On the day after Thanksgiving, I still give thanks, this time to good friends. We had a lovely time last night with five resident doctors, who were appropriately appreciative of the cooking (and boy, did it taste good!), followed by good games. But also to all my friends in other parts of the country and world and the internet. Thank you for being good people.
A nice themeless with a pinwheel-esque grid. Each corner consisted of triple stacks of 10-letter answers. Of course, since they are constructed equally, I am immediately drawn to rank them.
1. The SE corner: ANIMANIACS, of course, but I really liked the clue at 55A: Number 2, for one (LEADPENCIL). So many possible ways that could go. SALARYHIKE is a lovely optimistic answer. I also approved of 40D: Something "grand" that's not really so grand (LARCENY). All the crosses were reasonable.
2. The NW corner. SQUILLIONS is excellent, and BBCAMERICA was a gimme for me. ABOMINATES didn't resonate as well. What do people think of 4D: Lead-in to right or wrong (AMI)? I get it but didn't personally love it.
3. The NE corner. The three long answers are all actually very good, but SOLING and NRA make the area not so great. JOVE is fun.
4. The SW corner. I sort of like the clue at 27D: Not live in the present? (TIMETRAVEL), but it feels a bit tortured. Meanwhile, MERL should be retired, and PTBOAT is historically meaningful (although it's only ever clued as JFK's WWII post) but dated.
Anyway, I had a fun time solving, and that's what matters.
- Colum
10:15
ReplyDeleteI've never heard anyone say SQUILLIONS. Around these parts, we talk in kajillions. Likewise MILKBAR. Is that a thing?
But aside from that, I enjoyed the LARCENY clue, and the CRAYOLAS and LEADPENCIL were a nice pair (they were both the first things this wannabe artist thought of), and TRASHY and SPURS were good too.
Pretty nice debut.
Oh, and right back at ya on the friends thing. :)
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