@englishteacher59: Easy-medium Friday for me. :)
Horace's brother asserted that yesterday's puzzle, with its vintage sports references and nitrogen compounds was right in his wheelhouse. Today's was, happily, more in mine. It had a lot of the lovely clue/answer exactitude that I enjoy. I offer one example, "Precisely found" (PINPOINTED), as particularly apt. Apt! I also very much enjoyed "Painfully slow" (GLACIAL).
In looking over the puzzle for the review, I was again confronted with the QMC and NQMC conundrum which we often find at the turn. There were great examples of both:
NQMC
Matter of great interest for the United States (DEBT)
Have something (AIL)
Provided an address (ORATED)
QMC
Going places? (JOHNS) - ha!
Rear-ended? (MOONED) - hilarious.
Other fun fill included YOLO and SLACKEDOFF. WETNAP and FATHEAD are always funny.
I know we see GROK in the grid with some frequency (roughly twice a year, according to XWord Info), but I especially liked its clue today (Comprehend). Grok is a word that was coined by Robert Heinlein in the sixties. Allow me to GEEKOUT a moment and share that I am currently re-reading the Ringworld series by Larry Niven. IMHO, he has come up with some very good neologisms himself, even if they haven't made it to the NYTX yet.
And speaking of new words, I've got to try to memorize STAN (Extreme devotee, in modern lingo). It didn't slow me up too much, but even though I knew I had seen it in a previous puzzle, I couldn't bring it to mind. I did figure it out after I got all the downs. :|
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| By dunsta,2k10 - Own work http://plastili.com/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9940286 |
~Frannie.
19:03
ReplyDeleteFairly easy Friday for me, too. I, like ET59, was thinking more 1950s for 48A Obsolescent living room fixture, and was surprised when PLASMATV made itself known. I mean, I was thinking more of those old Curtis Mathes or Magnavox TVs that were floor models (three of which I needed to dispose of when we moved into the YBH). Nice-looking grid, IMO with decent long-ish answers. ASS is always nice to see, but a JIHAD is not. It's a shame that MSG and PDA start and finish the entries, and sad to say, I'm not too familiar with the Absolut competitor SVEDKA. Nice that FLATTOP and FATHEAD are adjacent.
12:39
ReplyDeleteSince we're talking etymologies today, I'll mention that the modern use for the name STAN comes from Eminem's song of the same name (from a good album, also partially produced by Dr. DRE), about a rabid fan who resorts to senseless violence when his idol won't respond to his letters.
And speaking of music, I like how banjo-heavy the top is, with CLAWHAMMER and BANJOPICK.
We've got a PLASMATV on the wall, and I still love it. I'm not sure why they are now obsolete, but, well... sic transit gloria mundi I guess.
11:51
ReplyDeleteI love the FATHEAD next to the FLATTOP. I had a hard time in the SE corner because I incorrectly put doG in for PIG, and then SPRout for SPRING. It took a bit, but I corrected it all before the final letter was put in. I too was not fooled at all by SILENTC. Do other people think that 37D: Charles Darwin contemporary (ASAGRAY) was too general? I mean, Dickens was a contemporary. Would you count Tolstoy as a contemporary? They lived at the same time, but almost certainly never had the opportunity to meet.