The theme answers were time periods, or ages, when one or another group or item was, apparently, in ascendance, while also being common (or proper) nouns. So, the period dominated by the likes of Dan Rather and Peter Jennings? was ANCHORAGE. The period I would most enjoy, I think, is probably COVERAGE. I like a good cover song. The one I would probably like least is SHRINKAGE. I thought PILLAGE could have been clued more aptly as Period when thousands of people are dying from opioid overdose? Too soon?
The puzzle was off to a good start, in my book, with IMDB, everyone's favorite online database. CAKED, GULPED, RIOT, and CRAMS are also solid. I also love ASIF, but my favorite clue is 11D A, as in Aristotle (ALPHA) - ha! I also enjoyed the example ALIBI provided at 62A "I was with my mistress at the time." And, with apologies to Sports Illustrated, Zowie, it's OWIE (again)!
We've got little flickers of a mini fire theme with CHAR, SOOT, and SPARK here and there. And French one, too, with MOUE, VOILA, and BEHEADED.
LAMS as a verb is kind of lame. Abet others would agree. Ha.
~Frannie.
5:55
ReplyDeleteI'd have liked LAWMAKER to reference "MST3K" (and, in that case, BOBO as well) or "Planet of the Apes," but other than that this was a fine Monday. GUYANA and ZIGGURAT were unusual Monday answers. BONDAGE is shocking, as was OILUP and the aforementioned (by Frannie) SHRINKAGE.
When I saw DORAG I thought "well, that's a nice alternative to afro" (which can be either problematic or just a bit overused, depending on how it is clued). But later in the puzzle I saw AFRO too. Never mind.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the theme answers, probably liked PILLAGE best. And GUYANA is a nice answer. I got hung up on IMAC because I somehow managed to misread 1998 as 1978. What a difference twenty years makes!
Also liked SOOT and CAKED
Oh, and 8:02 (typical for Monday)
Delete4:54
ReplyDeleteWow, how many people are going to get the "Zowie it's Maui" reference? Nice. What a great cover... Also, your review made me wonder about the difference between an opiate and an opioid. The latter is definitely more fun to say, and it sounds as if it's kind of an ersatz version of a true opiate. I suppose I ought to look that up.
Fun theme. Who doesn't love a little wacky reinterpretation?