Strong theme today, featuring things added to a standard set. My favorite might be FIFTHWHEEL - so illustrative. I wished there weren't two clues in the set that started with FIFT, but that is a minor concern.
1A. Kimono closer gets a B. The answer is straight crosswordese, but I enjoyed the alliterative cluing. We get a few other standbys in this puzzle including EEL and ERN, and a share of three-letter abbreviations, but also some FUN items as well. To wit:
For the Philologist:
BUILTIN (2D. Permanent, as bookshelves)
FRILLS (4A. Luxuries)
SCANT (49A. Meager)
STOPGAP (46D. Temporary solution)
FEH (29D. "Bah!"). I know the clue word, but the FEH's not familiar - with apologies to whoever came up with the original version of that joke. But seriously folks, I've never run across FEH before. According to a non-thorough search of the World Wide Web, it is Yiddish in origin.
Clever Clues:
56A. Oxymoronic purchase at a blowout sale? (TIRE)
13D. One-hit wonder? (ACE)
34D. Scrip writers (MDS)
59D. Couples cruise ship? (ARK)
Frannie Faves:
15A. A Jackson sister (LATOYA) - who doesn't think of the movie Hot Shots! (LaToya, Tito, Jermaine)? Ha!
53D. He once asked "How far down can a thumb go?" (EBERT). That's a good quote. I had time for only a quick Web search, but couldn't find out if this quote referred to a specific movie, and if so, which one, but it's still good.
LETME...
IMHO, 22A. Buds in Bordeaux. (AMIS) is not correct, strictly speaking. There are words in French that would be a closer translation of "buds" than AMIS is.
11D. Easier to see. (PLAINER). I think it's probably plain, my dear reader, why I might quibble with the cluing on this one. I wanted it to be clearer.
A solid Wednesday, with some workaday fill, but some clever clues to brighten the landscape.
~ Frannie
5:52
ReplyDeleteI love the theme. I had no idea where it was going at first. When I had FIFT____, I put an H in. Then when I had THIRDRAIL, I thought: Oh, it's ordinal numbers moving down from fifth to first, right? Nope. Didn't stop me for too long though. OBI gets a C from me, as all crosswordese deserves. It's average, and nothing more in my book. I also don't like seeing not one but two fundamentalist entries in the grid, HAMAS and ANTONIN.
8:57
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this one, especially the numbers theme. I agree with Colum on the OBI ranking, though; I may even go with a C-. Maybe EBERT was quoted from one of his books, perhaps speaking of "Swept Away" with Madonna? I guess there must be more terrible movies out there, however, in all fairness to Madonna. SINEW: gross.