Thursday, April 8, 2021

Thursday, April 8, 2021, Jake Halperin

Hoo-buoy! Everybody loves a pun, right? Wharf's that you say? Fishing for laughs with a pun will land you in hot water? Don't be Scylla, a good pun will always tickle the ol' Charybdis. 

Heh. 


So anyway, today we find four nautical puns cleat-hitched to four different water stations - pier, dock, moor (ok, more of a verb than a noun. Well, it is also a noun, but that's not relevant here), and quay. And each is used as a homophone (sort of) in another common word or phrase.

APIERONTHESCENE (Weary boater's welcome sight?) (appear on the scene)

WHATSUPDOCK (Cry on arriving for a boating trip?) (What's up, Doc?)

FOREVERMOOR (Completely retire from boating?) (forevermore)

QUAYDEMOGRAPHIC (Boaters, collectively?) (key demographic)

The last one didn't work well for me, because I pronounce quay "kay," as if it were the French word quai. I save the key pronunciation for the small island, or the small thing that fits in a lock.

My favorite of the themers is FOREVERMOOR. The clue is the funniest - and - it reminds me of The Raven. In all, I wouldn't say I ADORED it, but the theme did make me chuckle, so that's good.

In other news, it's nice to see TOM right in the center of the grid. :)  And there's a little bonus material in ASEA (Deployed, as a sailor), TUGS (Barge haulers), CAPN (Boss of a bo's'n), and AQUA (Watery shade). There were some nice pairings, like "A pup is a young one" (OTTER/DOG), and CHILDACTOR and ATTEN (When Tatum O'Neal won her Oscar). But some of the clues just seemed a little off - like "Exact" for WREAK, "Look upon with disgust" for ABHOR, and "Beginning of the Constitution: Abbr." (ARTI). I kept trying to think of a four-letter abbreviation for "preamble." 

From the crow's nest it's easy to see the dunnage, but I'll stick my land lubber gooseneck out and say that while I maybe didn't quite luff it, I thought it was a solid launch into The Turn. Here's hoping for smooth sailing from here on.

- Horace

3 comments:

  1. I thought it a fine offering, if a bit oddly rebus-less for a Thursday for my taste, and a bit easy at 13:52. FOREVERMOOR was my favorite of the theme answers, also. I tried Thecw off of the clue and the T____ where TRUTV goes since I've never seen "Adam Ruins Everything," but it was quickly corrected with crosses. I thought the clue for TSA was good and misdirecting, even with the QM (60A Org. concerned with air bags?), and the clue for OBOES (57A Second staff in many an orchestral score) had me thinking of clefs, so I wrote in _clEf with some undeserved confidence. 19D Power point? (SOCKET) was also quite nice. Mostly enjoyable all around.

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  2. As a sailor (full disclosure: I haven't been sailing in what seems like EONS) the theme tickled me. 'Course I'm a sucker for puns...the cornier the better. Yes, FOREVER MOOR cracked me up, too. I also squinted a bit at QUAY DEMOGRAPHIC, but am willing to admit I've always mispronounced the first word. The long fill is delicious. I'm fine with the clue for WREAK -- it's certainly an accurate synonym. Well, I'll drop anchor here, climb in my dinghy and head ashore for -- yes, a nice little glass o' wine!

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  3. I totally agree with ARTI versus preamble - not clear how that got past editing when it would be fixable with "part of the Constitution after the preamble" or other pretty easy adjustments.

    The clue that really got me was "inflation fig." I was so sure that was cpI (as in, consumer price index) and only after much consideration of both crosses did I hit on PSI. Which presumably is exactly the redirection the constructor had in mind, so I'll say "well done" and "I fell for that one hook, line, and sinker" (to pick another vaguely boating related metaphor).

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