I got the skinny on this theme about midway through. When I first started the puzzle, the flashing info icon in my app had me worried that I would need to see the print version to complete it, but I didn't. I was able to visualize the theme answers by narrowing my eyes. :) My favorite today might be [narrow]ESCAPE, although there was a time when I loved a [thin]MINT. I am not a fan of [skinny]JEANS.
In other news, I first entered bIg for 4A. (Lead-in to toe or top). It works, but it wasn't correct. Ha! I finally got TOOKHEART at 4D, so the big toe was marched right out of there.
When you see the word AERATE, do you think of that Simpsons episode when Mr. Burns leads the power plant staff in calisthenics? "Raise your right hock. Aerate. Raise your left hock. Aerate." Good times.
I hope Horace both got and enjoyed 46A. Writing on many a chalkboard (MENU) because that's just what he uses at home to list the dinners for the week. I enjoyed 32A. Pickup line? (RAM), 28D. French well (BIEN), and 30D. Museum piece (RELIC). It's twice now we've seen THRICE.
There were a few answers I was SARI to see, including 1A. Cable channel owned by Time Warner (TBS) and 7A. Countdown abbr. (HRS), which were kinda BLAH, but otherwise I think the puzzle URNs an OLE.
~Frannie
DNF
ReplyDeleteAwww.... I get a shout out. Thanks, Frannie!
Did everyone else fall for the "French well" trap by entering "puit?" Of course you did.
In closing, I will say that I know neither my cable channels (TBS) nor my one-horse carriages (CARIOLE), nor, sadly, my female apparel, because cAmI seemed ok to me. Hey, it leaves both arms bare! That includes one arm!
8:27
ReplyDeleteWell, Horace, I tried tAnk for a while. Which leaves one arm bare. As well as the other. Isn't that what they meant?
CARIOLE: wow. Never heard of it, but it's definitely a thing.
Weirdly, I got [thin] MINTS immediately, but then was confused by all of the other answers, assuming they would be "thin" as well. What's a "thin" CHANCE? Exactly. I was too literal.
TOOKHEART was what Frederick did in Pirates.
P.S. Baseball minitheme in the SW with PINETAR and RAINOUT, and a Houston Rockets minitheme in the NE with HAKEEM and YAO.
Delete34:32
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this HAKEEM fellow, and didn't know the theme until I read Frannie's review. I thought that some of the answers didn't quite make sense, especially CUISINE, where I tried a rebus for the "C," [leanc], which just would not work with the cross. So I finally settled on CUISINE and didn't give the theme another thought. I like the way PUTTOAVOTE looks in there, and although I wrote OMNISCIENT in off of the clue, I wanted gmc where RAM goes so badly, I questioned that area for a long time. CARIOLE is known to me from my reading of Proust's tomes. I love a SHINDIG and a FREETRIAL; nice that they cross. I didn't like the strings of threes across the top and bottom.