There were plenty of good fish in this sea. Today we found ORCA "swimming" in four substantial theme answers. I especially liked LIQUORCABINET, but RADIATORCAP is also tops. With a KILLERWHALE every where you look, Elizabeth II had better forget about NESSie and watch herself around the fountains at WINDSORCASTLE.
And speaking of Elizabeth, it was nice that Elizabeth I, last of the TUDORS, could cross paths with her old haunt again, even it is in only in puzzledom. ASCOT and ERMINE elsewhere in the puzzle added to the royal ambiance. There was also quite a bit of SWEET, OLDE timey fill including FIB, MOXIE, AGUE, and BIER, while SLAW, BONGO, and POPS kept it hip. I enjoyed a number of other answers, too, like CODEWORDS, FILET, and TOKEN.
In the department of clues that could use some AID, I'll ENTER MSDEGREE (Common grad sch. credential). Its partner, GRE, notwithstanding, most of the rest of the three-letter answers were AOK.
But, to go out on a high note, I will now belt out the chorus of BALI Ha'i. Good times.
~Frannie.
6:29
ReplyDeleteSure, this was a fine Monday. BIER surprised me, as we don't see that too often, and it was nice that QUEEN was in there without reference to the Elizabeths (shouldn't they be Elisabeths over there?).Always great to be reminded of HARPO and the others, and BALI, even when clued with "South Pacific."
4:20
ReplyDeleteI, too, enjoyed this one quite a bit. The revealer was a nice surprise, as I had not noticed all the orcas!
Nice review.
6:08
ReplyDeleteTheme is a nice little application of what could otherwise be tired crosswordese. Liked RACETRACK, SEARCH, and PALEO. Slightly slowed down by lIe before FIB but saw BOONE and fixed it almost immediately. Not sure how I feel about BLAT. Maybe it just sounds like a sound I wouldn't want coming out of my trombone.