A surprising sub-20 for me on today's BEQ (if I may) offering. I finished in the northwest corner with a G and a prayer - so to speak. I didn't know "What the 'angler' on a deep-sea anglerfish can do," and I was confounded for a time by the clever clue "Sleeper's support," even while looking at SOFALE_. I am not familiar with the particular CHAGALL painting, "The Spoonful of Milk," and I was also unsure of the NEWTOME ANNATTO ("Peppery orange-red condiment"). I finally entered a G as THECLOSER which gave me SOFALEG and GLOW, but, because I was so unsure of my guesses, I deleted the S in the final square in the grid so I could review without setting off the auto check. THINGS looked good enough so I re-entered the S to complete success and a final time of 17:16.
It wasn't just the northwest, but the entire top section of the puzzle was the most challenging for me. I had to reach into the depths of the brain barn to dig up MANOWAR. And I didn't "get" the sports reference of "What a single is worth" (ONEBASE) until reviewing the completed puzzle. Other trouble spots included "Place to get a platza treatment" (SAUNA), "M.L.B. great with a famous 'unbreakable' streak, familiarly" (JOED), and the not-super-tricky-clue-but-odd-looking answer AORB.
On the other hand, ATON of the rest of the puzzle went right in - unusual for this solver with a BEQ puzzle. I was somehow on the right wavelength to drop in LOOKTHEOTHERWAY for "Condone an action tacitly", as well as THATSFORSURE, and the slightly-tortured-but-entertaining-and-seasonal "One who is mean as the Dickens?" (SCROOGE) - ho ho!
Nothing DRESSES up a Friday puzzle more than clever QMCs, of which there were a SCAD. In addition to the SOFALEG mentioned above, I enjoyed
"Quick refesher" (CATNAP)
"Toy inspector?" (DOGSHOWJUDGE) - ha!
"Secretly pass gas?" (SIPHON) - a win-win! Hilarious clue and great word as answer.
"Power couple" (AAS) - nice clue for crossword stickum.
There were also a couple gems in the non-QMC category including "They're chosen for their high-grade potential" (EASYAS) and the most excellent "Tool that you turn on" (LATHE).
Fun fill included the aforementioned SIPHON, the double J'd JUMBOJETS, KHARTOUM, FANG, BAGEL, and SHED.
And it wouldn't be a Friday without a few novel oddities like TYES "Nautical ropes" and ARE "Metric unit equal to 100 square meters," would it?
~Frannie.
Frannie bested my time by 35 seconds. I needed the crosses for the spelling of KHARTOUM and was not around for JOED's feats, although he did play in the field adjacent to my childhood home in Douglas MA for one exhibition game against the Red Sox in September of 1946 (nearly 20 years prior to my birth). I often heard the stories of the day from my grandmother, who lamented the fact that JOED turned down an invitation to a nice Italian lunch at their house after the game. I don't know which team won the game offhand, but the internet probably does. SIPHON was excellent, especially the clue, which was quite misleading. I'd also never heard of ANNATTO, noting that both cayenne and paprika fit in there. It doesn't seem as if I'd have much use for it in my daily cooking.
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