It took me a minute, but I now see what they mean by "Holiday suggested by the starts of ..." (FOURTHOFJULY). Each initial letter is 1/4th of the word "July." Derp. Perhaps that was obvious to you, and if so, that's fine.
Pretty clean Monday. 1A: Sam who directed "Spider-Man" (RAIMI) gets a C+. It's not that it's bad or anything - a C is average, remember - it's just that I don't love proper names in a puzzle, and I don't really know him by name, soooo....
GOETHE, on the other hand (23A: German author who wrote "Faust") might have gotten a B-. ZINGER alert! (NYUK ...)
You know, speaking of proper names, I actually watched ISIAH Thomas play, I'm pretty sure, but I never really realized that his first name was spelled like that.
Let's see... what else? Are we to just ignore the first initial(s) of TSELIOT? I guess so, since they are not found in the word "July."
I be likin' the word LIKEN (12D: Make an analogy with, with "to"), but I don't like the phrase "make an analogy with."... No such dilemma about LEMMA, though, am I right?...
OHGOD, this review is going off the rails. I blame DIONYSUS. A POX upon him! :)
- Horace
4:28
ReplyDeleteAs I was solving, I couldn't parse 20A. Who was this Jed Garhoover person? Yeah.
Love MOMJEANS. Much ridiculed, perhaps, but my daughter has borrowed her mother's jeans permanently. They are in fashion for teens, it seems. YEROUT is wonderful.
I am in favor of this puzzle.
Chen never disappoints. Horace, you are probably confused because Isaiah Thomas, current star for the Celtics, has the more common Biblical spelling. I saw Isiah play at the Barn in 1980 or 1981. I don't remember too many details of the game, but what I do remember is my strong impression that he was by far the best player on the court. I think that must have been his sophomore season before he went pro. What are you talking about with TSELIOT?? Always fun to see NYUK (nyuk) in a puzzle. How many times am I going to write in OSU for "Sch. in Tulsa, Okla."?? Damned Oral Roberts.
ReplyDeleteYou're being quite generous assuming that I would know a current Celtics star. And with TSELIOT I was just saying that when you have a theme that is based on single first initials, it's odd to see another non-theme answer with a single first initial. Of course, it's one that uses two first initials, and it runs down... so it's not really that confusing, I guess.
Delete9:06
ReplyDelete19A What can be a real drag? (TOKE) probably didn't need the question mark, but I'll let it pass on a Monday, and I was looking for a more interesting answer to 53A Threesome (TRIO). I knew LEMMA immediatly and enjoyed IMPETUS (5D Instigation); that's quality fill. Maybe CAIN should be biblically clued from now on...anyone?