The theme deserves, I suppose, a measure of respect, for pointing out such a metrical miracle as EMILYDICKINSON's DOUBLEDACTYL, but I sure had trouble with what was effectively 43A, the last part of the question. It may surprise you to learn that even though I entered the poet's name quite early on, I didn't immediately consider her feet, or is that foots? So, I in turn, have a question for you,
What famous crossword puzzle blogger, who took forever to think of dactyl, could be aptly described with the spondee dumb dumb? Answer below. :)
It may be that because I was unable to tear a dactyl out of my brain, my feelings towards the puzzle as a whole suffered a bit. It's a solid puzzle with some clue-to-answer exactnesses that I always appreciate such as 34A. Handle adversity (COPE), 35A. Feel some repentance for (RUE), and 42A. Checkup imperative (SAYAH), but that it might have lacked a little VOLTA.
~ Frannie
8:33
ReplyDeleteI didn't figure out this on my own, sadly, but I learned from Mr. Gordon's comments on xwordinfo.com that every clue is a double dactyl. Wow. Or should I say, Oh my good Gracious...ness. Well... I tried.
So yes, some measure of respect, indeed, is due. It's "pencil drop" worthy. But that's only a single dactyl, so it's worthy of twice that. HA!
5:33 (FWOE)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I like it better for the clues being double dactyls, which I certainly wouldn't have gotten on my own. And the additions of OSTEOPATH, USAINBOLT, and ATTACHEDTO make the grid more interesting (I don't much care for the singular ARGYLESOCK). Still, the theme itself, a question and answer, never really excites me, and the particular question begs the question: how many other famous poets are doubly dactylic? There must be some, although I can't come up with one.
My error was putting LGBq. And that was silly.
Hmm... this reminds me that I actually finished with an error, too. I had written ATTACHEsTO, probably because I noticed that that would make two words, and never went back to check it.
Delete13:42
ReplyDeleteSPA - F. Fantastic puzzle, even though it lacks a rebus and sports a SKUNK. Nice clue for TAXI (41A Rainy day rarity), and I like that it crosses TBILISI, somewhere I'd love to visit. I liked seeing the full EDKOCH in the grid. Never heard of MESSI, and may I mention that the word DUMP can have no good clue, the one in this puzzle included. Does anyone DISPUTE that? BLUE could have had a better clue. TATA.
Double dactyl clues definitely cute (which explains why they seemed a bit odd in places, but generally the puzzle did well with that constraint).
ReplyDeleteBut as for whether there is a good way to clue DUMP, sounds like a challenge. "What a _____". "Computer data output". "Truck type". Don't think I've really nailed it yet, but seems like a lot of possibilities.