This is a ludicrous and fun theme today. It's a bit tricksy, but maybe not up to the standard Thursday par. Regardless, I'm chuckling even as I look over it again.
The idea here is that the clue is a word with four blank spaces. The blank spaces make their own word. Reinterpreting the container word allows for a standard idiom of the form ____ in the ____. Thus, the word "kick" is hidden inside "knickers," which is a synonym for pants. Thus, KICKINTHEPANTS. Hah!
The other three are ACEINTHEHOLE ("ace" in "crawl space"), PAININTHEASS ("pain" in "peabrain"), and HOLDINCONTEMPT ("hold" in "cold shoulder"). Fun stuff! And I enjoyed figuring it out on the fly as I solved.
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| ERICA from Stranger Things |
I had trouble breaking into the NW corner, so my first true foothold was in the middle north, with EATIN (thank you for the pun clue) and UTAH, followed by SNAPCHAT. I personally don't take a Snapchat, but I do have BeReal, at the request of my daughter. Amusingly, now I am following and being followed by a bunch of her college friends, who don't appear to have the typical concern that their daily behavior might be something to hide from their friend's parents. It's a new world and a new generation, folks.
What do people think of the clue at 37D: Marks in the sand? (TANLINES)? It's adjacent to being accurate, is my opinion. Amusing but not quite correct. Your opinion in the comments below.
ZENKOANS is a beautiful answer, with that lovely Z-K pairing.
Nice start to the Turn!
- Colum
I'm with Colum on TANLINES; close, but not quite. And I, too, really enjoyed the theme, figuring it out right out of the box with KICKINTHEPANTS. I'll take this type of trick on a Thursday with no complaint since we had a bonus rebus on Wednesday. The most risque theme entry is PAININTHEASS, but only because of the ass bit. I'd never heard the term TURNT, but I've been there, for sure. NOEAR is a sad affliction, indeed. FUTZ is an excellent entry, leading to the ZENKOANS already mentioned in the review. Good enough start to the turn.
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