Sundays and math... two of my favorite things? Well, not really, but some of these theme answers elicited a smile, like POWEROFATTORNEY (I'm not going to take the time to figure out how to correctly format exponents in Blogger), and SAMEDIFFERENCE (x - y = x - y). LOSANGELESTIMES just seemed kind of strange, and I might not understand fractions enough to get CASHDIVIDEND. In short, this was maybe not the puzzle for me.
On the upside, GLITTERATI is always fun, and I thought GAVEITAGO (38D: Attempted something) and ENDEAVORED (76D: Made an attempt) were good entries with oddly similar, but not identical, clues. The NW corner is somewhat exotic with COEXIST over PHARAOH - contrast with SEERS over ERRS down in the SW.
I'm never entirely comfortable with AHSO being in a grid. Maybe it's hypersensitivity, maybe not. URANIC, RAMMER, SHOOP, SHMOO, VARIG, SCALER... kind of a lot of stuff that wasn't all that great. Still, I'm looking forward to another week of weekday puzzles, starting tomorrow! Or, really, starting at six pm tonight! I'll see you later today for another, hopefully more positive review. :)
- Horace
Ah, c'mon! Math puns! What could be more fun?! Huygens is with me on this, for sure! And you left out my favorite: ROOTOFALLEVIL. Hah! POWEROFATTORNEY was pretty good, too, as was THREEPOINTSHOT. Although, SEVENTHGRADE was a bit awkward.
ReplyDeleteBut, you're right about AHSO. Poor. OHOK, worse. OME, awful. And there's a bunch of blatant crosswordese that are absolute staples of lesser grids: ESSO, ERRS (plural, no less), EOS, INGE, TRIO, TEEM, IPOS (plural, no less), and, of course, OBOE (although, the clue wasn't terrible).
I liked the idea of math-based rebus style puzzles. I agree they don't all hit at the same level, and there is a ton of meh fill. I liked SAMEDIFFERENCE and POWEROFATTORNEY the best.
ReplyDeleteLove those math puns - the first one I got was ROOTOFALLEVIL and I laughed out loud! And POWEROFATTORNEY - great! Right now, I have a New Yorker cartoon on my fridge with the punch line "Well, I was bitten by a radioactive lawyer and ended up with the power of attorney."
ReplyDeleteI got all bogged down in the middle right with a bunch of things I did not know all in the same place - RAFAEL, VARIG, and GENESEE - but, I pulled SIRI out of the ether!
BTW - DIVIDEND is the top number in division...$$$ = CASH?????
Thanks,
~MLou
35:05
ReplyDeleteIn the acceptable time range for a Sunday for me. Of course I agree with Icarus Fob; when I saw that there were equations in clues, I was hooked. Certainly ROOTOFALLEVIL is the best. I put wIfI in where SIRI belongs at first, but changed it just in time. SHAPELY is nice, and I did enjoy the clue for OBOE, and the one for ZOOS for that matter. 88D Theater reproof (SHH) hit a little close to home after a concert in Symphony Hall this past Friday where a young couple sitting next to us kept talking as if they were at their kitchen table. I shot them a look, but it didn't do much good. One of these days I'd like to muster the courage to stand and slowly turn toward them with the evil eye ala nephew Matt.