It's a topsy-turvy world out there, folks. Cats and dogs, socially distancing themselves from each other. Or maybe it's just a Monday and Tuesday pair of puzzles switched.
I made one of my fastest times ever today, which may say more about where my head was at today compared to yesterday? After all, today we have potentially challenging proper nouns in OMANI, ODWALLA, and SKYMALL, the latter of which I had to get multiple crosses before being able to fill in.
Regardless, it's a fun theme, with three sayings of the form [body part] [somewhere]. I very much enjoyed that there was a downward progression was you moved through the puzzle, starting with HEADINTHECLOUDS, moving down to FEETONTHEGROUND, and finishing with the excellent MINDINTHEGUTTER. What a great find that all three are 15 letters long. I'm surprised this hasn't been done before!
There really wasn't a lot of clever cluing, as befits a Tuesday. Keeping up with yesterday's reference to Star Trek, we get NERDFEST today. Equally nerdy is anyone who immediately knew the answer to 39D: DeLorean license plate in "Back to the Future" (OUTATIME). I count myself as one, although I didn't know the exact spelling.
My mother swears by LARD for her pie crusts, and they are really delicious, it's true. But I make do with good old butter. Just have to keep it cold.
I have to admit that I was confused how EYES could be an anagram for "They see." I missed the "The" at the beginning of the clue.
- Colum
5:24
ReplyDeleteNice time! My Monday/Tuesday was more normal in re solve times.
Interesting contrast in "from here on" vs. NOLONGER. I didn't know OUTATIME, and I feel it was made even tougher by just seeing "outta" in the grid a day or two ago.
Well I'm so used to "naan" being a four letter Indian bread, that I'm always mildly surprised by ROTI. But I am familiar with the food, and even somewhat familiar with it as a crossword answer. So it is sort of like "foil" for a four letter fencing sword.
ReplyDelete6:15
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen "foil" in the grid; that would be a nice, tricky change from "epee," although the letters aren't quite as useful. I liked that MINDINTHEGUTTER is way down at the lowest level, where it often belongs. I tried OUTAherE at first, but OUTATIME is much better. In my defense, I haven't seen any of the movies in decades, and that license plate didn't make a huge impression on me. LOUPE makes a triumphant return, and nice to see MORK instead of "Ork" for a change. I always look(ed - are they still offered?) forward to the SKYMALL whenever I took a flight. A normal Tuesday for me, but quite an amazing time for Colum.