COLLISION COURSES
First off, that top row is lovely. 1A: Sell, as bicycles? (PEDDLE) got me started with a chuckle. Then SCOOPS (Coups in journalism) is a fine C/AP. But "What might prompt a run for congress?" as a clue for LIBIDO - in just this moment in time, when so much attention is focussed on the current election - was hilarious. Genius, really.
.jpg "My beloved NIKON FM-2 (and 105mm/1.8 lens)")
The theme of FRANKENFOOD, or BUMPERCROPS, refers to the shaded squares that highlight portions of intersecting Across and Down answers. When you start at the left or top and then turn down or right as you read, you get two different foods: "olive" and "rice" in the NW, "oat" and "squash" in the top center, and "mango" and "banana" in the NE, for example. I immediately think about the intersecting foods being prepared together, I think all of them would be at least palatable. Corn and tomato together is a natural in salsa, and I can imagine chive and lime adding zip to something. Beet and melon is the strangest, but I might just try it with a honeydew...
Elsewhere this grid is full of interesting fill: LACERATE, ALMAMATER, EXOTICA, TORNADO, VAGARY, SMACKDAB; and fun clues "They start in the corners" (ROOKS), "Claptrap" (DRIVEL), "Cry of perfection from a carpenter?" (INAILEDIT), "Return payments?" (RANSOMS), and "Used an unspoken language" (SIGNED).
Very nice.
- Horace
I erred briefly by entering oDESSA in the SW, but the cross of ACTIVES fixed me up there, even though I've never had occasion to use the term. I agree that this one is very nicely done, and I'm in for the beet & melon concoction; sounds like a good side dish for Thanksmas dinner.
ReplyDeleteSuper cluing in this puzzle, and it was a fun solve. The BANANA MANGO combo might work for me.
ReplyDeleteI am posting several days after the puzzle due to the VAGARY of how fast I can come up with answers. Hadn't heard of EDESSA either and wasn't sure how big (or how modern) a city had to be yo qualify as a metropolis.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree that the congress clue was great. I spent a lot of time thinking about things like political scandals until I noticed the lower case c.