Wow, it feels like forever since I last did one of these. After another great week of reviews by Frannie, it looks like I've got to step up my game.
I enjoyed the theme today. Mr. Kahn has found five examples of major league baseball teams whose names and whose home cities each have only one I in them. Then he crosses them at that I, and the revealer is the excellent THERESNOIINTEAM. I give him points for keeping to one sport. I take points away for the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Francisco Giants all fit the same pattern.
I also feel like I should take further points away for the fact that the STLOUIS / CARDINALS really should have another I in the first word, only we apparently only abbreviate that first word and never spell it out.
I'm sure that the devils of symmetry prevented Mr. Kahn from putting a sixth example in the SE corner. To make up for it, he put in HOMESTANDS, from which I take a small amount of SOLACE. MAJORS rounds out the theme.
There is a lot of very nice fill. I'm particularly fond of 16D: Only African-American to win an Oscar, Tony and Emmy for acting (VIOLADAVIS) because it acknowledges a fine actor, and made me do a little self-checking when the only people I thought of were male. There have been 22 white actors to accomplish the feat. The first? That was Helen Hayes.
Anyhoo, I think that's all for now. ERRATA quit, as Frannie might say (IOTA was actually in the grid also!)
- Colum
Frannie here, on the late side. We were out all day celebrating Horace Senior's birthday and are just getting back to business. Thank you, Colum, for seizing the day and getting the review out. It's great that you covered all the bases on the theme today because my plan was to give it OVERAGE to you anyway since my KEN of baseball is so minor.
I did want to INSERTS some of the clues and answers I enjoyed, including
1A: Overawe (COW) - apt!
58A: Dress down (CHIDE) - well done.
97A: Liability of note? (TINEAR) - a bit of a stretch, but I liked it
11D: Heavy winds (TUBAS) - ha!
I didn't know Pie-eyed meant OILED (30A). I am looking forward to their future USAGES.
Is there really a Muppet named SAL Minella (102A)? That's a HOOT.
Frannie here, on the late side. We were out all day celebrating Horace Senior's birthday and are just getting back to business. Thank you, Colum, for seizing the day and getting the review out. It's great that you covered all the bases on the theme today because my plan was to give it OVERAGE to you anyway since my KEN of baseball is so minor.
I did want to INSERTS some of the clues and answers I enjoyed, including
1A: Overawe (COW) - apt!
58A: Dress down (CHIDE) - well done.
97A: Liability of note? (TINEAR) - a bit of a stretch, but I liked it
11D: Heavy winds (TUBAS) - ha!
I didn't know Pie-eyed meant OILED (30A). I am looking forward to their future USAGES.
Is there really a Muppet named SAL Minella (102A)? That's a HOOT.
I didn't understand the clue at 5A: Mover, but not a shaker (one hopes). The answer was VAN. I get the mover part, shaker? AESOP with that? I also wondered about the clue at 105A: having an O. for Ohio, but the answer having PA for Pennsylvania (ERIEPA). Weirt.
That's mASWAN song for you. LATER!
~Frannie.
OMG that graphic is so perfect. I've never seen that before. Ha!
ReplyDeleteVery entertaining joint review, you two! I can add nothing.
40:52
ReplyDeleteOnce I figured out the theme, I was able to fill in many of the theme answers with only a couple of crosses each. HOMESTANDS was one of the final words that I finished up (solving on paper), and I don't like it. However, I did like learning OILED, and the puzzle in general, as it took me just about the proper amount of time for a Sunday. Nicely done.