Friday, December 16, 2022, Kameron Austin Collins

Be careful what you wish for! After yesterday's puzzle, today's was a shock of cold water in the face. Definitely tougher than usual Friday themeless fare, which I've come to expect from Mr. Collins.

So many good answers in the fill, which is absolutely enabled through the use of CHOKEPOINTS. Each corner is essentially isolated from the middle, making five mini-puzzles. You all know that I like a grid with more flow, but I did absolutely enjoy the words here, so it's a trade-off.

I broke in with DUNKTANK crossing 32A: Some menthols (KOOLS). I have no idea why that piece of information lives on in my brain. I wasn't entirely sure what 30D: Red, fruity alcoholic drink, informally (VODKACRAN) was going to be in the end, but because of the Roadrunner cartoon, I knew ANVIL, and therefore which alcohol was going to be used. I love that 36A: Toasted (DRUNK) crosses it!

I actually completed the SE corner first, with the nice crossing of DIANA and DATE helping out a lot. SORANDOM and NETZERO are great answers. Has anyone drunk an OLY? I had never heard of this beer (Olympia). The SW corner fell next, working backwards when I figured out the start of 40A. Definitely the least exciting of the corners.

By ELENORE Abbott

I moved up through the NE portion of the middle, with the excellent 31A: Inspiration for some fashion lines? (ZEBRA), and with the useful USEFUL to finally break open the NW corner. BADJUJU above AQUINAS! Very nice. 16A: Channel through a barrel (GUNBORE) took a long time to see.

Finally, the NE corner fell. I had TRANCES and BOLTCUTTERS, and took some educated guesses (APACHE, SISTER), and had to remove the initially incorrect harES for ASSES, a much more likely answer at the ending edge of a grid.

Impressive puzzle, taking me 10:39.

- Colum