Not so cool-looking a time today as yesterday, but not bad time-wise for this solver on a tricky Thursday.
A co-worker who is new to solving the NYTX told me he was completely stumped by today's theme and gave up. I tried to explain the theme to him, as I will now try to explain it here, but I feel there has to be a better, more succinct explanation than this. The theme answers are three common phrases and one name of a famous personage with an extra syllable at the beginning, all entertainingly clued for the bonus version. So we have "Ornately decorated money?" BAROQUEBREAD (broke bread), "March meant to end a drought?" PARADEFORRAIN (prayed for rain (I think)), "Bumper version of a cart?" COLLIDEBARROW (Clyde Barrow), and my favorite, "What the trees by Walden Pond provided?" THOREAUSHADE (throw shade) - ha! I think Henry David would have enjoyed that.
And, while we're all going all literary 'n' sh*t, I'll add that I learned two new words from the puzzle today. One was in the clues: "Perfervid" apparently means ARDENT, although I see Blogger's spell checker isn't familiar with it either. :) I also didn't know DIDO (Mischievous trick). I looked it up in a couple of online dictionaries. According to the Oxford Living Dictionary, it is of unknown origin. Maybe I'll look it up in a paper dictionary later. It has to come from somewhere!
Clues that pleased or entertained:
Guy in a restaurant (FIERI) - amusing hidden capital.
What might have a crush on you? (BOA) - let's hope not!
Tucson school, informally (UOFA) - I really wanted it to be sOFA.
Commotion (HOOHA) - quite the word-about-town this week!
I also liked both SHH ("I'm trying to work here") and YAWN ([Been there, done that].
While I found "Dissolve" / MELTAWAY, "Bend over backward" / ARCH, and "Let go" / FREED to be lovely clue-answer pairs, I thought BOSSY for "Demanding" was much less pleasingly matchy matchy, but that may be a difference between MeENUS.
~Frannie.
7:04
ReplyDeleteDelightful puzzle from Mr. Quigley. Very glad there is no revealer. Why would you need one?
27:04
ReplyDeleteAmusing theme. People shouldn't give up too easily on their solves; they should just put the puzzle down for a while and come back to it. The clue for MEADE could have been more telescope-y, IMO. Frannie must have liked HTML, too, no? Although it was probably too easy for her. I'd never come across that usage of DIDO, either, knowing that word only in relation to the Queen of Carthage. I hear the new Star Wars (Episode IX) will have LEIA in it again from unused footage (no CGI).