Ah, the turn (so nice to start using words that begin with vowels again!). Is there anything so pleasing to the crossword veteran as a well-constructed themeless? And Ms. Weintraub satisfies yet again. I've come to look forward to seeing her byline.
Things started out well in the NW with 14A: Big shot? (GROUPPHOTO). The QMC alerted me to the likelihood that this would entail photography. But two nice non-QMC clues in this area added to the enjoyment. First at 6D: A crowd, so to speak (THREE) - nicely done. And then I also liked the clue at 25D: Believe it! (CREDO).
This grid is well put together - note the wide open feeling sweeping down from the NW into the W and then across to the rest of the puzzle. It's helped by the pair of adjacent 10-letter and 11-letter answers that go down the west and east sides. And they're both excellent: AVANTGARDE next to TIEDTHEKNOT, and URBANLEGEND next to VOICEOVERS.
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51A: Something relatively complicated? (FAMILYTREE) is lovely work. I was briefly confused here by having Burg at 47D: Cookout item, for short (BRAT).
32D: Game with lots of instructions (SIMONSAYS) is a real winner though, and I will add it to the favorite clue post.
Really nothing here to make me shade my UVEA and LENS from. I enjoyed the whole puzzle, and at the end, I got to stick a toothpick in my favorite sandwich, a BLT.
Thanks, Ms. Weintraub!
- Colum
14:21
ReplyDeleteThis was a great one, for sure. Sue and I no longer take a BLT, but we do, on occasion, have an FLT, which we EATAT home on a DOILY. We do, however, still enjoy ROES on our sushi rolls, but not the deer variety. I had a slight slowdown near the middle when I entered manI instead of PEDI, but as one can see, it wasn't a long one. I'm going to start using EELY in conversation.