Nine theme answers in a 15 x 15 grid? Is it possible? Certainly, if you get a great deal on those answers. And today's puzzle offers us HALFOFF (24D: Discounted 50% ... or a hint to the answers to the starred clues)!
Mr. DiPietro has come up with eight examples of phrases or idioms where the same four-letter word is repeated twice, and then fills the answer with only one of the words. Thus, 16A: *In rapid succesion, in slang (BANG[BANG]). CRAY[CRAY] is the most modern example, and maybe the least recognizable to folks. The answers are all pleasingly arranged around the outside of the grid, and all of them are strong examples.
I've been wracking my brain to come up with other examples of this sort of thing, but haven't been able to come up with any. So don't go about saying POOH[POOH] to this idea.
 |
| Wherein BALIN resides |
And then you have 55A: In the very recent past (ADAYAGO). Really? Not, say, "an hour ago?" Or "last week?" These sorts of answers are so vague as to be meaningless in response to the clue.
Maybe I'm just JADED. I didn't even fall for 36A: What's found once in a generation? (SOFTG). I did like SPINCYCLE, which is something I do every time I get on my Peloton.
- Colum
Oh I fell for SOFTG. Well, not exactly, I was thinking like electricity generation, or..... Well nothing like that ended up going anywhere and when I had enough crosses to suspect I was like, wait you caught me with that same old chestnut? Again?
ReplyDelete13:32
ReplyDeleteCRAY was certainly the least recognizable for this GALOOT. How about "I'll have a couple of GLOOPS of that ice cream that has been in the freezer since the power went out ADAYAGO" for a usage? No? Oddly, I just read "The Hobbit," I believe for the first time, and purchased the rest of the SAGAS to read next. I thought that I should see the movies, but decided I will read the books first. I'm not sure how I didn't read them earlier during this lifetime. LEGWAXING was surprising (I wanted hotWAXING, but we just saw a similar thing in a recent puzzle), but nothing else fooled me much. I filled in ADAYAGO off of its cross SPINCYCLE, which gave me a few other answers, and for once, SOFTG didn't fool me. I liked JUNKET, but had never heard the term BOFF.
8:55
ReplyDeleteIt's 50-50 so far, because I, like Mr. Kingdon, gave an exasperated chuckle as I finally saw SOFTG. And yeah, what's up with that BOFF? I've heard of things being "boffo," but not BOFF. Also, as I just perused the grid just now I found myself wondering what horrible clue must have been given for "SLOP ITCH." Yuck!