The puzzle theme features an acceptable round-up of synonyms for OK (WELL, JAKE, FINE, FAIR) in a circular formation at the center of the grid. At the edges, we find some supporting characters including DOCHOLLIDAY and IKECLANTON who people the GUNFIGHTAT THEOKCORRAL.
I liked the fill words WILLOWY, GONAVY, MONIKER, and MIMOSA. Huygens probably likes MAKEOUT, despite the clue, Detect.
There are a few entries in the SNARLER category today. My least favorite answer was SALUTER (Private, often, 22D). I didn't know ARB (Wall St. trader), and I will try to forget it again as soon as I can. I am giving 1A. MACAO a D.
Are we allowed to say BANANA Republic?
~Frannie.
8:21
ReplyDeleteI didn't like either variant today: MACAO nor MESCAL. And who the hell is IKECLANTON?
SANG FROID, I enjoyed.
11:14
ReplyDeleteIKECLANTON is well known, but ARB is not. "Tombstone" is one of my favorite movies, so I enjoyed the theme, but I'm with Frannie on SALUTER: terrible. Nice looking grid and well-done puzzle in general. But I agree with Horace on the variants; thankfully I know some texting shorthand, saving me on MACAO, although I rarely text and never use shorthand. I'm your huckleberry.
8:36
ReplyDeleteKnowing French definitely came in handy on this one. Theme seemed a bit artificial, and I also have no idea about IKECLANTON. Sounds like he should be a jazz musician.
May not have finished this puzzle if I hadn't seen BAOBAB and MESCAL in previous ones.
6:10
ReplyDeleteI liked the actual corral in the center of the puzzle, and how each word is clued for a different meaning rather than as "ok".
11:10 FWOE
ReplyDeleteI found this puzzle theme to be a little forced. I agree with Colum that the synonyms form a visual corral of OKs. I also took the plus sign of black squares inside the corral to be the crosshairs of a gun. I can't believe that's a coincidence. So maybe the corral doubles as the gun's site.?. I'm pretty sure, too, that the six connected black squares on each side of the grid represent a dot-matrix-like outline of a handgun. I mean, the theme is THEGUNFIGHTATTHEOKCORRAL and I think those are supposed to be the guns.
So I think there was more to the theme than has been suggested, but isn't it a bit forced? that the black squares are almost more important to the theme than the answers. Yes, you have the four OK synonyms that form the corral, or a gun sight, and the revealer over two long answers. But then you have kind of a random two of the nine gunfighters at the event. Although both are known to me, neither is the leading figure on his respective side of the ____GUNFIGHT______ . DOCHOLLIDAY was a friend of the much better known, Wyatt Earp, whose father, Virgil, and brother, Morgan, were also there. IKECLANTON was one of two CLANTON brothers along with three other outlaws. So, methinks a bit forced.