A vertical theme today, with four multi-word phrases, each led by a word that can precede the word "button." If I had to choose a favorite, it would be the central grid-spanner, BELLYUPTOTHEBAR (6D: *Go order a drink). If I had a nickel for every time I found myself in that situation, I'd have quite a few nickels. Come to think of it, that central entry can be tied to the other three - as a possible reaction to either a SNOOZEFEST or a PANICATTACK, and as a possible precursor to ending up slurring the phrase LIKEYOUKNOW! Ahh, good ol' alcohol, "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."
I thought it interesting that two somewhat obscure names were symmetrical today - HELGA (14A: Frequent Andrew Wyeth model) and OCCAM (64A: Creator of a logical "razor"). The other, even more obscure name was lodged over in the SE corner - ELEA (58D: Philosopher Zeno of ____). I think that cross with PEWEE (65A: Bird in the flycatcher family) might be a bit of a guess for some solvers.
Kind of noisy up top, what with TOOTED, BEEP, ZAP, and EEKS... and believe it or not, I loved the clue for ZERO, which I will not reproduce here. I didn't know it, but enjoyed figuring it out with no math whatsoever! :)
I dropped in aVa instead of EVE (15A: Palindromic woman's name), sass instead of EDGE (58A: Lip) (Good clue!), and gasp instead of SLAP (54D: Nonverbal response to an insult), all of which (and probably other things) led to a slightly slower-than-normal Tuesday time for me. I hope your solve went more smoothly.
- Horace
23:14 lots of errors!
ReplyDeleteNope, not very smoothly, at all!
And it's what I get for "bragging" about math - I had to reveal ZERO cuz I couldn't get it! That, and PANIC...really TOOKATOLLON me!
The Helga paintings were a special exhibit at the Portland Art Museum some years back when I still worked - and worked downtown. I saw them one lunch hour - really worth the effort if one ever gets that change to see them!
Nice cloud picture, BTW.
~Mlou
I finished with one error on ELiA/PiWEE. I wasn't completely unfamiliar with either, having encountered the bird in, oh, some book or something I guess, and Zeno's city in a crossword.
ReplyDelete5:26
ReplyDeleteLove the theme! It's just as easy to make a puzzle where the theme answers are in the down slots, so I don't know why we don't see more of these. It's usually pretty apparent by the structure of the grid.
8:02
ReplyDeletePretty smooth solve for me. OCCAM's Razor is well-known to me, having been mentioned by Jodie Foster in "Contact," and Euler's Identity is also pretty well-known to me, so I dropped ZERO right in. I wrote it a bit differently and pinned it to my wall at work since it's just as remarkable that irrational and imaginary numbers can yield a whole number (-1) by a relatively simple arrangement. I'll BELLYUPTOTHEBAR a little later on today (Saturday), probably more than once.