CIAOS everyone! Frannie, here. I've been away in the land of fashion (or STYLE), but SIAM back and getting into the SLIP of things again.
Today's four theme expressions are all talk - and lots of it. The four theme answers are expressions intended to describe people who bang on and on. All the theme answers had essentially the same clue (One who yaks, yaks, yaks ...). The the ellipses at the ends of each clue helped tie the theme answers together and provided nice illustrative support for the idea of running off at the mouth. TALKAHOLIC and CHATTERBOX both seem to fill the bill quite well, but I think of a BLABBERMOUTH as someone who reveals information that they shouldn't, rather than as someone who could talk the hind legs off a donkey. I'm not sure if there's an any additional connotational nuance to BLATHERSKITE as I've never encountered the word before. I do rather like it, though. A perennial favorite of mine, gas bag, didn't make the cut, possibly because, for once, it wasn't expansive enough. Also, how does everyone feel about ELK as bonus theme material? :)
There was a good amount of interesting fill. I say OUI to ZEAL, THWART, HYPE, SWAB, CREVICES, TRASHY, and HEH.
I'm not het up enough to have words with Ms. Michaels, but I never think of AWOL as a noun (an AWOL), I always think of it as a state of being (she is AWOL), but maybe that's just me. I heard a person use "popcorn" as a verb at a presentation the other day. I believe the intended meaning was that a few people in the audience would raise their hands and contribute to the discussion, so what the heck? It's all talk.
Well, I don't want to PRADO on too much my first day back, so I'll button it for now.
~Frannie.
4:15
ReplyDeleteSo good to have Frannie back in the blogosphere. Great review! I am going to use the word BLATHERSKITE at every opportunity from now on. I love looking at the NE corner of this puzzle and seeing THWART crossing SEZWHO, the last of which looks like a Polish word if you don't parse it.
6:44 (on paper)
ReplyDeleteNice Polish shout-out and observation by Colum! I'd ARGUE that SHLEP should be spelled with a "c" in there, too, but it seems to Google OK as is. Lots of good stuff in the grid, including WILT (which I knew!). Sadly, I've never broken the TAPE in a race. Maybe next time....
4:19
ReplyDeleteExcellent review. It sure is good to have you back!