I was super excited when I saw the two triple-named crossword constructing superstars combining to create a Friday themeless, and I have to say, I was not disappointed.
I took a strangely scattered approach to today's puzzle, breaking in at 2D: With a guest, on a guest list (PLUSONE), and then via ANNES to SARGE, to ROBREINER. Any puzzle that reminds me of This Is Spinal Tap (you can't put an umlaut over an N using a Mac keyboard, apparently) is an immediate winner in my book. I mean, it's a catastrophe.
After that, I filled in the SW corner. Is AGUA really a chaser for Tequila? Not salt and lime? I wouldn't know anything about that liquor. I'm a rye man, myself. I also confuse myself for a short period of time by thinking there were seven Muses, rather than nine. Who are they, you ask? Why, let me enlighten you.
Calliope (Epic poetry)
Clio (History)
Euterpe (Lyric poetry)
Thalia (Comedy)
Melpomene (Tragedy)
Terpsichore (Dance) - which I always remember because of the Cheese Shop sketch
Erato (Love poetry)
Polyhymnia (Sacred poetry)
Urania (Astronomy) - which one of these is not like the others?
Now that we're all super more intelligenter, let's talk about GOOGLEHANGOUTS. Seems fake. Are they really pluralized? Apparently they are, but even so. Does anybody use them? Not to BEATADEADHORSE, but that's a much better 14-letter answer.
Anyway, there are some nice answers elsewhere, like UGLYCRY. I also love 16A: Half of the digits have this (TOENAIL) and 42D: Willful? (TESTATE). I'd rather not think about Minions. Let's do away with them, ONEEYED or not.
1A: "Save your excuses" (SPAREME) - B+.
- Colum
32:28
ReplyDeleteI never heard of a SANDDAB, ABIE the Agent, the RIAA or the DSO. ENTEBBE was somewhere in the back of my mind, luckily, giving me the B of ABIE, but the I was a guess. The puzzle was a fun one, though, with nice entries like NUTMEAT, OBERLIN and the full ARTDECO. Even the overabundance of proper names didn't DOOM the mood too much.