"Ticks off" - angers instead of tallies (COUNTS).
"Get on" - embark rather than grow older (AGE).
"Bolted" - took off rather than fastened on (RAN).
"Shucks" - expression of modesty rather than unwrap (HULLS)
"Underground line" - subway instead of stone way (SEAM).
"Court feat of 2003 and 2015" - in this case, I bounced around from the Supreme Court to the basketball court until I finally netted SERENASLAM
In addition to the ambiguous clues, there were some excellent non-QMC clues including "It's subject to inflation in the auto industry" (AIRBAG), "Area of recession" (HAIRLINE), "Name-dropping word" (NEE), and "New York city" (ROME). The R of the latter was my last entry, thanks, in part, to my lack of Karate Kid knowledge. I was able to get it when I finally paid attention to the clue's capitalization and realized the clue meant a city in New York, not a name for New York City. Derp. My favorite clue of the day, though, was a QMC: "Catchy communication, for short?" (APB) - ha!
Add to all of the great stuff above plenty of unusual (to me) fill like "Ciudad official" (ALCALDE), "Bygone Japanese coin" (RIN),"Certain landing pad" (HELISTOP), and "___ artist (film professional)" (FOLEY) - and you've got yourself a fine Saturday puzzle.
~Frannie.
Yes, this one was delightful. Funny, I wasn't fooled by any of your misdirections--SERENASLAM went in especially quickly--with the huge exception of HULLS. I still don't love that one, having never encountered that word used as a verb. My fav part of the whole puzzle was something you didn't mention: MINEALLMINE! I like to think the entire puzzle was built around that beautiful central phrase. I've heard of RIN somewhere--probably another puzzle--but I'm with you on the rest of the unusual material, particularly ALCALDE. Fun fact: the word derives from Arabic for "the judge." Worst clue-answer combo by far: "Area of recession" for HAIRLINE. Awful, just awful.
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