The progression today changes from sitting, to standing, to walking, to running, and once running, the CHASE goes on with NOEND in sight. I don't actually think that 1-Across and 65-Across are part of the theme, but they kind of go along with it if you open your mind a bit. YIPES!, I'm not getting all "Show me your AURA, BRO," I'm just saying that a reviewer MAKESDO with the material that s/he is given. GEESE! :)
Seriously, though, the theme is solid. All the phrases are completely quotidian (in the good way), and the progression is strong. Sure, I started writing in RUNNINGgag, but when I saw I was going to have one square left I changed it right away.
Another thing is that the theme is not overdone, which gives some LEA-way for a few excellent Downs: AWKWARDAGE (11D: Middle school years, notably), ARROWHEADS (28D: Images on Kansas City Chiefs' helmets), and PARAGON (43D: Model of excellence). There's a DAB of AAS, OSS, ARI, RIC, and UKE, but it's not overwhelming.
I'd say it's a very nice debut puzzle (Congratulations, Mr. Evans!), and a solid start to the week.
Happy Labor Day to all!
- Horace
3:22
ReplyDeleteFun and straightforward. AWKWARDAGE is very good, and even better if you think of it as a collective noun of socially difficult situations. "All that awkwardage was pretty annoying, am I right, ladies?"
Once I had SITTI------ I was thinking SITTINGbUll, but I read the clue and was like, OK, SITTINGDUCK. Amd I'm all for awkwardage as a noun: "The awkwardage at the family reunion was confined to a few incidents, surprisingly enough".
ReplyDeleteIn defense of (some) short answers I'm going to saw i liked WAR and PAW and OIL.