I did not recognize Mr. Larson's name, so I took a quick look over at xwordinfo.com to see if it was a debut puzzle, and guess what? It is. Turns out Mr. Larson is living the dream - retired at 56 and making up crossword puzzles about beer. OLEOLE, I say! Congratulations, Sir!
And it's not just the presence of beer that I like today. Look anywhere in this one and you'll find something good - SELFCARE and ICETONGS in the SW, FIERCE FAMILY QUARRELS in the SE, the fun QMCs in the NE: "Tiny sound?" (INLET); and "Hit from the '60s?" (LSD). There's a geologic reference "Layer below the earth's crust" (MANTLE) and a silly James Bond reference ("Live and Let Die villain" (MRBIG)), and even a Hamilton reference (BURR) for the kids. And who doesn't like the word "Rummage" (ROOT), or FOOFARAW?
In fact, this thing is practically FREEOF black MARKs. Maybe a TEENY bit of BRS and SFO, but overall, it's ACES.
- Horace
4:13
ReplyDeleteAll immediately recognizable brands of quasi-beer, and the placement must have been a challenge, so extremely well constructed. OLEOLE indeed!
13:47
ReplyDeleteThis took a little longer for me than for either of the above, but it was a smooth solve. I'm passingly familiar with all of the beers named, but like Horace and, evidently, Colum, I'd not choose any of these with any other beers available. I rarely purchase a SIXPACKOFBEER, anyway, since we have a Keggermeister that always has two sixth kegs in it (during the summer season). It's well known that we're FREEOF MEAT here in the YBH, but I entered that answer quickly nonetheless. An excellent debut.