Today the NYTX community learns about the RASHGUARD (Skintight swimwear for a surfer). Not to be confused with a simple swim top or the more comprehensive wetsuit (it won't keep you warm for your POLARBEARPLUNGE), a rashie is designed to protect your torso from abrasion as you paddle out on your surfboard, but it also helps protect you from sunburn. So there you go. I wonder how many of our nerdy coterie has ever heard of or worn such a thing? I'm guessing less than half. Probably far less.
But we enjoy learning about it, and it makes for a good, tough start on a Friday! In fact, that whole NW corner was tough for me today. ANIMA (Jungian principle) got a hard, specific clue, EMIT (Issue) and REFER (Direct) had tricky, indirect clues, I wasn't expecting the verb RAM (____ home), and I thought a SCRIM was a type of curtain made with a thin fabric, I didn't realize that it was the fabric. Whew!
Other areas went more quickly. BANFF (National park west of Calgary), for example, went right in, and off of that, BOSC, APTEST, FREERANGE, and FAD dropped in quickly. Only NEEDAHAND ("Want help?") needed two, three crosses.
There were many names I didn't know (REECE (Athlete/model Gabrielle), SARA (____ Blakely, Spanx founder and self-made billionaire), ALLEN (Actor Alfie of "Game of Thrones"), and INGA (Old TV actress Swenson)), but the crosses were fair, and really, there's almost nothing to complain about! I love seeing a second reference to POE's Annabel Lee in as many weeks, and other ASSETS like DYLAN, VWBUS, DRPEPPER and SMORE all lead me to exclaim VERY NICE.
- Horace
15:25 FWOE
ReplyDeleteApparently, neither Ms. Rogers nor Mr. Shortz is as well acquainted with the works of Mr. Dewar as I. John Dewar is very much NOT a (57A) "Noted name in whiskey," as such an insult would cast him as an Irish distiller, or American, or Canadian, or one from almost somewhere else. No, Dewar is very much a noted name in "whisky." He was a Scot! And as a Scotsman, he made whisky. Of course, with the "W" from OLDGROWTH sitting there in the grid, there could be no other answer, but I entered it with a harrumph!
I've often said that if I were to have to pick one alcoholic beverage of any kind and brand to drink for the rest of my life, it would be Dewar's White Label blended whisky. Oh, yes, of course, I love a good single malt. Personally, I tend to gravitate toward the more peaty, smoky flavors of Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and Caol Ila. Although sometimes the mood calls for something a little more balanced, like an Oban or Talisker, or even sometimes sweeter, like Tamnavulin or Deanston. But the mellow, everyday (OK, not literally every day...) consistency of Dewar's White Label whisky can't be beat, to my palale anyway.
15:55
ReplyDeleteYes, MOLTOBENE on this one, Icarusfob's rant notwithstanding. My final letter, which was an educated guess, was the "M" in SCRIM. I'd considered an "n" but somewhere in the back of my mind, the word SCRIM was lurking. Lots of great clues and answers. I tried thEta off of the "E" at 23A, but ALEPH is much better, with the added bonus of being correct. The only other slowdown was that I entered VWBUg at first, but the ASSETS cross made itself obvious eventually and corrected that stumble.
MULTO BENE, indeed! Like Huygens, I had VW BUG at first, even *knowing* that ASSETS was right...so I ignored that area for awhile, hoping the issue would resolve itself. And it finally did. VERY NICE work!
ReplyDeleteKelly <--apologizing to Icarusfob for her gratitude for the DEWAR clue ;-)
8:19
ReplyDeleteAn excellent Friday offering. I have personally worn a RASHGUARD at the beach for the purposes of keeping my blindingly white skin from getting a nasty burn. I am amused that 55A: Some crust contents (ORES) could also have been answered by OREo.