I'VE GOT A FEELING
In 2015, I attended my first A.C.P.T. by myself. I didn't know anyone at all, but being something of an extrovert, I went into the grand ballroom on Friday evening for the "ice-breaker" games and plunked myself down at a table. I ended up solving the puzzles that night with none other than Doug Hoylman - a six-time A.C.P.T. champion, the chief counsel for the I.R.S. - a nice guy and a formidable crossworder, and a guy whose daughter was attending Beloit College - my alma mater. I knew right away I was in the right place.
On Saturday, I talked to people in the hallways between puzzles, and I usually asked them how they were doing, etc. I ended up talking for a while with a guy who told me he thought he was doing pretty well ... that he maybe could have done better, but he felt pretty good about how things were going. It's a comment you hear from many people. When I checked the standings for his name, I saw he was third. It was Howard Barkin.
So anyway, today we have a puzzle by Mr. Barkin, and you might think I'm just being kind to someone I met at the tournament (Hi Howard!), but I tell you I genuinely LOL'd at the clever re-defining of the theme answers. "Bacteriologist's emotion upon a new discovery?" for CULTURESHOCK, "Jester's emotion after the king's laughter?" (COMICRELIEF), and "Wild horse's emotion?" (UNBRIDLEDJOY) - those are all great. And what about "Evil genie's emotion?" for BOTTLEDUPANGER? Genius! And hilarious.
In contrast to some other bloggers (Hi Jeff!), I always enjoy a theme that appears in both Across and Down answers. I feel it opens the puzzle up somehow. Some say it makes it more challenging to have clean fill, but I didn't find much to complain about. In fact, nestled right beside the vertical theme entries we find BUGSBUNNY (Famous toon with a Brooklyn accent), CONARTIST (One might take you in), and WETBAR (Home mixologist's spot) - all strong.
Other bits I liked were DEEPCUT (Lesser-known song), ACINCH (Easy as pie) (Was not expecting two words here!), EULOGY (The Gettysburg Address, e.g.), LABELLED (Hurrah for the two-l spelling!), and ZENO (One of his paradoxes claims that two objects can never really touch).
Overall, it was a fun Sunday puzzle. Frannie takes over tomorrow, and I'll see you in a few weeks.
- Horace
Thanks for the kind words! The whole purpose of creating these things is to give people some amusement, and maybe a little bit of order in a crazy world. Oh, and sorry for the few tricky spots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in, Howard. Totally agree about the purpose of a puzzle. This one fit the bill perfectly. Hope to see you next year in Stamford! :)
DeleteNice review, Horace. I enjoyed the themers, too, all of them. Loved the pairing of SAUNA and YURTS, reminded me of a wonderful day with the Archivist at the Siberia Station Spa north of Quebec City. And speaking of comforting, #46 is so pleasant to see there.
ReplyDeleteBut let's just take a quick look at International Men's Ice Hockey. 8 countries made the championship tournament this past spring and there were 3 with 6 letters: CANADA (the eventual champions who beat Finland - alas - in OT in the final), RUSSIA, and, OK, SUISSE. The only "Swedish" player anywhere to be found amongst the international powerhouses of men's ice hockey in the entire playoffs was a Finn, Arttu "Ruotsalainen," literally the Finnish word for "Swedish." Hah! Sweden? International Powerhouse?? Älä viitsi!
My favorite kind o' puzzle...thanks, Howard! Like Horace, the theme answers totally cracked me up. And it was such a relaxing time! Plus I even learned something about my own town. Horace, did you have any trouble with the AMES Building as the first skyscraper? Wow...who knew? I didn't. Fun, fun, fun!
ReplyDeleteKelly - I meant to mention that in the review! I dropped that in off the clue. :) I was an architectural photographer in Boston for about 20 years and I know the Ames Building well. It's a lovely building - I think the facade was restored not too long ago. If you don't know it, you should definitely look up a photo!
DeleteKnow it? I DO know it! I just never ever ever considered it a skyscraper!!! It only goes to show...
DeleteWell yes ... it has been quite literally overshadowed since it went up. :)
DeleteWell, that was fun! (And that seems to be the consensus here.) I liked the theme - unlike many times, the theme clues were guessable and that accelerated the process. A few new things (OBELI) and I liked the Confederacy of Dunces reference - that book was a revelation when I read it.
ReplyDeleteAs for SWEDEN - yeah, maybe "powerhouse" is a tiny bit of a stretch...up here in Canada, "ice hockey" is a tautology :)
When the dust settled, 13:46 which I think is my fastest ever for a Sunday.
I nearly doubled Philbo's time at 27:05, but thought it was fairly fast for a Sunday, too. Very amusing puzzle. Excellent to see the full BUGSBUNNY, always a by-far favorite for me.
ReplyDelete