Everybody loves a good lawyer joke, right? And who doesn't enjoy a pun? Today's theme appeals to both with four law-related terms clued in punny ways. To wit - MOTIONDENIED is "A little tied up at the moment?" And "Attire for a gym period?" is a CLASSACTIONSUIT. Heh. "Advocate for U2's frontman" (PROBONOATTORNEY) seems a little de facto, and "Swing of a bowler's arm?" for MOVETOSTRIKE is positively de novo - perhaps something only an amicus curiae could love. Or an amicus bowlingae.
There's a little bonus material in the clue "Lawyer, for a defendant, typically" (NEED), and "Onetime Supreme Court justice Charles EVANS Hughs."
Aside from the theme, the puzzle had other worthwhile assets. "Heavy weight for a musician to bear?" (TUBA) is fun, NEWSOM (Successor to Brown as California governor) was a nice reminder of the recent hubbub out West, and REBUKE (Sharp talking-to) is an uncommon entry. ARCH (Primary) got a tricky clue, and CRAY (Unhinged, in slang) adds a touch of freshness to balance out the old-timey WERTHERS.
Only one minor indictment for SSI (Some fed. assistance), but an exemption can be made, as it hardly cast a PALL.
Another day, another debut. Congratulations, Mr. Okulitch, on your first NYTX.
My verdict? - Amusing.
- Horace
I enjoyed ARCH because I hadn't really thought about what the "arch" in "archbishop", "archrival", etc means. It is even the origin of "arch" in "archipelago" although that is a somewhat twisty etymological route.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, time to get my nose out of the dictionary. My favorite themer was PROBONOATTORNEY because, well, I guess just a novel use of that old crossword chestnut "Bono" (what will constructors ever do if he starts being not famous enough? I mean we aren't quite at "etui" levels of "made for crosswords" but we are close).