LE PUZZLE
OK, so yesterday, we find "b.s. meter" in the puzzle, and today, at 1-Across, no less, we've got ASSHAT. Hah! ASSHAT. It's such an excellent word. Somebody, somewhere, came up with that one day. I wonder if they knew it would take off? Anyway, I'm all for a certain level of decorum, and to be honest, "b.s. meter" is pushing it, but I've got no problem with ASSHAT. See, I've written it three times already in this review. I mean, we're all grown-ups, right? And sticks and stones, etc. ...
When I saw the title today, I wondered if we'd have a French theme, but no, instead the gag is to add an "LE" to a word in a well-known expression and then clue wackily. "Skip a beat," becomes SKIPABEATLE (Says "John, Paul ... and Ringo"?), and a "class trip" becomes CLASSTRIPLE (The three R's? [sic]).
It was an amusing theme. Maybe the best is "Loss of the winning ticket?" (LOTTERYPICKLE), or do you prefer the crossover WORDLEOFMOUTH (M_U_H?)?
I actually FWOE'd at LOTTERYPICKLE, because I had entered KInK for (Bit of spice, figuratively), and I didn't notice that LOTTERYPInKLE didn't really make sense.
And speaking of making sense, it took me a few beats to understand that "Boos" and HONEYS were both talking about significant others.
"Spam generator" was cute for HORMEL, and it was followed up with "Spam containers" (TINS). And I enjoyed finding two poetry-related entries - ENID (Oklahoma city named for a character in a Tennyson poem), and right smack-dab in the middle, POETS (Sappho and Mirabai). And finally, I appreciated the "Big Lebowski" reference in "They might tie the room together" (AREARUGS), and I enjoyed the straightforward trickery of "It's a slippery slope" (SLIDE). :)
A fun romp. Tomorrow, Frannie takes the reins, and I'll see you in a few weeks. Enjoy!
- Horace
Great pickup on the Big Lebowski reference! I enjoyed WORDLEOFMOUTH the best.
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