We here at HAFFCA appreciate a rebus puzzle. I figured out it was a rebus when I entered HUEYLEWISANDTHE[NEWS] at 1D. But I didn't quite catch the concept entirely for a little while. At first I thought each rebus would be something that could be combined with "paper" to make another term. Turns out each rebus is the name of a newspaper, jammed into its own little square. Not only that, but each rebus is at the end of its answer, which is elegant.
With such long rebuses (I thought it might be "rebi" but it turns out the term is actually already the ablative plural of "res", translated as "by means of things or objects"), the crossing answers can't exactly hide the words neatly. Ms. Burnikel manages to do it twice though, with DE[PRESS] and RE[NEWS].
I did have one error, which came at FIRSTPASTTHE[POST] and GOAL[POST]. I put "line" in the rebus. There is such a thing as a goal line, of course, but in no way would you clue it as "upright" (great clue, by the way!).
Of course in a puzzle of this size, there's some good and some bad. 1A: Waste maker? (HASTE) didn't fool me for a second, and was my first confident answer as well. I give it a B+ for the clue. I enjoyed SANTAHAT crossing SAINTNICK (nice avoidance of duplication there). We've seen that type of clue at 72D (Dancer's boss) before, but still it's a nice hidden capital. PATOOTIE next to SWANSONG is very nice. I also liked ASIF - shades of Wayne's World.
The middle section has a load of 3-letter answers and more than its share of crosswordese (AIT, RIEL, AES, WTO, CTN), but I didn't mind it too much. Is DORAL well known enough that I should be okay with it? [Pauses to Google] ... Gah! It's Trump's resort. Thumbs way down. Wait, no politics here. But did you see that SNL sketch last night? I thought the debate was funnier.
Here's something I didn't know: SKEG. Although it's clued with reference to a surfboard, it's found on many other water vehicles as well. So, learn something new every day. Hang ten, dudes.
- Colum
24:43
ReplyDeleteWay, way too fast for a Sunday; should have been double that. Anyway, I wasn't fooled at 1A either, or anywhere else for that matter, writing in the answers almost as fast as I could read the clues. The rebus is excellent, but I figured it out right away, also. I was unaware of the term SKEG, also, and I thought that 72A could have had just a slightly more blue clue than "Attach, as a seat belt" (STRAPON). Nice, if well known, BOHR quote, and PASTICHE is an excellent word that should find its way into conversation more often. PATOOTIE is probably my favorite answer.
FWIW, the "Blue Monster" at Doral is one of the best know and more prestigious regular stops on the PGA golf tour, and has been so for more than 50 years. So I'd say it's quite find. I needed no crosses. Trump bought Doral only a few years ago AND, maybe this will make you feel better, the PGA will not be returning to Doral starting next year in favor of a course in Mexico City. Interestingly, the PGA says it wants to return to the region in Florida, but "needs to find the right golf course." Sounds like they weren't too happy with Trump and/or his business dealings.
ReplyDeleteThere was a guy from Hawaii at Beloit whose nickname was "Skegger," so that wasn't a problem, but I had trouble in that same GOAL[POST] area. I must have spent ten minutes looking at that quadrant. Still, I finished pretty quickly, so I agree with Huygens about the quickness.
ReplyDeleteFun Sunday though. You're right, we all love a rebus!