I thought today's puzzle played pretty easy for a Saturday. I
TORE through the assemblage of fill-in-the-blank clues ("Smart ___" (
ALEC), "___ -o'-shanter" (
TAM), "____ film" (
FEATURE)) and early-week C/APs like "Units of land, with or without the first letter" (
PLOTS) and "Boo-boo" (
OWIE), until I reached the southwest section where my
RATE began to
WANE. In that corner were gathered a clutch of unfamiliar answers like
NODRAMA and
HELLENE, and the always-to-be-avoided
OVOIDAL (
OOF). Sadly, Dear Readers, my recent re-read of the HP books did not come to my aid for 55A: "The Grim, in the Harry Potter books" (
OMEN). Despite the
MUSS, I eventually completed the area without
ADES and
EMERIL'ed victorious.
The mid-section of the puzzle with the staggered set of nine-letter answers includes some solid fill especially ALLABOARD and FAIRSHAKE. I thought both parts of the C/AP "Hullabaloo" and DIN were nice. I also enjoyed:
"Pop group?" (FAM)
"Soft or hard finish" (WARE)
"Left on board, say" (PORT)
"It's all over the papers" (INK)
Far be it for me to complain about a puzzle that I was able to complete quickly and with ACURASy, but I confess I do like a SPRACH more challenge on a Saturday.
~Frannie.
I agree Frannie! This wasn't as punishing as Saturdays can often be. I didn't get GRIM either until the crossers came to the rescue. But of course CANADA was a gimmie :) 7:14, very satisfactory for a Sat grid...
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