What an odd, multipart theme today. First of all, there's that note again - which some of you do not see, apparently, and so may not fully realize that the puzzle is missing the letters C and Y in all but the central, revealer. Second of all, there's the PINATA hanging in the middle of the puzzle, filled with CANDY. Pretty nice. But when I got the revealer (even having read the note) I read it as more of a "sound" clue, and thought that the letters K and E would be missing. But then I saw many, many Es, and that one K from KTEL (58A: "Hooked on Classics" label), and I just put off thinking any more about it until after I was finished. An event that was only held up in any significant way by the NW quadrant, where I had entered "ubi" for "2D: Where: Lat." (QUO) (hmpf), which held things up for a while, but which I was forced to re-think after getting ULTIMATEFRISBEE (3D: Widely played sport developed at Amherst College in the 1960s). Ahh... ultimate... I'll probably need two total knee replacements in a few years, but 25 years of all-out ultimate was totally worth it.
1A: Fair (EQUITABLE) - A.
Favorite: Since I don't feel I can use ULTIMATEFRISBEE after going on about it above, I'll pick TOTEMPOLE (17A: Hierarchical structure, metaphorically)
Least: I guess I'll pick on NRA (26A: Org. with millions of members HQ'd in Fairfax, Va.) just for the fun of it.
I liked this odd duck of a puzzle. There's no symmetry, there's unchecked letters, there's total separation between left and right at the top, but overall, I came away with a smile. Even though I'd sooner say "Go jump in a lake" rather than GOJUMPINTHELAKE (12D: "Take a hike!"), and even though I put in "blond ale" before getting AMBERALE (53A: Light brown brew), and even thought I've never heard of TIMS (5D: Popular beige work boots, colloquially) ... it's all good.
Fun Thursday.
- Horace
11:11
ReplyDeleteFunny. I knew pretty quickly at the end of filling the grid that C and Y were the two letters I didn't use, but, similarly, it wasn't making sense phonetically. I knew _AND_ had to be in the middle, so I just started typing. My personal aha moment came in the fraction of a second right after I had entered CAND_ and right before I typed "Y." Hah!
But, yes, very enjoyable, if odd, and a little easy, puzzle. I started with GOODE and never looked back. Indeed, a lot of reminiscing here: KTEL, TONKAS, TRIVIAGAMES, GIJOE, and even Brooks Robinson, to go alone with the childhood birthday theme.
I agree with everything in your review. I've similarly never heard anyone say GOJUMPIN'THE'LAKE. But how can you not love ULTIMATEFRISBEE spelled out and the trivia tidbit to go with it?!
5:58
ReplyDeleteI had CANDY well before I noticed there was a note. I would never have noticed that I wasn't using those letters in the remainder of the grid. I suppose some people will nitpick about GOJUMPINTHELAKE and GETGOING, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me. I too entered "ubi" immediately, but once I put ULTIMATEFRISBEE in, the EuU____ beginning to 1A seemed mighty suspect.
I enjoyed GIJOE, ELMER, and the TONKAS as nostalgia for a long ago boyhood.
And the least favorite should really be OEDS. There's only one, with many copies, and nobody owns more than one, so I don't see how you pluralize it.
34:03
ReplyDeleteI stared at that NW for a good eighteen (18:00) minutes before I finally entered MULTIPLEX on a whim and it fell. It didn't help that the downs were either clued so well or things of which I had no knowledge (QUO, TIMS, LELAND). I had no note on the Across Lite version of this puzzle, so didn't know anything of the missing C or Y (my real initials for those not in the know), but filling in 35A and 44D was no problem regardless. I had ___FRISBEE for a very long time before remembering the ULTIMATE___ part, having never played the game. Favorite: BLOTTO (7D Trashed). SOILED doesn't happen with my laundry too much, and ENTENTE is a nice word. Agree?