Sunday, July 4, 2021

Monday, July 5, 2021, Peter Gordon

As I started to solve the Monday puzzle here on the evening of Sunday, July 4th, a barrage of fireworks exploded in the neighborhood, which completely blew my chances for a personal best. But seriously folks, I did have a RAREBIT of trouble with a Monday puzzle. I misspelled IDI (Amin) with an "E" even though I know better. Sometimes when there are two to options to choose between, and I know I've made the wrong choice before, I remember the wrong choice better than the right one, especially when I'm trying to be quick.

After correcting my error and completing the grid, I took a look at the shaded and circled squares. The shaded squares contain a multi-letter spell-out of the single circled letter that follows. EYEINTHESKY, for example. WHYYOULITTLE naturally brought The Simpsons immediately to mind. :)

I enjoyed a number of the clues as I went along, including "Undergraduate's declaration" (MAJOR), "Attire for the Mario Bros. or the Minions (OVERALLS), "Butter unit" (PAT), and "What can barely give a hoot?" (OWLET). Speaking of which, earlier this week I dug up my Harry Potter books to lend to Huygens, but for some reason started re-reading them myself. I finished the third book, HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban, tonight. I think I'll stop there, but who knows? The series seems to have cast some kind of spell on me. 

11D: BEAARTHUR

I liked the 2 sets of 3 9's in the northeast and southwest corners. Has anyone ever used their HOTELSAFE? Maybe only in a Nero WOLFE novel. And speaking of hotels, I appreciated all the non-English answers: olio di OLIVA, EAU, ARC de Triomphe, TIA, and of course ELLIBERTADOR, once I got his eye in the right place. 

~Frannie. 

6 comments:

  1. I didn't love this one. I dunno, maybe just a frame of mind thing. I do think it's harder than it seems to come up with words/phrases that fit the theme, so kudos to the setter for that. 3:20, so no sub-3 for moi today.

    Frannie, it pleases me that you are re-reading the HP series. I have done so myself at least three times and I wouldn't stop at P of A, as I found they get more interesting (and darker) from there on in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just read up on SEA CUCUMBERs and it turns out? They are our friends! Loved the six 9-letter bonus fill in this puzzle...beautiful!

    Kelly <--currently re-reading Franny & Zooey :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boy, it's been a while since I last read that - and Salinger is much more my speed than Harry Potter.

      Currently reading "Original Meanings" by Rakove (for the first time), and fully wrapped up in how interesting things were in this country between 1776 and 1787. Fascinating!

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Definitely! And I'm sorry I didn't mention it!

      Delete
  4. Across Lite didn't have shaded squares before the circled letters, so I had no idea what was going on until reading the review above. It's fine, but took me a little longer than a usual Monday at 6:23. WHYYOULITTLE is excellent. Sue and I use the hotel safes all of the time. I don't like walking around with much cash, and don't like leaving other valuables, like jewelry or my laptop, out when we're away. Why wouldn't people use the hotel safe? Seems odd.

    ReplyDelete