Sunday, January 13, 2019, Andy Kravis

PARLOR TRICKS

This morning when we looked at the thermometer here in our little New England enclave, the temperature read a whopping 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Just the sort of weather for enjoying the various treats from an ice cream parlor! Me, I'll take the malted - either a vanilla malt or the SINGLEMALT it's hiding in. But really, I don't have ice cream more than a couple times a year these days. Sure there were days when I would have enjoyed any of these - float, cone, bar, cup, shake, soda, scoop - but now it seems hard to justify the CALORIC intake.

 

The containers are all perfectly good answers on their own, and they're clued in a silly way, so... it all works.

Among the non-theme answers we find such gems as EMERALDS (14D: Some sights in Oz), NEBULA (51D: Annual science fiction award), and DEMIJOHNS (31D: Bulbous, narrow-necked bottles). That last we are familiar with through the classic bluegrass number "Hot Cold, Cold Corn."

Well, it's hand-off day here at HAFDTNYTCPFCA, so Frannie will take over from here. I'll just use a few more lines to speak for all three of us and say we appreciated the pairing of 56D: Writing of W. S. Gilbert (LIBRETTO) and 103A: Arthur who composed "The Yeomen of the Guard" (SULLIVAN). We're all big fans, and one of us has even acted in many G&S productions!

- Horace

I'm with Horace on the choice of a favorite parlor order: pour me a SINGLEMALT and I'm happy. A PARADEFLOAT doesn't sound too bad, either, but I'll pass on the SUCTIONCUP, thank you very much. I'll also pass on EYEPIT. BOOS. 

I like both DWEEB and its clue nerdburger. Somehow, nerdburger feels more fun than insulting. I also love DOTARD and WHOLEHOG.

And, speaking of love, as we start this new year of blogging, let's all make an EXTRA effort to move LOVEINS out of the counterculture and into the mainstream. 

Happy New Year!

~Frannie.