No errors today! I'm getting my mojo back, baby.
And just in time, for the best puzzle of the week so far. I love this theme: standard phrases where the second word can be reinterpreted as an attempt to sell something, then clued wackily. My favorite was definitely 27A: "This device makes prepping cherries a breeze" (PITTERPATTER). Hah! That's truly silly. I hope it was the seed for the grid (see what I did there?).
FEVERPITCH is much better served here than in the stupid rom-com movie set in and around Fenway Park. ASSEMBLYLINE's clue wasn't a home-run, but I liked MASSAPPEAL.
Some good answers in the fill as well, including DYSTOPIA. I haven't watched The Handmaid's Tale personally. I found the book fascinating, especially once somebody told me that it was set in Harvard Square/Yard. BLUESTATE, IDEALIZE, and DNASAMPLE (although who wants to think about spit in a tube?) were also good entries.
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| IVAN The Terrible |
32D: There are two in "101 Dalmatians" (ONES) failed to trip me up, thankfully. The answer couldn't be "dogs." The title's a dead giveaway for that one.
57A: It shows a lot of plays, but no musicals (ESPN) is a clever non-QMC. I'm a big fan of those types of clues. But how about 56D: For whom the bell tolls (THEE)? It's so brazen! I personally like this new style of clue as well.
My last square (and there was a moment of concern here) was at the crossing of MAYA and YEA. I almost had to run through the alphabet to get the letter, but then thought, "what if it's a vowel, not a consonant?" And then I got what "Passing remark?" was getting at, and the rest was history.
- Colum
An ad copywriter am I and I loved this theme. Hit home in many ways!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that YEA was a tricky one! And how about this for a mistake - when I first read "It leans to the left" I had BLUES... and maybe even the next T, and I actually wrote in BLUESTeel. I thought, wow, Zoolander is still really popular and well known! Hah! I'm not actually even sure that "Blue Steel" does lean left, or right, but I laughed and laughed when it wasn't right. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL!!
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