Sometimes one little thing can put me off a puzzle. Can you guess what it was today? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the obscure (to this American, anyway) DSO (Brit. award) (it's a military thing). It was the unannounced alternate spelling of that crosswordese REATA (Rodeo rope) as it crossed OLEIC acid. I was so sure of RiATA that I was ready to accept that I just didn't know all the kinds of acid that there were. Sigh.
And once I'm set in that direction, I am more apt to be disturbed by bits like APER, ZONAL, CPO, INDO, DOMO, and the somewhat unpleasant Drug MULE. IFEAR I'm just one of those crossword SNOBS who HASACOW when things don't go his way ... I'll try to re-focus.
On the bright side, I was amused when I finally got MEOW (Copy cats?). That's a quality clue. And I am always cheered up by mention of Expressionist James ENSOR. COPSE is an excellent word, and "Big body in Africa" is ACUTE clue for HIPPO.
The theme is, well, slightly odd. Are they saying that each of these three things - BLANKETOFSNOW, SHEET OFICE, and a BED OFROSES can look dreamy? Is it that "blanket" "sheet" and "bed" go together because they are associated with "dreams?" But then, why "field?" It's a little loose, if you ask me.
Overall, not my favorite puzzle. How'd you like it?
- Horace
10:45
ReplyDeleteHorace's was a reasonable error, and I was saved from it only because of opposite reasoning: I was fairly certain of OLEIC, so I was ready to accept the never-seen REATA. I've never heard of this ENSOR fellow, which isn't surprising. Maybe the "field" part of FIELDOFDREAMS refers to the field of poppies on "The Wizard of Oz" since it makes Dorothy, Toto and the Cowardly Lion all fall asleep. Or maybe that's too much of a stretch. I didn't mind this puzzle as much as Horace. I enjoyed the clue for SWEATER (4D Common clothing item ... or what you might become when wearing it). Also, how many of the younger set would've known TOSCANINI? IFEAR not many.
FWOE
ReplyDeleteThe only way I can be sure of how to enter the answer REATA is if it's clued as the ranch in Edna Ferber's novel "Giant." Or the movie by the same name. I kinda liked the theme more than Horace as well...maybe because I have vivid dreams at night, when I'm in a bed, with a sheet -- well, two sheets -- and a blanket. It's my FIELD OF DREAMS. :-)
FWTE
ReplyDeleteI put in COflE. HUlK seemed to make sense. CfO felt better in my head. But what is this COflE? Not a thicket. Or even a word. Sigh.
Fortunately I was pretty confident about OLEIC so I sort of shrugged and said well I guess a REATA must be like a riata.
ReplyDelete