"It took me longer to complete the puzzle than I thought it would," said Frannie uneasily. "I did finish it without errors, though," she continued unmistakably.
Okay, so I like a Tom Swifty. Once I started I couldn't stop, but I won't include them all, I pledge sparingly. Of the TAYLORSWIFTLYs in this puzzle, I thought HOWARDSTERNLY was the best, and probably the most accurate. :)
There were other elements of this puzzle that I enjoyed. HEIR for Next in line (14A) was a nice one. The Great Tempter (SATAN) at 33D was another nice one. I like the words PRONTO, PESTO, SPORADIC, and BALK. And I thought the H.L. Mencken quote at64A. was humorous. "A man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin" (CYNIC). Ha!
There were three clues I didn't much like, she said DREIly.
22D. Munch on (EAT)
48D. What stars are in the night (SPECKS) - I don't really associate the words stars and specks. I had SParKS in there at first, which seems more star like to me.
27D. Measuring cup material for PYREX seemed a little odd to me. Isn't Pyrex a brand of kitchen ware formerly made of borosilicate glass and now made of soda-lime glass in the U.S.? In a nice coincidence, borosilicate glass was first made by OTTO Schott. Maybe they named the schott glass for him. :)
I'll stop banging on here to leave you a little time in your day to hop over to the "Function" section of the Wikipedia page about ray guns. It's a fun read.
And, in case you didn't get enough of my own Tom Swities, here are three more, she offered serieously...
"I'm feeling better for the first time since my girlfriend left me," he said wholeheartedly ; "I go to the same bar every week," she said frequently ; "Let me see that fruit in your hand," said Adam, NAIVEly [nigh Eve ly].
~Frannie
4:41
ReplyDeleteFun take on Tom Swifties, using the celebrity's last name to get there. I couldn't think of any off the top of my head, he said emptily. Good times.
He questioned the existential quote from Rene Descartes, Amoryly
Delete(6:58, fast for Tuesday)
ReplyDeleteTAYLORSWIFTLY was pretty obvious, in fact when I had a few of the crosses (and knew the theme by this point), I filled it in first and only afterwards looked at the clue. Which might seem like an odd tactic but it is one I use from time to time, and it was interesting to hear at the ACPT that Dr Fill does something kinda similar (pay more attention to what answer fits the grid than the clue).
Kind of amused to see SHIA clued as some actor rather than, oh, I don't know, one of the largest subgroups of one of the world's largest religions. But before I have the chance to get too disappointed, that gets me free associating on chia (seed), shin (body part), and other fine words I'm not sure I see in puzzles as much as I'd like.
I wanted "streaks" for the stars, but it isn't the right number of letters and it is only on long-exposure photos.
At my first ACPT, three years ago, I happened to end up sitting with five-time champ Doug Hoylman during the Friday night games, and he, too, seemed to work more with patterns than with clues, so I think you're on the right track, Jim. Looking at our half-filled grid, he would just point to a space and say "This word has to be ____." And talking with Howard Barkin over the past couple years, he seems to be able to do the same thing. I'm not saying they never look at the clues (because really, I have no idea exactly how these guys do what they do), but that pattern recognition piece definitely plays into it.
Delete8:37
ReplyDeleteI entered SParKS for the stars, like Frannie, but I GNU it was wrong when the crosses wouldn't fill properly. SAKE is in the puzzle much more than it's in front of me, unfortunately. I always associate PYREX with the labware. I loved the HOWARDSTERNLY answer, but theme answers notwithstanding, there was too much proper nounage in the grid: ALDO, EULER (always a nice reference, though), ADELE, LEO, HARRYS OTTO, RUDY SHIA, MEL, LANDRY, ONO and SATAN (did I miss any?). Fine Tuesday.
5:27
ReplyDeleteFaster than yesterday, for me. Who doesn't love a Tom Swifty, Tom said, harmoniously.
And those are three (or four) pretty nice ones at the end of the review Frannie. My favorite, I think, is "serieously," because it is so absurd. Ha!