Sometimes you're just on a constructor's wavelength. Nothing seemed to cause much difficulty for me today. Or perhaps it was just an easier than usual Friday themeless. That being said, there's a ton of fun stuff today.
I knew things would go well when I dropped in both 1A: Something to keep a watch on (WRIST) and 1D: Fan sound (WHIR) without a thought. Those are both nice misdirects, but it is the middle of the turn, and we're on the lookout. 14A: Like much of Shakespeare's and Sappho's love poetry (HOMOEROTIC) is very nice, and fitting given my blogging proclivities this week. But it would have been trickier if they'd left Sappho out of the clue.
TELEPROMPTER and POSTRACIAL were also both easy to get, once the first four letters were filled in from the rest of the NW. I dropped the entire central section very quickly, and exited with DRAFTKINGS.
I particularly like 25D: Some late-night viewing (STARGAZING). No television needed. And 21D: They can swing left or right (PURPLESTATES) is also very nicely done. I finished in the NE, where 16A: Show of hands? (TIME) stumped me for a while. I'm still not sure about 30A: Hunk (GOB). Anybody have a reason why these two words equal each other?
Anyway, I enjoyed solving this one. Looking forward to tomorrow!
- Colum
I did a little googling, but not as much as usual for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time I wasn't prepared to accept HOMOEROTIC over IDEALISTIC just because -TT, -II-, and -CC--- all seemed unlikely. And a while later it turned out that was correct after all.
Having said all that, it did play easy for me for a Friday, 22:05 (with some googling, as noted).
WRIST was good, although I didn't get it as fast as WHIR (and yes, I figured "watch" was probably a time keeping device, although I don't know why WRIST took as long as it did).
13:49
ReplyDeleteI re-read some of Shakespeare's sonnets this morning, and I'm not sure that I agree with the clue for HOMOEROTIC. Sure, maybe there are some references to a male in some sonnets, but for the most part, they're just love poems without gender.
My favorite clue today: "Show of hands?" for TIME. Very nice.
Also - Colum, you crushed this one!
ReplyDelete19:51
ReplyDeleteJust about a normal time for a Friday, with not much slowing me down, either. I wanted Tacitus where LIVY goes, but couldn't make it fit. A GOB of something could be described as a hunk of it, no? I didn't love that one either. And I don't love the sets of doubles mentioned by Mr. Kingdon up there in the north, but I must admit that shoehorning those entries in (ATT, RIIS (?) and MCCAFE) is impressive in a way, even though one is an abbreviation and one is someone I'd never heard of. SAPIENT is a nice word.