At first I thought the backwardly-paired revealer was inelegant, but now I like the way it delays the giveaway for one clue more. LEAVEME OUTOFIT is what you need to do to understand the many theme answers. I had realized it with EMENDS (*They may be split or bitter), but until I got to the revealer I wasn't sure if it would always be "me" that was left out, or if there would be a "me/you" situation, for example. But no, it was always me.
Interesting to learn that VESUVIUS inspired "Funiculi, Funiculà." It means "funicular up, funicular down," and was written in 1880 to commemorate the completion of the first (guess what?) funicular on (guess where?) Mount Vesuvius. Also, I read in Wikipedia that it was frequently played by the Grateful Dead during sound checks. Who knew?
It's nice that all the theme answers are valid entries with the "me" included. NAMES (*#5 on Billboard's Best Rappers of All Time list) was one of the trickier ones for me. Even though I was expecting a name, I guess I always expect a "lil" or an "x" when I think of Nas.
And speaking of "Aquatic protection," I was recently made aware that Paris was once surrounded by a MOAT. The Bastille, which stood nearby our AirBnB, was once the eastern gateway to the city, and the Canal Saint-Martin is the remnant(s) of that old moat. Cool.
DOUSED (Put out) and EMINENCE (Notability) are nice, and I feel like I should have remembered hearing that OHARE was once called Orchard Field. Ah well.
Overall, a fun Thursday.
- Horace
I knew (about the sound checks, that is). It sometimes went on for just a few measures, sometimes longer, never with singing (from what I've heard). The crowd enjoyed it. I figured this theme out relatively quickly and it helped immensely with the solve, of course. I knew something was up with REMEDIAL. Of course, I tried cOlt at 1A which led to a nice (but incorrect) down at 3D, lego. Once these were corrected, which didn't take too long, things went smoothly. I thought there'd be trouble with SOUSVIDE, but the crosses were fair. Nice trivia about Paris.
ReplyDeleteThe things I learn on this blog! I didn't know the VESUVIUS origin of the song, but I also didn't know the Dead played it during sound checks. And I didn't know Paris was ever surrounded by a MOAT. I thought the puzzle was fun, too, and was overjoyed at getting LEAVE ME OUT OF IT early in the solve. That definitely helped!
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