Beware the Ides!
Just kidding, I'm a HAPPYCAMPER today. That beginning, NW corner had three excellent answers to start things off. Great clue on NAPOLEONIII (17A: Youngest French president before Macron). Sure, he was the first elected president of France, but then when he couldn't be re-elected because of constitutional restrictions, he seized power and made himself Emperor. Sounds bad, sure, but he was the one who, along with Haussmann, modernized Paris, and made it the city it is today. Kind of like a French F.D.R., maybe? Or was that "two term" thing put in after F.D.R.?...
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| Low bridge, everybody down. Low bridge, for we're coming to a town. |
SCHAEFER (22A: "Finest beer I ever tasted!" in old ads) certainly had some good ad people back in the day. I believe they also used the jingle "The one beer to have when you're having more than one." Heh. Those were the days... Like when you were pounding down a CALORIEBOMB and you just didn't care. These days, I think I'd rather try a PINKMARTINI. Gin and grapefruit is right up my alley.
In the lower right, I was stuck thinking of the tunnels through the Alps with "55A: The world's largest one straddles the border of France and Switzerland" (ATOMSMASHER), but maybe thinking of France also helped me with AIDEMEMOIRE (63A: Mnemonic device). Is that really an acceptable and common(ish, even) phrase in English? And speaking of languages, I like PIGLATIN as much as anyone, but I'll ebay amned-day if I can figure out what that "EBay ashtray" is supposed to mean. "Be trash?" Huh?
There's lots of fun entries in here, spoiled only by the double Yale representation in YALIE and ELI (sorry, gotta stand up for our resident Crimson, Colum here!) (Kidding! Those are fine.) (I guess.), and a few bits of OME, POV, ELD, and ERE. I could have added UIE, but I'm frequently bangin' a uie, and I love the term.
Overall, I'm giving it a thumbs up. Strong debut, selon moi.
- Horace
17:40
ReplyDeleteFive seconds off of Horace's time. This is an excellent puzzle, especially for a debut. I vaguely remember SCHAEFER beer, but not the ads. As far as PIGLATIN goes, I think that "be trash" is the proper translation, but it makes no sense to me, either. I entered ATOMSMASHER off of the AT_M______, and VEGA, HUDSONRIVER and BASSOS off of the clues. I don't take a PINKMARTINI, but at least it crosses CASKS. Sue and I had our traditional Saint Patrick's Day CALORIEBOMBs on the Ides: Big Facs, fries and Shamrock Shakes (all homemade, of course), and they were the best ever.