NEW LOOK
A lovely Sunday trick from veteran Mr. Gordon. As the puzzle tells us, a FRESHPAIROFEYES (or, "Is") is (are?) added to normal words or expressions to make new word pairings, and then - guess what? - they're clued wackily! Perhaps an example or two would help.
To the normal word "thoroughfares," the letter I is added twice, around the last R, changing the word to THOROUGHFAIRIES and this is clued with "Meticulous magical beings?" Heh.
And one more - "polka dots" is changed and given the clue "Inept dancers at Oktoberfest?" The answer? POLKAIDIOTS. It's mildly amusing. A few of the others are less funny - PANAMAHAITI, for example, but I appreciate the cleverness of making this trick work so many times.
In other areas, I actually tried "younger" at 1A "Like the Rock vis-à-vis any of the Stones," which is true, I believe. And I suppose other words could have been used there, too, but no other would have matched up with all the crosses as well as BEEFIER.
I'm not sure I like how "small-dog crazy" the puzzle has gotten. It's always Pom this, Peke that, and now we have "Small doodles, perhaps," for LAPDOGS. I guess "doodles" now refers to "Labradoodle," the unholy pairing of the Labrador Retriever and the Poodle. Actually, "unholy" may be a bit harsh, as at least two of my friends (including one, Mr. Colum Amory) have owned labradoodles, and in my experience, they are pretty good dogs. If you like that sort of thing. (See also: "Buddy of Buddy, maybe" (FIDO), "Shape of a canine ID tag, often" (BONE), and "Hungarian herding breed" (PULI))
Lastly, speaking of animals, I have always thought that there was a thing called a "door mouse," but now I learn that it's "dormouse," ("Bushy-tailed rodents" (DORMICE)). They are rodents that can hibernate for up to half a year, and the name comes from the french dormeuse for "tending to be dormant," or "sleeping." They were considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savory appetizer or - dipped in honey and poppy seeds - as a dessert.
That's probably a good way to end this. Enjoy!
- Horace
Crazy theme! I had no idea what was going on, and even when I did, it was very hard to carry it out in solving the other unfinished theme answers.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have now owned two doodles, both labradoodles, although the original breeders wish to rename this particular breed "Cobber Dogs," as a way of distinguishing them from the unethical selling of just any old combination of poodles and labradors. Anyway, my two dogs have been lovely. RIP Milo.