Our thanks to my esteemed colleague, Mr. Horace Fawley, Esq., for another week of entertaining and edifying reviews. And, as he so eloquently put it, our thanks to our dozens (tens? handful?) of loyal and persevering readers, without whom... without whom, we would have no readers, I suppose.
Every now and then, dear readers, I find myself waxing philosophical about this PASTIME of ours. Within the walls of this blessed plot, this grid, this realm, this... well, this puzzle, most commonly numbering only fifteen squares a side, roam the unfettered imaginations of our noble constructors. Drawing from fabled realms as far removed as ancient CANAAN and sunny WAIKIKI, crossing a MACADAMIA from far Oceania with the mundane ACORNS, reminding us of great personages such as ISAAC Asimov while also teasing us with TANIA Raymonde, each doth bestride the puzzle like a colossus!
I guess my point is that this is all in good fun. And even when a grid TEEMS with items such as EKING or AMAT (which this one really doesn't), it's usually worth it for a moment of relaxation away from the terrifying headlines and other flotsam and jetsam of the real world.So, yeah. Fun theme, and I needed the revealer to see the connections. I'd quibble slightly with the inclusion of PHONEJACK, as that is so clearly related to calling someone up, but there's probably little way to include "phone" at the start of a word that doesn't. And UNICOLOR seems ad hoc to me. Is it? It certainly googles, but I don't think it's common usage.
But these are quibbles. Let us gather our rosebuds while we may (to quote a different other chap, but from the same time period).
- Colum
CZAR is a blast from the past, and nice to see it back even though getting there from tsAR was my biggest speed bump.
ReplyDeleteWhat's tasty today? Maybe some nice PAELLA.
3:23
ReplyDeleteVery nice review. I think you just disliked PHONEJACK because it was difficult to work into a Shakespeare line. (Banish PHONEJACK, and banish all the world!) :) But I agree about UNICOLOR.
Perhaps my fastest solve ever. Someday, maybe, I'll join the ELITES...
7:46 (solved on my device)
ReplyDeleteI assume my time would have been in the 5s using Across Lite. Not sure why anyone would have RICED potatoes when with a bit more effort they could enjoy the mashed variety. I, too, tried tsAR at first, but the crosses soon fixed that up, including the excellent BUZZWORDS. Nice Monday, and excellent review by Colum!