This is really quite a cool theme. Ms. Carrol has found words that can be aurally palindromized (that's a thing, right?) into two or three words, and then clued them to sort of make sense. "Low end?," for example, clues KNEEHIGHHEINIE. OK, it's not at all normal, but you can sort of make it work. "Exercise program done in formal attire?" (BOWTIETAEBO) is better, but still quite absurd. "Spotted animal with a lot of sore spots?" (TOUCHYCHEETAH) might be the best, because it works in an additional pun. Plus, cheetahs.
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| I recommend Googling "sea slug." The variety in these creatures is truly incredible. |
The rest of the puzzle had some fun entries, like ANTLER (One of two for a buck?), BADAREA (Part of town that may be dangerous) (BADAREA always reminds me of "Repo Man"), CAB (Semi-essential part?) (think "truck"), and PIEPAN (A cobbler might use one). It took me ages to realize that they were talking about the pie-like "cobbler." Nice! BEGUILE (Charm) is a charming word, INHERITS (Is a willing participant?) was fun, and "Troy Story" was a cute clue for ILIAD.
SACCADE (Rapid movement of the eye from one point to another) is a bit out-there, and there's plenty of glue, if you look, but overall, I enjoyed this one.
- Horace
What a delightful puzzle! Each themer -- I'm especially partial to KNEE-HIGH HEINIE -- cracked me up, and the whole puzzle kept my interest from start to finish...nice job, Emily!
ReplyDeleteExcellent theme, and SACCADE was an immediate gimme for this neurologist. I liked TOUCHYCHEETAH the best because the sounds are truly homophonic, but you'd never think it to look at it. I agree that there's a fair amount of glue, but I'm going to go RAHRAH for Ms. Carroll's creations.
ReplyDeleteIs it three syllables or two, SACCADE? And plus, of course you knew it!
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ReplyDeleteI knew not of this SACCADE prior to this puzzle, but certainly this was just what I like to see for a Sunday offering. I like BEEFYPHOEBE because, mostly, I always liked that Phoebe. TRUEDAT. The theme answers are all pretty absurd, but work just fine. I find that LOAFERFURLOUGH is the weakest of the bunch.