I hit a mite of trouble only in the middle bottom section. I duped myself with "Dollar alternative" and went for 'avis' at first, rather than the more straightforward EURO. I 'knew' the last name of "'Cheers' actor George" - at least I thought I did - but turns out I didn't. I tried WENtz, but that made it difficult to find a "Place to park" SPOT. :) And speaking of misspellings, over at 33A, I spelled LEVAR Burton's name with two As and didn't check the corresponding Down, so I officially FWOED, but if I *had* checked 26D: ("Assist on the job"), I would have realized I needed to change that first A to an E. Just sayin'. :)
I was vaguely troubled by the clue at 43A claiming that "The average American spends over four hours a day on it" (PHONE). My average is more like 4 minutes a day. I just don't FANCYTHAT, but maybe I'm not NORMA. :)
I enjoyed today's anagram pair of TROT over TORT. I also enjoyed all the fun long entries including CIRCULARFILE, DUTYFREESHOP, SOLARPANELS, and my favorite, sound-wise, CRUNCHTIME.
And speaking of crunch time, IRE better get this review posted!
~Frannie.
Robyn! My favourite!!! Another super satisfying crossword. Of course NOVASCOTIA was a gimme for me :) It was fun to see whether the Puzo brother was going to turn out to be SONNY or FREDO. Frannie - it wasn't just you - I also put AVIS in at first. I liked the misleading SHAVE!
ReplyDeleteGreat punny review, Frannie! :)
Gee, four hours a day? Maybe they mean more than just talking...like some people read books and play games on their phones. I would've put DUTY FREE SHOP in right away, but the "airline" and QM in the clue held me back for a moment. Do airlines offer shopping? EBOLA is off-putting, FREDO makes me think of Chris Cuomo, but the rest of the puzzle is fun -- as is your review, Frannie o' mine!
ReplyDeleteNice review, Franny. You spotlighted most of my favorites--MOM is the best!--but how about that delightful nugget of trivia: Hendrix opening for The Monkees?? Also enjoyed the clues for BANKROLLED and BIRDHOUSES.
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