0:05:33 (F.W.O.E.)
If you're Bone-dry (SERE), you might want to MEET up with one of the four people represented by the theme answers today, all jokey purveyors of liquid refreshment. It's a good set, and I'm a fan of all the beverages, each in their own appropriate time, of course:
PORTAUTHORITY (Sommelier?)
DRAFTSPERSON (Bartender?)
FOUNTAINHEAD (Soda jerk?)
GROUNDSKEEPER (Barista?)
It's a good IDEA, IMO, and there's even a couple bonus beverage-adjacent clues in "The "I" of I.P.A." (INDIA) and "What shaken soda cans do after being opened" (SPEW).
Lots of nice conversational entries in the Downs today, including WHATOFIT, LETRIP, IBET, NOHASSLE, ATEASE, and INDULGEME. It's almost a mini-theme! And there isn't much DRECK, but I was a little surprised by SYL. I never mind Latin entries, so ERAT (Quod ____ demonstrandum) was fine. Too bad EST wasn't clued as another possible form of the verb essere. :)
Other entries I enjoyed were NAIFS, GOUDA (more for the Netherlands than for the cheese itself, although the aged varieties are quite good), and DOUR. But I think the editing team ought to get a consultant from the cooking world, because I find they often confuse "ricing" with "dicing." When a food is RICED, it is not "chopped finely," but passed through a ricing sieve. That was not my mistake today, but it did come elsewhere in the word that crossed at the top - DRAFTSPERSON. When I first read the clue "Bartender?" I guessed cRAFTSPERSON, thinking of "craft beers." Ah well...
Overall, a fine Tuesday.
- Horace
8:25
ReplyDeleteI've often thought that same thing regarding RICED, which the NYT seems to use all of the time when "diced" is what is appropriate. I normally leave the first letter blank until I get the cross so that I don't FWOE. I'm sure a reading of the clue for DRAIN would've saved Horace from the FWOE, as cRAIN is not a thing associated with any known sink. I'm not a fan of the Latin, but was able to get ERAT without much trouble, but I am a fan of the Shakespeare and enjoyed seeing TITUS in there, which I, of course, wrote in off of the clue, as I'm sure most others did that are regulars on this blog site. I'd take any of the drinks save for the one offered by the soda jerk, although I always enjoyed a root beer float when a youth.
4:50
ReplyDeleteFun theme, unexpectedly all about beverages. I do like a root beer float now and again. I never go near the GROUNDSKEEPER though. Port? Yes, please.