Well, it's raining again in Albany. This should come as no surprise to denizens of the Northeast. It's been a wet Spring to be sure. But let's find a silver lining to all of those rain clouds: it means we can spend some time indoors with the NYT crossword, right?
This is a winner of a puzzle in my book. First off, the theme is brilliant. How has this never been done before? Four synonyms for the derrière starting off standard phrases, followed by a fifth synonym used perfectly in the revealer at 64A: Disagree ... or a hint to the starts of 17-, 26-, 40- and 49-Across (BUTTHEADS). None of the phrases use the synonym in its anatomical sense either. And besides, who is not a fan of the callipygian?
DAMNRIGHT!
Other happy moments came with discovering a HEATH bar (always the present my maternal grandmother brought out of her purse) right nearby NUTELLA. Mmmmm... chocolate hazelnut...
Um, where was I?
Right. I also like ELTON John, but I'm not sure that his biopic is going to be all that. On the other hand, I didn't think that much of Bohemian Rhapsody, but it was very popular. Of course I loved the music, and the reenactments of famous concert footage was nicely done.
Other than this, we did have to put up with some MTN, EVA (extra-vehicular activity, in case you were wondering, as I was up to the moment I Googled it), and some other assorted 3-letter fill. But still, I enjoyed the theme so much, I'd be an ass not to give it two thumbs up.
- Colum
Oh, DUNGEON is the high point of this puzzle. I suppose the only way to improve on that would also be to include "dragon".
ReplyDelete3:46
ReplyDeleteHah! Nice review. And yes - what an outstanding theme. I'm glad it was your week, because I would never have been able to pull "callipygian" out of my... oh, nevermind.
7:35
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of the theme, too. Is ALBUM (crossing BUMAROUND) bonus fill? Colum had to Google EVA? I guess we all have our dark areas of knowledge :).