To say I didn't understand what was going on here is an understatement. I completely and correctly filled in the entire grid, and then stared at the theme answers for a few minutes before understanding.
See, I thought the revealer SKIPSCHOOL meant you had to add the word "school" to the theme answers to make them comprehensible. Instead, you look at the answers and take out a school name to get the resulting answer to fit the clue. Thus, 17A: *Express one's view (COMMITMENT) has MIT in the middle. Take it out, and you get "comment."
Similarly with: STAYALERT - Yale = "start," SUNCHIPS - UNC = "ships," and GASPRICES - Rice = "gasps."
Wow. Those are some nice finds. All four are good phrases, with good solid schools. So I like the theme.
But in these days of unclear college plans, it strikes a sad chord in me. Much like so many things. Cece will have a college to go to in August, but it will be diminished and without the usual social interactions. But it's okay. We all know who to blame.
Meanwhile, there's not much in the way of clever clues or really exciting fill outside of the theme. I chuckled lightly at 69A: Pack of smarties? (MENSA) and at 37D: A lecture on it might be full of tangents (TRIG).
I think what we all need right now is a COSMO(politan).
- Colum
16:37
ReplyDeleteNicely done theme, and how about that pairing of TIBIA / BONE? Everyone loves a NEUTRINO, too, and PIDAY (even though I've never celebrated it). I've not seen a SALSABAR, but I have been to MAUI. No real stumpers in the grid for me; I'm not sure why it took so long to fill in.
12:43
ReplyDeleteI caught on with GASPRICES, which seemed almost the least-known school, but only after I had gotten the revealer. Fun theme, but I wish they had been able to work Beloit into something.
Dumb Eloi tribe - That would fit into a grid! I'm going to get to work. How long do you think I'll have to wait until they accept this exact same theme again with different schools? Harvard is going to be tough. Sorry, Colum. :)
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