0:09:58
I've got to admit, I'm not sure what my GAMEPLAN should be for this review. The solving went along normally, and usually I enjoy a themeless puzzle, but nothing really lit up the experience for me today.
I don't know, the more I look at it, the less I like it.
I have never heard anyone actually say NOTAHOPE ("You wish!"), or YOUBETICAN (nor, for that matter, "Just watch me do it!"). I don't actually like getting SLAPS on the back or the face, I don't equate "Wails" with SOBS, and PETARD, ARGENT, TOECAP, EMSPACE, BASSI, and even ONESEATERS are all essentially garbage. ORANG (Ape whose name comes from Malay for "man") was helped by the etymological clue, and STALEMATES (No-win situations) was good, but it is the most boring game-ender of all. And what's with citing Ford for VAIL (Vacation locale for President Gerald Ford)? Even CHEGUEVARA (Subject of a classic black, white, and red poster) (Really? I mostly know his face from t-shirts.) is getting a little dated, isn't he? He died over fifty years ago.
I'm OPEN to other views on this one, but IDARESAY I didn't love it. I guess, to end on a higher note, I'll say that I did learn that America has a RICEBELT. So that's something.
- Horace
10:23
ReplyDeleteRICEBELT was surprising, and had it not been for its cross DIDO, I probably would have tried RaCEBELT and FWOE'd. But c'mon, Horace! Being a animal lover, didn't CATCHOW do it for you? How about the clue for BURP? And, IDARESAY, the appearance of Elisabeth SHUE and ANNA Kournikova mirroring each other. Not two EXTREMES by any means. But YUP, ISEE your points on some of the other questionable entries, but I thought the inclusion of President Ford in the clue for VAIL was nice in that it reminded us of his athletic prowess. I don't enjoy the ski-centric cluing for such places, as it's a little vague. BEYONDMEAT is good, but still a little pricey, although we at the YBH do, in fact, purchase it for this or that. (This blog comment has been EDITED for brevity.)
Gee, Horace! Other than what you wrote, what's not to like? :-) Seriously, though, I thought that this puzzle, while easier to me than most Fridays, was pretty smooth work. I'm with Huygens on the VAIL clue and the one for BURP made me smile. Never heard of BEYOND MEAT, but it was inferable. PETARD, "garbage?" I love that word and didn't even know what it meant outside of the saying "Hoist on their own PETARD!" (I also didn't know the country had a RICE BELT.)
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