I chuckled when I found I had said AWMAN to myself after finding that my error had been to enter a P as the first letter of WHEW ("That was a close one!"). True story!
It might not have happened that way, but I had already been put in a good mood by the happy theme of finding appropriate occupations for five common(ish) expressions of joy. A happy astronaut could literally be said to feel/be OVERTHEMOON, a happy model could be SITTINGPRETTY, and a happy mountaineer could, if he were on Mount Everest, be ONTOPOFTHEWORLD. Which reminds me of a discussion we had recently with a banjo player and his daughter, who were asking what the "top of the world" actually was? Is it Everest's peak? Is it the North Pole? How can a sphere have a "top?" ... This was just one of several interesting conversations we've had with these two.
Anyway, the last two are more figurative - a happy medium being INGOODSPIRITS and a happy meteorologist ONCLOUDNINE. Still, the theme holds together quite well, and, like I said, it put me INGOODSPIRITS, and what more can one ask of a puzzle?
Good clues for good entries - "They're game" for PHEASANTS, and "Virtuoso taking a bow before a performance?" for YOYOMA. (That's a strung bow, not a deep bow.) ARRESTING (Very noticeable), should maybe also be in this category. And nice shoehorning in of a Star Wars reference in "'Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope,' e.g." for PLEA. It's a long way to go, but again, it made me smile.
PUCE (Color akin to eggplant) is a color I'll never seem to remember. I always think first of a greenish color. Why?!
Overall a NEATO Tuesday for me.
- Horace
4:18
ReplyDeleteFun and straightforward. I also liked ITHACA and IDIOTBOX.
7:35
ReplyDeleteWe'll be in ITHACA soon (but not that one)! ONTOPOFTHEWORLD could also, I'd put forward, refer to the central bulge around planets' equators due to rotational forces. In our own solar system, Saturn's is most prominent, if I remember correctly, but we have our own. I tried TdS at 11A at first, but dINGT didn't seem quite right. Moral: It pays to check one's crosses!