TODDLER TALK
This puzzle made me laugh. All of the theme answers got at least a smile, and some got an actual LOL. Even reading them again now I chuckle. "Accept payment from Batman? TAKEAWAYNECHECK. Hah! "Cause for celebration at a pachyderm sanctuary?" ANELEPHANTINTHEWOMB. Now that's funny. And what about "Finish scooping out a big stir-fry?" HITWOKBOTTOM. It's a great way to start a lazy Sunday, isn't it?
It's a debut for Ms. Hale, and only the seventh NYTX byline for Ms. Iverson, but I'm already hoping to seem more from them in the future.
Several women in the grid today - OPRAH, BODEREK, ANNE Brontë, EVA Perón, Lucretia MOTT, and VANNAWHITE (Celebrity who holds the Guinness world record for "Most Frequent Clapper.") That's an amusing Guinness record, but it also makes me kind of sad, because it really seems like Guinness is just making stuff up now.
In other areas, THEFWORD (Live broadcast no-no) took me forever to parse. I'm pretty sure I had THEF_ORD for quite a while, and then when the W went in, it still took me a while to get it. Derp. And "Slice of toast?" (HERESTO) was tricky too! And while we're at it, I'll also call out "They're found around Scots" (KILTS). Heh.
So as you can see, I liked it. Lovely way to finish off my week. Frannie takes the reins tomorrow, then Colum, and I'll see you in a few weeks.
- Horace
Don't forget about Lucretia Mott, originally from Massachusetts and arguably the most important woman of the bunch.
ReplyDeleteRight. I liked seeing MOTT as I was solving, but forgot her when writing the review. I will go back and fix that. Thanks!
DeleteHear, hear on Lucretia Mott and totally agree that this puzzle is bang-up. I thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed and giggled all through the solve...and the fill is smooth and wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBut was MOTT more important than BODEREK? I, too, was amused by all of the theme answers and thought that most of the remaining fill was pretty good, too. Even most of the threes were fine: NOD, HOG, YER, ZEN. We only had a couple of IPO and INA to muck things up a bit, but even those weren't terrible. YUCCA was nice trivia, and I finished in 30:03, which is right about where I like on a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI assume the first sentence is a joke.
DeleteWhen I saw that 71 down had a "W" in it, I did check for a question mark in the clue. Just as well there isn't one, because "Vanna Rite" isn't a familiar phrase.
ReplyDeleteAgree the themers are delightful. Hard to pick a favorite but maybe WEED BETWEEN THE LINES?