Sunday, March 20, 2022, Brad Wiegmann

EXES & NOS

First off, thanks to Frannie and Colum for two weeks of fun reviews. It's great to be able to take these two-week breaks from the blog and know that these two great friends will deliver, even when - as was the case last week - one is on a long-awaited vacation. So thanks, both of you!

It's been a while since the three of us have been in the same place together, but we are looking forward to seeing each other soon in Stamford. If you see us standing together, probably laughing, feel free to interrupt and tell us a bad joke.

And speaking of jokes - I like this kind of punny, "question & answer" theme. It's almost like the beloved "Tom Swifty" (said Tom half-heartedly), but in this case, instead of speaking adverbially, a potential partner has punnily-appropriate drawbacks.

"So then I dated a fun couch potato, but he ..." (DIDN'TWORKOUT).

 

HEH. That was the best one of the rejections by far, but the last one - "Finally, I started seeing a charming magician, and he ..." (DIDTHETRICK) was also quite good.

In addition to the punny theme are several high-quality clues:

Possessive types? (DEMONS)

What makes the short list? (ETAL) - Nice!

Conflict taking a couple of seconds? (DUEL) - Beautiful

Take place? (SET) - (a "take" of a movie or show)

Non-starters? (BULLPEN)

 

and on the non-QMC side:

 

Something a winner may run into (TAPE)

Noisy beachgoer (GULL)

Fun-size (MINI)

Overall, a solid Sunday. 

- Horace