Here's a puzzle where I knew most of the answers immediately, but didn't get anywhere near the four minute mark. Maybe some day.
I'm going to shoot for PITHY today as I have a date with Mr. Overholt in less than an hour. I hope I won't reach the POINTOFNORETURN with him. Which brings us to today's theme. I liked BERMUDATRIANGLE. It runs the full length of the grid, and, I was fascinated by it in my youth. I think we even had a game called The Bermuda Triangle. The other theme answers are solid 'Points of no return', with TENNISACE providing a nice twist on the word point.
The puzzle kicks off with an abbreviation ATTY, and a rather unappealing one at that, but most of the rest of the threes aren't too bad. My favorite is the enjoyably rephrased old standby: Tango requirement (TWO). I liked the combination of passion and brains to produce NERDY. Also, 4D. got a YUK, even though it's only the start of a joke (YOMAMA).
I was less happy with the clue for 35A. Jazzy Fitzgerald (ELLA). It seemed too glib a description for her talent. And, I realize Monday puzzles are supposed to be relatively easier than puzzles later in the week, but when I got to 34A. WSW's opposite, I wondered why they didn't simply write, "34A. Enter ENE." Perhaps that would leand to ENNUI.
~Frannie.
3:48
ReplyDeleteWe had that game! The "triangle" was a storm that moved around randomly and picked up your ship with a hidden magnet. I don't remember what the goal of the game was, though. Fun theme, definitely unclear to me until I entered the reveal. I will agree with comments I've seen elsewhere, namely, that TENNISACE is questionable as a term.
Seems to be well enough reviewed at https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2296/bermuda-triangle (apparently the triangle and magnet is the most memorable part of the game).
Delete10:38 (slow for me for Monday)
ReplyDeleteThis theme took me until the very end. Not only did I not see what those things had in common, but it took most of the crosses for me to get POINTOFNORETURN. But with the revealer, there are three nicely contrasted returns: returning from a place, returning merchandise, or returning a serve.
Liked THINAIR (but I kept trying to put in ozone for a while). Liked DOGSLED and PANIC. Amused that IPA is now crossword-worthy but surely it is as the stuff is being dispensed by the barrel all over the country. But my favorite was TWO as clued. Overused? Perhaps. But I just can't resist.
5:41
ReplyDeleteATTY is just a terrible way to start a puzzle, but the rest was a nice Monday offering. I loved that BRASIZE crosses ZAPPA (and so would he, probably). NSYNC is almost never welcome, though. Nice that SULU and TREK are placed symmetrically. SHUTUP is a bit harsh.
4:26
ReplyDeleteWe had that game, too! I think the goal was to just be the last ship on the board. And speaking of that, when's the last time any ship or plane was lost in the Bermuda Triangle? Is that still a thing? And speaking of still being a thing, I thought saying ASIATIC wasn't.
Liked seeing GARGLE in the grid, but did not like the clue for 6D. Continuing down that column, though, we have BLARNEY and NAY, which I like to think are related.
Yes, I agree, Colum, TENNISACE is not a term anyone would ever use. "Golf shot" is something we often joke about, a silly term often used by golf announcers. But I've watched and played tennis all my life and never heard anyone say that.
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