Monday, August 12, 2019

Monday, August 12, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler


0:04:44
On Beginning this puzzle, I didn’t know what the theme would entail. Oh, But soon it became clear: Only By filling in the beginning sounds of “oh,” and “bee,” can we end up correctly… oh, nevermind. I’m going to leave that kind of trickery to the constructors.

ABOMB

Mr. Wechsler has found five ways to start theme answers. Each is spelled differently, and each is perfectly “in the language,” as it were. That my oldest brother claims to have never heard of an OBIEAWARD I will credit to his living almost as far away from Broadway as it is possible to do in the Lower 48. Plus, the list of things he has never heard of is a long one. (Hi Dave! :) )
My favorite theme answer is OBEDIENCESCHOOL (Where education is pursued doggedly?) (Is it weird that it is connected to THEPOUND?), and I also enjoy that OHBEQUIET comes at the end, as if the solver has tired of the trick.
ACTUATE (Put into operation) was nice (I saw ACTU and quickly finished it with “pon,” which added a little time), and BYGONE (Past) is a BYGONE word that is nice to be reminded of. OVID was nice, because it reminds me that Frannie and I will be visiting his hometown of Sulmona next month. That should be interesting. And on the BAD side, I could cite COS, AABA, and GITMO. It’s not that GITMO is that bad as fill, but I just don’t like being reminded of the reality of it.

A fine Monday.

- Horace

2 comments:

  1. 6:52
    COS is bad, and its cross could be ADDiN just as easily as ADDON, but I suppose, 21A couldn't be CiS, so it's fair enough. Nice to see the OBIWANKENOBI spelled out. I won't BOO the puzzle, for CRYIN out loud, but it's not the HOTSTUFF of some later-week offerings.

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  2. 4:07
    I agree - a fine Monday. A well done theme without any need for a revealer.

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