6:10
Today's theme revealer, "Apt command to an 18-, 28- or 47-Across" (GETCRACKING), applies as aptly to this reviewer as it does to the others in the puzzle: CODEBREAKER, STANDUPCOMIC, and CHIROPRACTOR. I liked the clue for chiropractor (Health professional who has your back?), but my favorite answer is STANDUPCOMIC. I wish wise cracking was the kind of cracking I had to get to, but my job is to crack wise about this puzzle. I'll DRY my best.
But first, perhaps you are wondering why the theme's exhortation to 'get cracking' is also apt for this reviewer. Well, I'll tell you. Mondays are the one day of the week when I have MUCHACHO to do - one might even say toochacho. In an effort to broaden my horizons during the COVID timez, I signed myself up for an online Chinese class. As chance would have it, the class meets every Monday evening for an hour and a half (without a SPACER!). The fabulous folks behind Boswords 2020 Fall Themeless League also chose Monday night for their festivities. To top it off, Mondays are my one day a week in the office, which requires a focus on on-site activities and materials not to mention DASHES to the office and back. So yeah, Mondays aren't EASY and if I'm EVA going to get this review written, I better apply some ELBA grease!
One might occasionally think of the Monday puzzle as a TRAINER of sorts for the more challenging puzzles later in the week, and as such, I think this one is a MODEL. In addition to the entertaining - and apt! - theme, I SEE solid-but-not-stodgy C/A pairs like "Home made of hides" (TEPEE) and "Headings in a playbill" (ACTS) without a lot that one has to DIGAT. It also contains fun fill like NEXUS, HOODLUM, SKEE, and my favorite, BITTEREND. So, high MARX from this reviewer for a solid Monday puzzle!
阿罗哈.
~Frannie.
3:31
ReplyDeleteI always want OXLIly, rather than OXLIPS. Because who wants those? I mean actual ox lips. They're kind of gross.
5:09
ReplyDeleteOddly, I entered OXLIPS right away. Normally we see oxeyes in the puzzles, but we must have seen this somewhere. And I'd already gotten CEL, so ___LIPS went in without trouble. A CHIROPRACTOR is just a charlatan, no? At any rate, anecdotes from believers notwithstanding, I'll never spend a dime on one, or at least IHOPE not to. I miss ALOHA, and hope to get back there sometime. I mean, they're taking us again, and there's a nonstop flight from Boston now that's also back on; just have to get past the TSA first. Funny how CABIN, KNIFE and TSA are all one atop the other in the east. Coincidence?