TOBEORNOTTOBE
TOBEISTODO
TODOISTOBE
DOOBYDOOBYDOO
Apparently, these statements used to be found regularly on bathroom walls as graffiti. It's amusing as heck, and completely off the wall, as it were. It's fitting that BOYS is right in the middle of the grid, as I'm sure it was in that particular set of restrooms that the above statements were found.
Is there a single ARREAR? I've only heard it used as "in arrears". This was one of the few entries I had to think about. On the whole, this puzzle was much too easy for a Wednesday. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. I entered AnisETTe for AMARETTO, which is wrong, but only just - it is a liqueur, after all, just licorice flavored, rather than almond. I corrected it quickly, though.
And I like CIABATTA (a fine bread), making a pair of Italian 9-letter words. My father worked at Houghton Library (alongside Frannie for a while), so RAREBOOK is welcome. SCREW and ABED are suspiciously close to each other, but neither gets a Huygens style clue (24A: Where a couple might 9A?).
36D: Deuterium and tritium (ISOTOPES) is great, and reminds me for some reason of Star Trek. Did they use one of those in the warp drives? LARRY Bird is a reminder of the good old Celtics days.
50A: Possible response to "Gonna win?" (HOPETO) is peculiar. I thought of HOPEsO first.
Downsides include WEDGIE and BONDAGE. I want neither. There are a fair number of crosswordy stuff, but I'm ignoring it. ENTR this!
1A: Parks who sparked a boycott (ROSA) is very straightforward. I give it a B.
- Colum
8:38
ReplyDeleteExcellent connection of SCREW and ABED above, Colum! I enjoyed BONDAGE (in the puzzle), but not WEDGIE so much. ENTOMBS brings to mind Poe, and I agree with ARREAR, which is strange and would never be spoken aloud. Dilithium, of course, is the fuel for the warp drive...I mean, c'mon. I, too, found this a bit easy for a Wednesday. I liked that ION and ISOTOPES are both in there...NICE. I don't see much else of note, except that I finally agree with the grading of 1A.
7:28
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, I'm fairly certain that I have seen these four lines written on stall walls. I'm not sure I would have thought of that on my own, though.
I'll "third" the dislike for WEDGIES, and I didn't care for NOOSES either. Not "a tonce!" (I'm trying to make that sound like something akin to "a whit.") (It's still early in the morning....)
Also, every time I learn something new about CATS (33D: Musical with Rum Tum Tugger), I become even more happy that I've never seen it.