Boy o boy that NE corner was a bear! I guessed CLAPTON off the clue (that list is bullshit), but ADELIE (14A: Penguin species) and SONARS (16A: They make waves in the ocean) (derp), were not exactly gimmies.
I wish I could give 1A an A, but... well... I don't know, it's almost begging for an A, which is why I can't give it one. Let's say B+.
Oh, by the way, this is Horace. Frannie and I went out to the North End straight after work. We had martinis at Caffé Paradiso and then spent a couple hours at Pizzeria Regina, and on the way home she asked me if I would like to "guest review." So here we are. I'm a little tipsy, and I'm a little surly.
I do not like GUARANTY. Variants are seldom welcome, and are less so when they arrive unannounced. I don't much like DIDICONN either, but she did play "Cupcake" on the animated show "The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang" (1980-1981), so I can't be too upset.
On the upside, I enjoyed SHEBANG (6D: "Whole" amount), PERMEATE (15A: Diffuse through), and CAPITALQ (36A: MapQuest feature). And how many of you had EsCHER for 40A: Impressionist artist? before you realized that "8D: Extreme fandom" was "ADORATION?" Come on, it wasn't just me!
Nobody has ever said POPTABS (38D: Soda can features) have they? Maybe "pop tops," maybe "pull tabs," but "pop tabs?" Never.
OK, Frannie might add more to this eventually, so I'll sign off now. See you next month!
- Horace
9:55
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling early on this wasn't Frannie...
This was fun because I was just starting to get annoyed with all those three-letter words I couldn't understand. Then it hit me - this is Thursday, look for something odd. And boom, 3 Down fell, homefree from there.
I liked that EDMONDS, CLAPTON, LATIFAH, and ATARIS gave enough of each corner to work it all out.
11:05
ReplyDeleteNice time, Mike! I liked the theme, especially since each three letter fragment can be a word on its own, as well as part of the 9-letter and 6-letter variants.
22:50
ReplyDeleteI entered EsCHER at first, Horace. I really enjoyed the theme for the very reasons that Colum mentions, and the grid is nice and symmetrical, too. If there isn't a rebus, this is what a Thursday should be.