Well, Dear Reader, I've got a bit of a scowl, and maybe even a twitch. My EMOTION is very low, because my dear old (not old, no longer dear) Pixel 2 phone has turned into a piece of expensive glass tile. It started to heat up, and then it started to restart, and now it's not even able to achieve a hard reset. In short, I am short a phone and a camera for the remainder of my European vacation. But IMOK. One of the things I enjoy about Italy is that it (in Tuscany anyway) seems to get along with very old customs, equipment, and infrastructure. Perhaps it will make for an even more authentic experience if I disconnect and stop looking at every scene through the lens of a camera.
But still, I think it's possible - likely - that my current mood will TINGE this review, even as I adjust my expectations and intentions.
I didn't love it. The little word-building game was ok, but not my favorite, and it seemed like it required a lot of compromise in the fill. LINAGES, OREAD, SDSU, HAILE, IRAS, HESSES ... and I really dislike the word SCHMEAR. But I suppose that's not the puzzle's fault. There are probably a lot of people who like it.
I didn't mind learning about SANDSPUR (Grass with prickly burs), and the word EPAULET is fun.
How's that?
- Horace
p.s. I plan to be in a better mood tomorrow. And if I'm not I'll try to make Frannie do the review.
9:27
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd Thursday, almost a Wednesday style theme. I didn't love it. I was hoping there'd be some meta-theme element, like the missing first letters would spell something. But no. Still, I liked figuring out the extra words like [P]LUMBER and [B]LADDER. At the same time, HESSES is a no go. Should not be allowed.
41:55
ReplyDeleteThis ran much harder for me than a usual Thursday, and as people know, I enjoy a rebus much more than this type of thing, but I thought it reasonably well-done. Sure, you've got your TAU, ICU, ITO and ELI here and there, but you've also got your TINGE/TINCT semi-pairing, AMINOACID, LARDERS and LAPDESK. I didn't even mind that HESSES was in there. I also don't mind SCHMEAR too much, as it is something that I wouldn't say, but isn't that pretty standard in NYC?