GOING OFF ON A TANGENT
Hello again, Dear Reader, it's me, Horace. Guess where I'm just back from? :) That's right, Paris. But you can stop envying me, because I'm back in BOS, and I also came back with the big C. No, not chlamydia ... come on, I'm a decent sort of guy! I mean Covid, of course. Luckily, for me, I've gotten all the shots and it's more of an annoyance than the life-threatening, indeed life-taking, disease that it otherwise could be. The biggest downer is that I was not able to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family, but, well, that's the way the feather falls.
Now, let's talk about this interesting Sunday puzzle. The title and the circles give it away, but even with the overt angle angle, it played kind of like a themeless, especially because the four thematic answers read as regular entries with or without the circled offshoots. Of course, the clues only work one way, but sometimes words get filled in before you really read the clues, and if that happened today, you might not second guess OPENHEART, when really, the clue "Public court proceeding" was intended for OPENHEAR[ING]. The other three are:
It's a solid set, and a nice little theme. Not mind-blowing, but fine.
If I were still in France, I'd call out CESTSIBON (Compliment to a French chef) as being oddly clued. Why not go with the song popularized by Eartha Kitt, Dean Martin and others? Too old fashioned? And for the record, I think I'd sooner say "Délicieux!" And I might sooner say "spotless" than STAINLESS (Free of flaws, as a reputation).
But I was fooled into thinking through the cast when faced with "Hamlet's cousin" (TOWN), and I chuckled inside (where it counts) at "Duel personalities?" (FOES).
BONGHIT and DANK memes are further evidence of the NYTX's sensibilities shift. Is it a good thing? Or will they find they have YUCKED the yum of some regular solvers?
- Horace
Being a math major, I enjoy any mention of a tangent, so this puzzle had me at its title. Like Horace says, decent theme, which I figured out quickly enough. This being a Sunday, though, and the final one of the month, it's one of three crossword puzzles that I solve, so busy day. (The Worcester Telegram features a local-themed puzzle on the final Sunday of each month in addition to the LA Times puzzle that they publish each week.) I've never heard of a DANK meme, don't quite understand BLIND for "Ante alternative" and never heard or used the phrase YUCKED someone's yum.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home, Horace and Frannie! Hi, Huygens! Duh on me...I completely missed the "shape" thing until I came here...just filled it what seemed to work, appreciating much of the fill, like IT'LL BE FUN. I was amazed that I finished it with no mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI haven't played (or watched) poker in a long time but as far as I can tell from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_(poker) , a blind does indeed serve sort of the same function as an ante.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for having language from a variety of eras, and am somewhat aware of DANK as a thing, although I hadn't heard of a DANK meme either. BONGHIT on the other hand, feels a little retro to my ears. Like bongs still exist and I suppose people take hits (as opposed to some other word) from them, but that phrase I suppose had maximal cultural currency in the 1960s or 1970s?