As our friend Mr. Kingdon asked in the comments yesterday, "Why should Thursdays have all the fun?" Why indeed? We've had two fun puzzles in a row now, and if The Turn holds up its end of the bargain, we're in for quite a week!
Today's silliness takes real last names and forces us to pronounce them as if they are all participles ending in -in'. As in, "If you think economists don't lose their cool, you haven't seen JANETYELLEN. Guffaw. Being, I guess, an atypical New Englander, I pronounce TEDDANSON, DOLLYPARTON, and even MICHAELBOLTON in such a way that by the time I was halfway through the puzzle I thought the trick was to leave the "ON" part off entirely. It was only when I got to the Secretary of the Treasury that I realized my mistake.
Mr. Collins, veteran and AGILE puzzle constructor that he is, has given us a nice clean grid with only dabs of TORI, APO, and NANO - NAN. HIPSTERS (Many regulars at artisan coffee shops) and ITSADEAL (Cry while shaking hands) are good long Downs. I like SWARM, LENTIL, DEADON, TRACT, ALEPH, ELSOL, and our old friend EEYORE. And it seems oddly appropriate for DEREG (Removal of restrictions, informally) to cross right through JANETYELLEN. And next door to that, "One hanging around a party with swingers?" is a fun clue for PINATA.
Fun!
- Horace
Thanks for the write-up, Horace! I hope you have a great St Paddy's Day.
ReplyDelete- Pete Collins
This was a shocking result for me. I was slogging through the puzzle, moaning about all the names of people I hadn't heard of, unexcited about fill like ONE BIT or DEREG or NET. I stumbled to having a letter in each square, ready to hit reveal and see how many errors. Two? Five? More? Imagine my shock when it gave the little victory indication!
ReplyDeleteThe theme didn't click for me. Maybe because Dolly Parton is known for her hair, but not its part. Maybe because of the loose spelling. Or maybe just because names I don't know put me in a bad mood (I'm sure Leslie ODOM is very talented and maybe my life is poorer due to my lack of familiarity..... and well likewise for 3 of the 5 themers).
On the plus side, I did very much enjoy the clue for PINATA and also smiled at the clue for STOAT.
My Michigan roots came to the rescue for me today, because I could totally relate to the pronunciations...and the entries cracked me up. Fun puzzle!
ReplyDeleteÉirinn go Brách
I thought this a fun one, too, but originally spelled TEDDANSON as it was supposed to be pronounced in accordance with the clue (TEDDANcin). The crosses, however, as well as subsequent names, all of which I recognize, caused me to quickly fix that up. Nice barbecue pair (PATIOS and PIT), even though I'm not a huge fan of that cooking medium. 9:44
ReplyDelete