Today's starred theme answers are anagrams, apparently, of STATECAPITALS. In the short amount of time I have to write this review this evening (we are leaving soon for a showing of the new Avengers movie!) I was able to de-anagramize two of them: MALES (Salem) and ROVED (Dover). I hope those are both state capitals, anyway. I'll confess that they are easier for me to get as anagrams than in their natural states, so to speak. When Horace and I started dating, in 5 BCE, the first gift he gave me was a set of U.S. State flash cards. I'm not sure why I've never been able to memorize them. Maybe I need more VITAMINS.
For fill, I like MAILFRAUD, NOUGAT, PARADE, CHISEL, and FANSITE.
UPLAST and DUEUP were a nice pair, as were THEEU and ANTIUS - the latter one took me a while to parse - I kept reading it as all one word.
My favorite clue/answer pair was "Substance for a juicer" (STEROID), but I also liked "Killer Bee?" (SAMANTHA), "When doubled, uncritically enthusiastic" (RAH), and "What keeps a part apart" (HAIRGEL) - ha!
Another bonus for me, "'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' author" (VERNE). I'm in the middle of his 'L'Ile Mysterieuse' at the moment. Boise, is it good. :) ALCU tomorrow!
~Frannie.
13:38
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was a nice Wednesday present. I enjoyed the clues mentioned by Frannie, also, and was pleased to see SAMIAM right there at 1D, which gave me SUCH for 1A more quickly than I'd otherwise have figured it out. INSLANG was also nice, as was NOUGAT, and who doesn't love a touch of MAILFRAUD? I also enjoyed the clue for THIRTEEN (37D Missing button in many an elevator), although I don't love that the floor is often non-existent. Shouldn't we stop all of that nonsense?
Indeed we should. But superstition and belief in non-existent beings seems to run strong in our species.
Delete9:55 (paper)
ReplyDeleteWell Frannie, I'm impressed you got two in that short time, as these were all tricky to figure out! The others are Lansing, St. Paul, Austin, Raleigh, and Madison.
I didn't get SAMIAM very quickly. I thought first of The Cat in the Hat, and briefly wondered if "thecAt" might be right.
I liked this one.
Ah, Horace, what a romantic!
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