It's another of those weeks when it seems Friday and Saturday have been swapped. Yesterday's puzzle took me over 25 minutes, but this was over in a BANANASPLIT second. Or, 7:13, if you're looking for specifics.
My favorite C/AP by far today was "It resurfaces after 20 minutes" (ZAMBONI). That is some kwality kluing. (See also: "Krazy KAT.") Also in the running was "Southwestern city that produces most of the U.S.'s Snickers bars" (WACOTEXAS). Who knew? I mean, nobody thinks about where Snickers bars are made, do they? They just exist under the counter at CVS. I guess I assumed they were mined.
"Peter or Paul, but not Mary" (TSAR) was cute. As was "Small matter" (ATOM). And one that I didn't even see until I started to review the puzzle for the review was "Apt shoe for a plumber?" (CLOG). Heh. Nice.
There were a couple names I didn't know, but it made little difference, as the crosses were usually obvious ("One growing up in a cave?" (STALAGMITE), or "Fuzzy fruit that's technically a berry" (KIWI), for example). And there were a few that seemed dated - Big PAPI, MEG Ryan, and, of course, ASTA. But that ZAMBONI clue saves it.
Does anyone know why HAT lights up when you're on 40-Down "Exceed" (GOPAST)?
- Horace
p.s. Is it weird that I've never heard of DIPPINDOTS?
12:13 here compared to thirty-something yesterday. Very fast for a Saturday, but smooth fill and nicely done cluing. I don't know much about DIPPINDOTS either, or why HAT lights up when GOPAST is chosen. I was wondering that myself. Probably Colum knows. I had to wait for ZOOMMEETING for STALAGMITE (I never get those straight), but other than that, crosses rescued me on the few that I didn't know (LAURIE Hernandez and KOFI Siriboe among them). Always nice to be reminded of Supergirl (ALIEN).
ReplyDeleteAs Dad says, "Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling." And I think Dave says the G in STALAGMITE stands for "ground" and the C in stalactite stands for "ceiling." Maybe one of those will work for you. :)
DeleteExcellent ways to remember them! We'll see if they stick....
Delete