Anagrams is the name of the game today. A famous woman's first name is made possessive, and after the S the name is anagrammed into a another word and clued to make sense. As in, "Actress McCarthy is wandering" (MELISSASAIMLESS). Interesting. It's a little strange that the "is" in the clue is essentially in the answer in the form of an S. Does that matter?
Anyway, it's cool that Mr. Raymon found four that he could work symmetrically into a grid. When I got to the last one, I had some of it filled in already, but all I could think of was Courtney Love, so I spent some time verifying the letters that didn't fit with that. Which is pretty much all of them... oh well.
Some of the clueing seemed tricky for a Tuesday! "Hirer's communication" made almost no sense to me until I had OFF_R, and even then, it was ENL (Supersize: Abbr.)(Also an oblique clue) that finally gave it to me, and "Head covering similar to a wave cap" was no help at all for DORAG. (Wave cap?) "Still preferable" seems a little odd for EVENBETTER, and it took me quite a while to understand that "One at a new job" was a TRAINEE. Maybe my mind was just firing a little more slowly today.
On the other hand, "Most common commercial name in New York Times crosswords" could only be one thing - OREO (I wonder where "Esso" falls), and I was all over SUR (Direction opposite norte) after having learned it just yesterday. I enjoyed "Things florists cut" for STEMS, and EUROS (What pounds might be converted to) reminds me that I need to finish packing... I'll be spending EUROS tomorrow!
The theme wasn't particularly exciting to me, or particularly amusing, but it was well executed, and didn't stir up too much muck. Let's say it was fine and move on. I've got PLANES to catch!
- Horace
What an enjoyable puzzle! 'Course, I love anagrams. The grid is wonderful, and the theme is simple yet simply terrific.
ReplyDeleteSave travels to you, Horace!
4:37
ReplyDeleteI mean... sure. It's a fine puzzle. There's very little to complain about. But it's no barn burner either.
8:48
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was a well-executed puzzle. And it starts with DORAG, often worn by Horace's brother; should've been a gimme! And EVENBETTER, we have BUD in the grid, also related to Horace's brother. I enjoyed the anagrams, especially DARLENESLEARNED. I had a slight slowdown when I entered SUd at 18D, but it was soon corrected.