INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
OK, let's get this right out in the open - I didn't really like today's theme. It just seemed a little blah. "C-Span?" for COVEREDBRIDGE. Yeah, a bridge is a span, and it starts with C, and C-Span is a thing by itself. I guess I get it, but is it enough? "G-force?" for GERMANARMY? I get it, but I'm not delighted by it. And what's an E-bond?
Aside from the theme, I liked much about the puzzle. "WAR is mainly a catalog of blunders" is a great Churchill quote. And speaking of WAR, Frannie and I saw "The Burghers of Calais" by RODIN when we were in Calais in 2014. It's quite a sculpture, and quite a story. "Words said in passing?" (a law) is a great clue for the rather common entry AYES. And "Deliberate betrayal" is a rather odd clue for the uncommon word PERFIDY.
"Father figures?" (DADBODS) and "Top supporter?" (BRA) are both amusing, and speaking of things like that, I was amused by the tameness of ARM for "Escort's offering," after another three-letter answer came immediately to mind...
DEEPER (Like Crater Lake, compared to any other U.S. lake) and TEEN (LeBron James in his N.B.A. debut, e.g.) are both good trivia, and 6-Down just put another thing onto our list of opportunities for our next trip to Stockholm. :) And speaking of... there are just 20 days to the Eurovision final!
Oh, and how 'bout "Load off one's mine?" for ORE. Cute.
Overall, it's about what I expect of a Sunday, which is to say, it wasn't my favorite puzzle ever, but it was fine. Tomorrow, Frannie takes the reins, and I'll see you again in a few weeks. Happy Puzzling!
- Horace
I kinda liked this one. One little game I like to play with these Sunday xwords is to try to get the whole thing without looking at the theme or solving (or looking at the clues for) the long answers. Whatever floats one's boat, eh?
ReplyDeleteLike Philbo, I don't generally look at the Sunday theme until I finish solving. In fact, I usually don't see it until I read this blog. I do look at the theme clues and try to solve them, though, and kind of knew what was going on after getting COVEREDBRIDGE. Funny that OREOPIE and CARLESJR are right over LSDTABS, despite the fact that munchies are not generally a side effect of the latter, or so I've heard. I agree that the theme wasn't the greatest ever, but the puzzle was enjoyable overall, if not a little on the easy side (23:24).
ReplyDeleteLike Phil, I liked it. But I always try to get the theme right away and this one shouted it to me with both the title and the clues. So I was able to get a LEG UP by filling in the first letters of the theme clues. And wow, I did NOT know that LeBron James was a TEEN when he turned pro! And I didn't know that OREO PIE was a thing, either. Anyway, I had fun with it.
ReplyDelete14:47!
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