Friday, June 3, 2022

Friday, June 3, 2022, Robyn Weintraub

Another lovely puzzle from Robyn Weintraub, full of clever clues like "Images of Pluto, perhaps" (CELS), "It's down in France" (DUVET), "Small-business partner, perhaps" (MOM), "Path at a university" (TENURETRACK), "Looks like a jerk" (OGLES), "Take a plane to" (SHAVE) - ha! - and "Private dining room" (MESS) - such an excellent semantic flip between initial clue reading and final answer.

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'. :)

36A: STARFLEET

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.

3 comments:

  1. 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!

    Great punny review, Frannie! :)

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  2. 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!

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  3. Nice 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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