There were some very good parts to this puzzle, and some other parts I was not fond of. I'll start with the construction of the grid. Both the NW and SE corners are as isolated as you can get in a standard crossword, with only one square connecting them to the middle diagonal swath. I understand how that was necessary, but I like more flow.
That being said, the middle section is pretty impressive. I don't like RATINE, and DOTERS feels iffy. I just now realized for the first time ever that LAMESA is actually "La Mesa", not "Lamesa". That's so much more preferable. I have enjoyed visiting San Diego, but I don't know that I've ever been to that particular section.
I was actually able to get into the grid in the NW, which is unusual for me on a late weekday. 1D: Sight after a blizzard (DRIFT) seemed much too straightforward, but it was correct. ROSIN and IDYLL confirmed it. I couldn't get out of the corner though, because 1A: Produced heat? (DRAWS) was too oblique for me to understand. I give it a C-.
Anyway, I tried leEchES at 12D: Frightful little suckers (TSETSES), but realized my mistake immediately when I knew that the "hours" clue at 19A had to end in T. I also had difficulty when I put "gorgon" in at 16D: Petrifying figure (MEDUSA), and then compounded my mistake by entering "greatdane" for MARMADUKE. Figuring out that error finally opened things up.
I love 14A: What some women are waist-high in (MOMJEANS). 6D: Many a West Jordan resident (MORMON) was very misleading. I worked my way SW and then around the bottom. It took many crosses to get FERRARIS. INCAHOOTS is excellent.
The SE corner is fine except for ATILT. I wish we could get rid of these words that are not really words. Awhirl. Et CETERA.
My mistake came at SAUCEPANS crossing CST. I had a T there. I will defend it, even though there is no Texan Standard Time, or whatever. Fine.
- Colum
22:38
ReplyDeleteI got in immediately with DRAWS. The difference might be in our brothers - I'm pretty sure yours didn't joke as much as mine did about whether or not people were "packing heat" when you were little. I have no idea why that was said so often at my house, but, well, it was.
The left side of the puzzle filled in quickly and completely for me, but I had very little on the right, so I handed it over to Frannie, who seemed to have no trouble over there. I wonder if they'll let us pass our papers back and forth at the tournament? :)
The R of RATINE and ROTORS was our last letter, and we spent at least a minute running the alphabet in our heads and debating about M or R. Luckily, we guessed correctly.
I like any mention of DELLA Street, but it wasn't really her office, it was Perry's office. But who knows, maybe she had her own side office...
Anyway, I enjoyed it, but Frannie felt more like you did. She really disliked certain things and liked others. Sometimes it goes that way.
30:41
ReplyDeleteI loved DRAWS, and would have given it an A- or B+. TOTALIDIOT is excellent, and except for all of the plurals (SETS, TSETSES, COVENS, DOTERS, FERRARIS, TILERS, ROTORS) I enjoyed the puzzle overall. MATHIS went almost right in, but OXLIP needed MEMORYHOLE, which then led me to complete the tricky SE. MOMJEANS is also great, and I enjoy a good MAXIMA. I had Muslim instead of MORMON for a short while, but there were really no big problems with this puzzle.