Well, it's a new year, so it's time to try something new. Yes, that means switching reviewers on a weekly basis, but also, for me, I'm going to work on speeding up my solving times on paper.
And I see I have a ways to go. About one to two minutes slower than my average time on the iPad app. I made a ton of errors along the way here as well. A few examples:
1D: tried ohmyGOD.
26A: tried theWEST.
5A: tried urge.
59A: tried elan, followed by Zest.
Erasing takes a lot longer with a pencil than with the iPad, it turns out!
So, maybe this is the first step towards actually going to the ACPT this year.
Meanwhile, I didn't see what the theme of today's puzzle was until I finished the whole thing. And let me say, I love this one. Five different rhymes for "oh-ay", and all five are spelled differently. My favorite is probably YOUWILLOBEY, for the simple audacity of the command.
Also, the fill is strong, including KLATCH, OTHELLO, and YEAHFINE. Nothing much to complain about, except perhaps the peculiar plural of HIHOS.
I'm looking forward to this week!
- Colum
I tried the exact same tries as you did, except theWEST. I think I had a down that helped me kick that one OLD school. I got stuck in MILOOSHEA's neighborhood. STCLAIR sitting on top of him, combined with some bad typing, caused quite an uproar, and a very slow Monday time of 15:21, and on an iPad to boot. Solving on paper is slower. Horace and I have been doing extra puzzles on paper with the ACPT in mind, which we are already looking forward to. Pro tip (remember the source): don't erase, just write the correct letter over it really, really dark.
ReplyDelete7:39
ReplyDeleteTook a bit longer than me for a Monday, also. I was slowed down by a few of the names, mostly. I'm not familiar with AVEDA or MILOOSHEA. Loved YOUWILLOBEY. It was nice to have a bit more of a challenge for a Monday for a change.
7:39
ReplyDeleteTook a bit longer than me for a Monday, also. I was slowed down by a few of the names, mostly. I'm not familiar with AVEDA or MILOOSHEA. Loved YOUWILLOBEY. It was nice to have a bit more of a challenge for a Monday for a change.
6:14
ReplyDeleteThis was a tough Monday puzzle for me too, so maybe the paper didn't slow you down as much as you might think. We'll see how you do next Monday.
If you do decide to try ACPT, I'll be sure to see you there.
5:41
ReplyDeleteI would take Frannie's advice here with a grain of salt.
I will try to make a reservation and sign up for the ACPT this weekend. I'm already looking forward to it, and I really hope you can make it this year, Colum. Maybe I should make H&F&C t-shirts or something!