I'm getting a late start today. Fortunately, Horace reminded me in the nick of time to write about the puzzle. I said, "that was a clothes one." Need I say more? I suppose the answer is yes, so here goes. Today's grid is stocked with three grid-spanning expressions that reveal articles of clothing within, but that admonish you not to be without. We have KEEPYOURSHIRTON, HANGONTOYOURHAT (my favorite), and TIGHTENYOURBELT. For a hot minute, I thought I had discerned an additional layer to the theme in which a relevant body part ALIGNS in the grid with the clothing part of the theme answer. For example, SLEEVE shows up just below SHIRT, and NOGGIN sits just above HAT - although it would probably have been underneath, if the placement had been intentional. My theory was completely cut off at the KNEE, however, when I got to BELT. While there is a BUREAU near the BELT, it's a bit of a stretch to consider that part of this ensemble, so apparelently I did not discover a hidden level of meaning.
And speaking of hidden levels of meaning, how do you, dear Readers, feel about KOANS? Here's one I keep pinned up over my desk:
When Ungan was sweeping the ground, Dôgo said, “You are working hard, aren’t you.” Ungan said, “You should know there is one who does not work hard.” Dôgo said, “Is that so? You mean there is a second moon?” Ungan raised his bamboo broom and said, “What number moon is this?” Dôgo was silent.
I'll need a bigger thinking cap to figure that one out!
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| Flora by Ferdinand Keller, 1883 |
Although "Grant for a filmmaker?" (HUGH) didn't fool me, it did entertain, as did "Drinking game?" (GIN) and "Supply for an indebted tattoo artist?" (REDINK). FRIVOLOUS and MONOLITHS add a bit of bling. I have a soft spot for KEN, HEW, TUB, and, of course, FRANK. <3
I thought the puzzle was pretty smooth overall - nothing you could really call a ruff spot. At 8:05, my solve was 20 seconds faster than yesterday's. It may not be the fastest Tuesday ever, but I did my vest.
~Frannie.
I totally had "cary" before HUGH.
ReplyDeleteAnd although I know Uriah Heep the Dickens character (from crossword puzzles only, do we have an acronym for that yet?), I didn't know a band had named themselves after him.
Thanks for the Call For Acronym (CFA - an acronym that Colum might enjoy)! Frannie and I have discussed it, and we propose KOFCA (Known Only From Crossword Answers). So now we can talk about words as being "KOFCA-esque." :)
Delete"What number moon is this?" Classic! :)
ReplyDeleteAn ideal Monday -- and a debut, I understand! I appreciate the fact that the constructor stuck to the second person pronoun in all his themers, rather than use the rather stiff "one's." And with just three spans, we get cool words like FRIVOLOUS. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteKOFCA-esque; excellent! This ran, for me, easier than yesterday's also. REDINK, I thought, was the best non-themer. And oddly, I didn't even think of Cary Grant off of that clue for HUGH, though I should have. I've not read the URIAH Dickens, either, which is strange because I've read just about everything else by the man, but did know of the band. There doesn't seem to be the usual heading on the review. 6:10
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