There are a lot of flowers that have served as names over the years, but this is the first time I've ever heard PANSY put into that group. It was, apparently, once more common than it is today, but the site "babynamewizard.com" lists it as "0 per million babies" since 1950, and "babycenter.com" calls it the 15,285th most popular girl's name in 2015, and has "no data" for eight of the last ten years. I'm guessing it's just slightly higher on these lists than "Crocus."
But enough about that, what about the theme?! It, too, includes things I've never heard before. I'm learning! I am amused by NOTHINGBURGER (30A: Big fat zero), and WORDSALAD (17A: Gobbledygook) is wonderfully picturesque. The other two "food" expressions are OLDHAT, ISUPPOSE, so there's no need to repeat them here.
The fill includes a few THRILLS like PEGASUS, SWATH (18D: Path of mowed grass), ARPEGGIO, and HOTMIC (25D: It might capture an embarrassing comment), which makes me think of Will Ferrell. So that's good.
1A: HTML (Web designer's code) - D.
Favorite: 34A: Like Jefferson on a list of presidents (THIRD). I love these absurdly specific, yet out-of-left field clues.
Least: There's really nothing that bothers me too much.
Overall, a fine Monday.
- Horace
p.s. I also discovered in my brief Googling of "Pansy" that there's a character named "Pansy Parkinson" in one of the Harry Potter stories, so I guess I have no complaint. And I suppose that even means that the name might see a resurgence. Maybe. Well, whatever, I love pansies, so I'm all for it.
5:32
ReplyDeleteTough Monday with themers that were hard to get without most of the fill. And yes all the time lost on Pansy. And arpeggio. If I knew more about music and Spanish, it would help me with these puzzles almost every day.
3:27
ReplyDeletePANSY was no difficulty, but the character in the Harry Potter series is a nasty little thing, in the Slytherin house, so I doubt many people will be using it for their children soon. WORDSALAD is also a common Neurology term, referring to a fluent aphasia, such as is seen in a patient with a dominant temporal lobe stroke.
Off my pedestal...
And I liked this puzzle! It was a cute Monday, no revealer needed.
5:10
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd get in under 5:00 again, but no. ARPEGGIO went right in, as did POSIT and PSALM. I've heard of WORDSALAD (although not the way Colum references), but never NOTHINGBURGER; I'll have to use that! It's too bad that with the other Bible clues, REDSEA was clued so blahly. Also, BANGS. And shouldn't "Zoolander" have been used for MERMAN?
Good reference with Zoolander! I'd forgotten that. I would have enjoyed an Airplane reference for Ethyl MERMAN myself.
DeleteYes, that would have been great, too, and would have been more relevant to the actual reference.
DeleteNot surprisingly I had dAiSY before PANSY. Favorite clue? EASEL. Also liked the clue for TWOAM - that's an example of how to come up with a clue which is easy enough for Monday but isn't just the most straightforward definition possible.
ReplyDelete