GO UP IN SMOKE
Today, five entries need to rise up from a final "ash" in order to correctly answer their clues. JOHNNYCASH, for example, turns upward at the A to become instead JOHNNYC/ARSON, which correctly answers the clue "30-year host of late-night TV." It's a clever trick. The others are:
And did anyone else notice that RISElike / aphoenix fits in perfectly where RISEFROM / THEASHES belongs? I thought that was interesting.
And really, a clever puzzle. We do still have the age-old problem of five clues with "-," and there are five Down answers that don't make sense, but sometimes that's ok. And it's especially ok when you've got clues like "Pot grower's remark?" (IRAISE), "Lead-off selections?" (ERASERS), and "Present-day saint?" (NICHOLAS). Ha! Those are all excellent.
I don't have a ton of time today, as we are entertaining guests, but I don't want to sell this one short, either. It was a little trickier than Sundays sometimes are, for me anyway. Or maybe I've just been in a slow spell this week... but that doesn't really matter. The puzzle was fun, and the little YEESH-worthy things like SGS, REECHO, and RES weren't too high a price to pay.
Two more things - ARSENE Lupin - the first season was enjoyable. And who knew the crossword star OREO was "thought to be stamped with symbols of the Knights Templar?"
OK, that's all. I hope you enjoyed it too. Frannie takes over tomorrow, and I'll see you in a few weeks. Happy Puzzling!
- Horace
Very fine Sunday! I wish more were like this one. I was severely mislead by seeing "arson" heading upwards in the first "-" down entry. I thought I had it figured out, that each one of the "-" answers would be related to fire somehow, maybe "going up in smoke"? or some sort of trickery. I love the actual theme though, and it's carried out beautifully.
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