WORDS OF INTRODUCTION
Maybe I’m missing something big in the theme, but for me, it
is barely a thing worth mentioning. I will, though, in an effort to both
explain it and show, perhaps, my lack of understanding of it. Take, for
example, KOHINOORDIAMOND, clued as
“KIND words?” First of all, the very existence of this named diamond is only on
the edges of my knowledge (and caring). That it can, or should, presumably, be
broken down into four parts, “Koh I Noor Diamond,” is a new realization, and
maybe then a language barrier enters the picture, but why those four parts have
any relation to the word “KIND,” or, indeed, should fall under the title “Words
of Introduction” is not clear to me. Sure, I see that the first letter of each
part spells KIND, but why? Is it just a way to give us four letters of the
answer? … The other theme answers are similarly random.
So let us look for meaning, or at least fun and excitement,
in the other areas of the puzzle.
I did enjoy learning the trivia that ANKARA is said to have been founded by King Midas, and also in that
NW corner, the clues “Earns a bronze?” (SUNS)
and “Opinion piece?” (ITHINK) were
fun.
In the NE corner, ABCB
(Rhyme scheme of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was a bit outré, but CRACKER (What Polly wants) was entertaining. And who knew an EEL could swim backward!? More good
trivia! And speaking of trivia, how ‘bout that REUEL (Moses’s father-in-law)? How many of you dropped that right
in without crosses? Not this guy!
In other areas, the clever clue “Ones who can’t change large
bills?” for TOUCANS made me almost
feel sorry for them. Do you think they’d ever want to? I mean, those things
must be heavy!
I guess in the end, I would have been happier if this had
been run as a themeless, and all the theme answers been given normal clues.
XOX
- Horace
Way too long, a bunch of errors!
ReplyDeleteFor such an obscure puzzle, I did pretty well - under an hour. It was that Koh I Noor corner that really messed me up! OK - fine - BAD and LOOK and UGH and PHEW were somewhat findable! (Oh wait, some of those aren't even in this puzzle - why or why not, indeed!) But I think that KIND was cheating - proper name, not a phrase in the language, and as Horace pointed out - who on earth knew it was 4 different words!
My apologies to BEQ, but I didn't enjoy it.
I guess that the clues, such as "BAD words" ARE phrases in the language...
And I liked the translation for VETO - "I forbid". "Card carrier?" was also fun!
I always remember JOULE as a newton-meter...hmmm, also a watt-second! Great trivia there, too!
Thanks for the review. I'm not alone!
~MLou
This one was a non-starter for me. Just not enough there. And there's a ton of not great fill. Anyway... it's a Sunday.
ReplyDelete26:53
ReplyDeleteThe KOHINOORDIAMOND contained the final squares that I entered due to its oddness, and the fact that I'd never heard of it. And even having read the Bible, I did not know of this REUEL guy. The rest is fine, but most of the fill went in a bit too easily for my Sunday taste. BURP was surprising, and I've never used the word FETOR, but will try to work it in at some point.