I'm doing a HOTTAKE (love that expression!) on the puzzle today by live blogging as Horace solves the puzzle on the couch near by. I got up rather early today and in a rare turn of events, finished the puzzle before Horace, so I can listen and take notes as he solves.
Regret/RUE classic crossword. (33D)
"Man, I had tHRoNE in 27A Where bows may be made." - too clever by half, if incorrect.
A series of hmmmms.
At 47. Lover of history? we get, "I feel I'll know who it is when I get a few more crosses." Several O names were mentioned in rapid succession, but almost as quickly abandoned. Stay tuned...
54A. Repeated lyric from the Who (SEEME) predictably irritated Horace, who, for some reason, never cared for that particular rock opera.
Now we have an eeeuw from Horace for 34A. Insect that's born pregnant (APHID). I agree that there's a lot that's unpleasant about both clue and answer.
"Oh, Jesus," said appreciatively in re: course about courses (HOMEEC).
51D. (VAS) gets another expression of dismay. When I did the puzzle, I thought it was going to be sac, one of my least favorite three-letter fillers. Vas is slightly better.
Big finish down in the south east where it turns out that Lover of history is OLDFLAME - an excellent play on words.
After Horace completed the grid, we reviewed some of the other entries.
Doddery and SPRY (44A) are nice opposites.
Pleasing Simpsons reference at 18A. Longtime TV tavern (MOES)
BLOKE (7A) - great word.
MANNA (28A) and DRAMEDY (32A) - not seen every day.
48A. Look the wrong way? (LEER) - Ha!
24D. What had a double standard in the Bible? (ARK) - Hah hah!
Frannie asks who is Durocher and who is OTT? According to Horace this is a vintage sports reference.
Overall, a robust puzzle with only one clunker (2D. There's not a LOTI can do"),
~Frannie
30:38
ReplyDeleteSue's working today, so I, too, was up early. First of all, I suppose that I should have known that WOOKIEES is spelled like that, but would have guessed one "e." APHID...who knew? Should be a law against that sort of thing. SNOTS is excellent, and who doesn't love WHITEPRIVILEGE (IMSORRY - just joking - THENERVE!). I never heard of a KEGSTAND, and never tried SHAD roe, to my knowledge. I, of course, like "Tommy," and so SEEME is fine over here. GYRATE is a great way to end the puzzle, and could be considered to be Huygens Material, in a way.
12:43
ReplyDeleteThought I would get through in under 10 when I entered GLORIASTEINEM off the A in OARSMAN (my first entry). But things got tougher. Love HOMEEC and OLDFLAME. VIRTUALREALITY didn't seem quite like a "field".
18:11
ReplyDeleteFrannie has already hit the highlights of my solve, but I'll just add that I, too, was surprised by the double E in WOOKIEES, and equally not surprised at all by GLORIASTEINEM, which was my first answer. I think MOES was second.
There seems to be some debate online about the Durocher quote. Some say that when speaking of OTT, he said, "he always finishes in second," and was speaking of a team - with two separate clauses - when he said "Nice guys, finish last." It all happened before I was born, I'm pretty sure, so I'm no authority, but the distinction was interesting.