What a fun Thursday theme we have today. It's not a rebus, but it is multi-lingual! I'm not sure which is my favorite, I like them all so much. Maybe HUITFIELDS (57A: A number of grain-producing sites in Normandy?). But what about DREIMARTINIS (23A: A number of cocktails in Berlin?), which reminds us of the excellent Thurber quote, "One martini is all right, two are too many, and three are not enough."
1A: Writer whose wife said he's a "genius, but what a dirty mind he has" (JOYCE) gets an A. Interesting trivia about an interesting writer. The first answer I put in confidently was ICON (15A: Something to mouse over).
In addition to the fine theme, we have a couple of nice long downs in TECHSECTOR (30D: Part of the Dow) and LIAMNEESON (11D: Voicer of Aslan in "The Chronicles of Narnia") (full names are always appreciated). I can't decide how I feel about DIECI (6D: Italian ten). It's not really bonus theme material, and in a way it kind of dilutes the overall effect. I guess I don't like it. I also didn't love EVENER (29D: Less bumpy), and SINES and EOE are a little gluey, but overall, this is still a thumbs up. Good start to the Turn.
- Horace
56:02
ReplyDeleteWell, I had a trifle more trouble than Horace today, especially in the NW and in the mid-South, finally guessing on the "I" in MTIDA. I hated EVENER, but didn't mind SINES too much. ODIUM is a nice word, is it not? As is FLOG (52D Whip). Nice enough theme, I guess, but for monolinguists, all crosses were necessary for most of the theme answers, which isn't great. OK Thursday, but I prefer a rebus, please. Maybe next week.
12:25
ReplyDeleteAgree about DIECI. That's a waste, but I see how __E_I from the theme boxed them in. Also, two french, two german, and one spanish. I'd like that better if they were symmetrically placed. Maybe that's just my OCD coming through. OCCAM was my first confident answer.