A wonderful Wednesday theme today of SEVENWONDERS. I had actually completed much of the puzzle before getting to the revealer, and then I saw STEVIE (He said "Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision"), but had to hunt a bit for the other six. To make things easier for you, I'll list them all here:
[Wonder] WOMAN (Big superhero film of 2017)
ONEHIT [Wonder] (Bad artist to re-sign to a record deal)
[Wonder] BREAD (Longtime product with a "Classic White" variety)
[Wonder] BRA (Popular lingerie item owned by HanesBrands)
[Wonder] DRUG (Miraculously effective medicine)
[Wonder] LAND (Domain of the Queen of Hearts)
Phew! Those last two really confused me as I was solving, because they kind of work even without the wonderful specificity. I also started to wonder whether "Wonder" CAVERN (Setting for a Pirates of the Caribbean ride) was a thing, but no, I don't believe it is. It helps, of course, that the theme answers (not including the revealer) are all symmetrical, and now that I have seen it all clearly, it's really quite nice.
ORACLE (Ancient source of prophecy)
NODOFF (Doze) - nice concise clue
DADAART (Arp and Duchamp output) - It looks odd in the grid, and makes me wonder whether there might eventually be a thing called "Dad Art," to go along with "Dad Jokes."
OPENSEA (Expanse far from ports) - so evocative a term, isn't it?
FRUGAL (Thrifty) - good word, good idea.
and finally,
ACRE (Subdivision of a subdivision) - Best clue for that that I have seen in a while!
For all that good, we have only to endure DEFACER, ASYLA (wow), and a smattering of abbreviations (QVC, UAE, KOR, APR, etc). Overall, thumbs up.
- Horace
7:21
ReplyDeleteI certainly did wonder what was going on for a long time. DRUG seemed awfully bland as an answer, and I was certain that BREAD was too non-specific as well. But I really like that the revealer didn't hold your hand too much, a la circled squares experience we often get. And it's a lovely puzzle over all.
12:13
ReplyDeleteI suspected that there was something going on with BREAD, and it was confirmed with STEVIE. I don't take CRONUTS, as a rule, and hope to limit my time on the OPENSEA (unlike PELEG, which I was able to fill in off of the clue). AMELIE was a fine movie, and I remember getting up very early to watch the wedding of LADYDI. I could've done without ITAN, but overall a nice puzzle.
I too had raised eyebrows at DRUG, and I think it was the second themer, ONEHIT, that I said, oh wonder. And was hoping for a revealer, and yes it was satisfying to know how many there were (and the geometry) so I knew I had spotted them all. This time you don't even need starred clues or circles to appease someone like me who likes it tied up with some version of a tidy bow.
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