Frannie here, filling in for Horace today in an effort to
early up the review posting (due to popular demand) while he steers us from
Bordeaux to Melun over the autoroutes of France. I’m a little rusty on the
review front, plus I’ve been speaking mostly French for the last week, so bear
with me s’il vous plaît. :)
In today’s puzzle we find an unclued, but referenced answer
snaking its way down the center of the puzzle. It is “accessed” by other two
other theme answers including 28D. WALLSCONCE (Something you might secretly
push in a 19-Across (TROPHYROOM)) on the left, and FALSEPANEL (9D. Something
you might secretly push in a 24-Down (BOOKCASE)) on the right. Either might
lead you to the HIDDENSTAIRCASE made up of three-letter sections of other
answers forming its steps and risers identified by shaded squares, beginning
with the first three letters of
HIDEAWAY at 20D (Secret spot).
Elsewhere, the puzzle was up and down (if I may). I thought
the clue for 7D Quartets after some infighting (TRIOS) was unexpected and
amusing. The clue for 66A. “Number two” (AIDE) made me LOL mostly because of
what the answer wasn’t. I also enjoyed 4D. Not be a dinosaur (ADAPT), 70A. Good
time for a pique-nique (ETE) (naturally), and 3D. Chianti or Asti Spumante
(VINO). But, the top of the heap, clue-wise, was 24D. Where you might adjust
the volume (BOOKCASE). Ha!
I also liked JOLT, SUMAC (as a nod to George Bernard Shaw), and CACHET
(maybe another theme answer, or is just me?)
 |
| The barriques at Léoville-Poyferré. |
I found some of the other fill to be more of an uphill climb
like AUER (Violinist Leopold), YOWLS (despite the great word caterwauling in
the clue), ONER (Extraordinary thing, in slang), and PAPA (Family nickname),
not in terms of difficulty, but in their lack of élan. Overall though, it a fun
solve.
~Frannie (& Horace (photo credit)).
Thanks for your early posting. I enjoy reading the impressions of others about the nytimes crosswords and the blog I followed for quite some time became very negative. I could never post anything for fear of being criticized by one side or another. so it is a pleasure to have found you three. I agree with just about everything you said about today’s crossword.
ReplyDelete8:27
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily that negativity should be right out, even when discussing a puzzle with NAZI and TMEN conspicuously lurking in the SE. And speaking of the latter, how about how it's adjacent to TNUT? ADOLESCENT is a pleasing word, though not a nice age. SNOOT is great, as is the not often seen DRAYS, despite its plural showing. AUER and ONER are terrible, but the crosses were fine. Time for me to hit the WINECELLAR.
5:27
ReplyDeleteI suppose Leopold AUER is a bit out of date nowadays, but a classic bit of crosswordese. When young, he knew the great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim, the violinist who performed all of Brahms's wonderful violin music. And later in life, he taught such great 20th century violinists as Jascha Heifetz, Mischa Elman, and Efrem Zimbalist.
But I digress. Great great puzzle. I love the secrets hidden away in it.
I wonder if the triple checked letters along the staircase explain why I had so much trouble in the middle. ENSE crossing ELI.... Anyway, totally agree about the delightful clues for BOOKCASE and TRIOS. Time was fairly typical for a Wednesday.
ReplyDelete