Seven examples today of expressions containing the word "up," where that word is shown rather than included by having the preceding word go "up" in the grid. Difficult to describe, but once SUSSEDOUT, pretty easy to solve. And the words going up also spell a word going down, so it makes for a tidy theme. The first example is probably my favorite - KEEP[UP]APPEARANCES (Maintain the impression of well-being), but they're all pretty good. STEP[UP]TRANSFORMERS (Voltage-increasing electrical device) and REVERSEPHONELOOK[UP] (Method for identifying mystery callers) are a bit obscure, but I think most people will have heard of them.
I enjoyed CATARACTS (Large waterfalls), and BEERGARDENS (Oktoberfest locales) in the long, bonus Down spots. PRESSPASSES (Door openers for journalists) got a good clue, and it was interesting to learn that Ellen DEGENERES has nearly hit for the cycle on the hosting front. What would the fourth one be... the Tonys?
I think I've most often heard about torn ACLs rather than a TORNMCL, but luckily, "Losing Super Bowl LIII team" (RAMS) was a gimme for this New England football fan. I wasn't quite so sure about the spelling of BRAISE (Prepare, as pot roast), and LISA (Lopes of R&B's TLC) could as easily have been Liza, for all I knew...
REROSE (Got up again) is pretty iffy, and I'm not sure I like seeing international criminals included in the grid (ELCHAPO), but I liked the theme all right.
- Horace
Oh, gosh, this is a dandy puzzle! And the theme is adorable! PLUS??? I learned something about solving that I've never tried before -- and it works! (Just ignore this if you're already an ACE solver...I never was and doubt I'll ever will be, but still...)
ReplyDeleteANYWAY, I've always felt "speed solvers" were sorta like -- well -- guys who, um...you know...kinda "speeded up things" in...well...you know, where you sleep and things...anywsy, as a constructor, it always saddened me when people raced through my puzzles (I saw a guy do it on the Orange Line one time and wanted to bop him!) instead of -- you know, *savoring* the thing. Like, if you don't like the bedroom example? Like a MEAL the cook has labored over for HOURS and watches mournfully as the guests INHALE it. (Sorry about the all caps thing...I'll try to watch it.)
(Also, I believe that many constructors -- or some -- ok, or maybe none but me -- suffer from the "Fill Syndrome," i.e....we, or I, anyway, find ourselves or myself filling in the grid without reading the CLUES...duh!)
ANYWAY, with Tracy's puzzle? I was kinda in a hurry but wanted to enjoy it so I -- when I first noticed that the circled vertical entries made a word both UP and DOWN? I decided to go the entries I KNEW I'd gotten right (like DROP CAP, for example...I work in a ad and design studio) and sorta worked in that corner. And so on. And I filled the whole thing much faster than I normally do, BUT -- and this is a BIG BUT! -- WITHOUT diminishing my solving satisfaction ONE IOTA!!!
So...thank you for putting up with this SAGA...and thank you for your blog!
Kelly <--totally thrilled with self ;-)
28:33
ReplyDeleteDespite being under 30, Kelly, METOO really enjoyed this solve. A few iffy entries as called out by Horace, but overall excellent. Nice clue for TORAH. Shocking that I knew IGGY Azalea, but I did. Mmmmm...SARALEE.