Friday, August 5, 2022, Erik Agard and Brooke Husic

I found today's puzzle to be challenging without being impossible, - perfect for a Friday, although I must admit, things did not look good for me after the first pass, which left me with ALTOS few squares filled in. My one gimme was "Vicar in 'Emma'" (ELTON) and, although I think I have learned from the NYTX that HARES are leporids, was glad to be able to confirm it with CHAPS ("Some cowboy wear"). 

As our dear Readers will know, I did not complete the grid without some REDTAPE. For "Comp. ___ (univ. major)" I put 'lit' instead of SCI, which threw a wrench in the middle. Elsewhere, instead of ACES, I guessed Aone ("Top-notch"). Also, I thought I was being clever thinking of 'noun' for "A bird, food or person" at 42A, but the correct answer, KIWI, was much better. 

I had the most trouble with the southwest. I couldn't remember the name of the "Realm in 'Frozen'", I didn't twig to the kind of wheel that was wanted at 55A, and I was toying with  'extraSECURITY for "More cover than usual ..." Luckily, Horace was sitting nearby, working on that same section, and happened to remark, "I'm taking 'acre' out, it's not difficult enough for a Friday," which, as I also had 'acre' for "Farm unit" BALEd me out. With 'acre' out of the way, I could finally see my way clear to ARENDELLE, HEAVYSECURITY, and the very clever RACEAHEAD for ""Make a lead balloon?" :)

Anyhoo, my missteps aside, this puzzle had SLOTS of well-worded and trixy clues. Here are some of the highlights:

"Get down" (SADDEN)

"What's the matter?" (ATOM)

"Item often wrapped after it's purchased" (SHAWL)

"Church address, for short" (REV) - this one took me forever to get.

"Style points?" (STILETTOS)

"Eats outside, perhaps" (STREETFOOD) - so good!

"Pounds on keyboards?" (HASHTAG) - ha!

I also enjoyed the bonus puzzle within a puzzle: "Name that anagrams to something you might smoke" (CRAIG).

While I've never heard of BALAYAGE ("Hair highlighting technique") or ETTA Baker, I look forward to dropping them in next time they make an appearance. 

~Frannie.