Oh, this was excellent. So much fun figuring out each magic trick. I had one little quibble, but I've decided even that was unfair, so I'm calling it a win all around.
There are five classic magic tricks described. Each one is demonstrated graphically elsewhere in the grid. Thus, we get VANISHINGCOIN, which is shown elsewhere at 78D: Provide part of a coverage policy for ([COIN]SURE). I literally ran multiple types of coins first, thinking of "penny sure," "quarter sure," etc. before hitting on the correct and in retrospect obvious one.
Next is LINKINGRINGS, where at 104D and 119A we get the actual rebuses of SY[RING]E and ST[RING]BEAN. That's very nice work. Unfortunately I had entered just the R rather than the entire rebus, which the app accepted, so it looked more like there were invisible rings. But that's not the constructor's fault.
The third magic trick is SAWINGALADYINHALF, which is demonstrated by ELLA and DYS separated by a black square, thus putting LA and DY on either side of the divide. Very clever, but I don't love DYS.
My favorite by far is the CHANGINGCARD trick, where "Peking" duck is switched to PEACE. Oh, that's brilliant. And you end up with a real word in the space. I don't think you could have a better trick than that.
Finally, there's the LEVITATINGMAN, which is graphically produced by having the first letters of [M]ETRES, [A]ARON, and [N]IELS floating above the grid. Finding these out early really messed up my solving for a while because I was looking for missing letters.
I love that there are five different ways of representing things graphically. Initially I was upset that not every altered entry in the grid was also a true word, but that's asking a bit much with some of these maneuvers.
Let's see: other tough answers in the puzzle included 27A: Nickname for an Oxford university (OLEMISS). I was all the way across the ocean, which I imagine most of the solvers were for a while as well. I also liked 28D: Manipulative type (SVENGALI). I initially had "seam" at 42D: Place from which to withdraw deposits (MINE), then switched to MINt, and missed the flaw at NEA, so that's an error on finishing.
1A: Bit of a Bollywood soundtrack (RAGA) - B-.
There was a lot to like here, but, mirabile DICTU, I've run out of space.
- Colum
35:04
ReplyDeleteNice time for a Sunday, and I was quite happy with the rebus feel of the puzzle, as we've been missing that on Thursdays for quite a long time now. GLYPH is nice, but I could have done without the MRCLEAN, RITEAID, FORD and FANTAs in there. I never heard of the ACEAWARD, and needed the crosses for the first part. Nice that AGAVE and DRYS are near each other in the SE. Shout out to FIGARO.