Friday, May 8, 2020

Friday, May 8, 2020, Daniel Larsen

0:15:28

This was a satisfying, chunky, Friday solve. Gimmes like ATTIRE (Difference between a well-dressed bicyclist and a poorly dressed unicyclist, in a joke) and LANDSPEEDER (Luke Skywalker sold his in Mos Eisley) got me off to a quick start in the NE, but only after several missteps ("pec" instead of ABS (Gymgoer's pride), "arousE" for ENABLE (Turn on, say), "croc" instead of DINO (Bird's long-ago relative, informally), and "playedaPART" not DIDONESPART (Contributed)) had befouled the NW.

aurora borealis in the FARNORTH by Bob O'Connor
https://www.boboconnor.net (the best photographer I know)
I worked my way around the grid clockwise, finally getting REND (Tear), HEMSIN (Surrounds), and then ZAMBONIS (Ice machines) (Nice!), to straighten out that corner. My final square, though, was the F crossing of CAFE (Setting for many Manet paintings of the bourgeoisie) and INFANT (One might keep you up at night). I had to run the alphabet in my mind for that one, and luckily it didn't take too long.

ASIS traditional, I will now mention a few of the puzzles additional ASSETs. I was misled (even without the periods) by "DC figures" until SUPERHEROES was obvious, and not knowing LITTLEITALY (Manhattan neighborhood between the East Village and Chinatown) made me wish that I spent more of my time in N.Y.C.

Likewise, I was thinking "upset" instead of MEET for "Cross," and "depend upon" instead of the more forceful COERCE for "Lean on." And finally, HARLOW reminds me of a favorite anecdote, wherein Jean HARLOW, upon meeting Lady Asquith, mispronounced her first name, Margot, and Asquith quickly replied, "My Dear, the T is silent, as in 'Harlow.'" True or not, it still amuses me.

Lots of misdirection, some interesting factoids (Franchise with the most victories in N.F.L. history (BEARS), for example), and almost no junk at all. So far, it's been an excellent extended Turn. See you tomorrow for the finale!

- Horace

2 comments:

  1. 19:42
    Easy enough, although it took me slightly longer than a usual Friday. I needed a few crosses for LANDSPEEDER, sadly, but I am much more of a "Star Trek" person. Mark Hamill, as a side note, guest starred on a recent MST3K which I just saw the other day, as a space circus ringmaster, Phineas Tiberius Mindslap. The featured movie was "Carnival Magic" for those that want to give it a watch. Anyway, I, too, needed many crosses for LITTLEITALY. I feel like I should spend some time there next time we're allowed in NYC, perhaps at a CAFE. Amusing HARLOW anecdote.

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  2. 10:01
    I had trex for DINO (confidently put in, which should have been a warning), and COoing as "Billing partner". That last one took a long time for me to admit I was wrong because the CO was clearly correct. The central crossings were beautifully done.

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