODEGRADED and the aforementioned JUDGEWAPNER, although, being an avid Judge Judy fan, I wonder how he'd size up compared with her. Oh, and my time, again, is misleading. Today it was the SE that took me a very long time, probably over 30 minutes, to complete. SRSLY came slowly, as did, really, everything but TACT and FURLS. Good Saturday.
Damn auto-correct. I think it might have gotten you, too, as I had "ONETIME" in there, not ONELINE.
DeleteYes, noted.
Delete22:27
ReplyDeleteI had mosUL in for KABUL at first. But once I got CUBSCOUT, I figured out JANEDOE, and then KIDORY was gotten from crosses. BUTTERBEER I got without any crossings. You should know that if only from the movies, Horace. SRSLY was great! I thought Charm City was Nashville, TN, but CAMDENYARDS was undeniable. Hope remembered JUDGEWAPNER. I could only think of Dustin Hoffman from Rain Man, but not the actual name. Excellent Saturday!
You aren't familiar with Wapner? How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?
DeleteNo, I am familiar with Wapner, just couldn't recall the name from the depths of time. I am 46 in 2 weeks.
DeleteI'm glad both of you mentioned, SRSLY, which I also loved, but forgot to call out.
ReplyDelete