Strange little theme of finding an old SAW - "Still waters run deep" - in the first words of four theme answers. The theme answers themselves are all common enough, although I tend to associate DEEPTHOUGHTS (52A: "What is life?," "Why are we here?," etc.) with comedy rather than philosophy, thanks to one Mr. Jack Handy, whose DEEPTHOUGHTS run more like this:
If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that’s what He’s getting!ORLON is a lousy word (coined in 1941 by Dupont) and a lousier fabric. Synthetics release hundreds of thousands of microparticles into the water stream each time they are washed. You may think the shirt is CLEAN, but it makes the EEL and his friends DOUR. Kind of takes the SHEEN off of all those artificial fabrics, eh?
I enjoyed SMOLDERS (4D: Burns slowly) and its neighbor AIRKISS (5D: Simulated smooch), and maybe I'm just giddy, but the clue for GIANT (39A: "Fee-fi-fo-fum" sayer) also made me chuckle. KEENLY (44D: With enthusiasm) is nice, and I prefer seeing AEIOU (33D: "Wheel of Fortune" purchases) to the singular "an o" or "an i" any day.
Overall, I thought this was a perfectly serviceable Monday.
- Horace
Had DEEPquestion before DEEPTHOUGHTS but I should have seen the wording called for a plural.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe crosswords are still acting as if aol and MSN are the defining presences on the internet (well, or any significant presence at all). Old habits die hard (speaking of which, those could be the first words of theme answers in some future puzzle. This theme concept seems versatile).
As for the time, a bit slower than usual but it was one of those "look at the puzzle on the phone in a crowded train and if I see an answer, eventually be able to key it in one handed" sorts of solves, so hard to calibrate anything on that.
4:08
ReplyDeleteMy fastest time on paper to date. I'm getting ready, folks!
This puzzle is certainly fine. I like that there's no revealer, because, as they say, still waters run deep, and all that. My favorite line comes at 46A.
FURIES ... ORWORSE!
Oh, wait. There was a revealer. I just didn't see it until now.
Delete5:19
ReplyDeleteLike Horace mentions, perfectly serviceable Monday. We don't see VELCRO too often. My favorite of the theme-containing answers was STILLKICKING.