Work has been in OVERDRIVE, unfortch, so once again, IFILL the review on the late side. On the upside, I solved the puzzle pretty quickly: 17:40 - only a little longer than yesterday's solve. That is not to say I didn't have any trouble spots, because I did. I went wrong right out of the gate with PRAYERrug ("Something faithfully rolled out"), which was meant to be PRAYERMAT. I was not helped by not knowing singer Swift's nickname TAYTAY or which "Benefit" I should AVAIL myself of at 8D. As it happens, the RUG was meant to be placed elsewhere, to wit, 2D. Another clue that stretched my understanding was "Natural rubber" for which I entered 'latex' but for which LOOFA was apparently wanted, but, dear Readers, what's that about? OMG, dear Readers, as I typed the previous sentence, I suddenly realized what it was about - natural thing that rubs, not a natural version of the material that we call rubber. That really *was* a stretch, and a good one, too.
Despite some very good QMCs including "Huge pop star?" (SUPERNOVA) - which, incidentally, I dropped right in - and one I did not figure out until after the answer filled itself in from the Downs, "What's past due?" (TRE) - heh - I have to give the edge today to the non-QMCs. The LOOFA C/AP mentioned above, added to "Keeping quiet at the right time, say" (TACT), "It's right on the map" (REDSTATE), and my favorite "Store for a short time" (POPUPSHOP) seals it. Also good were "Take in" (ADMIT), "Monopolizing, in a way" (BUYINGUP), and "Settles for the night" (ROOSTS).
MOSSY, AMBIT, and INASTUPOR are nice fill.
I also enjoyed the international flavor provided by clues and answers like ALP, ELENA, GUAVA, and VERDON.
One more thing, dear Readers, is this puzzle symmetrical on the diagonal from southwest to northeast??
~Frannie.
Yes, that is the symmetry. I like it!
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