And the streak of fun and tough themeless puzzles extends! (At least to two puzzles. I've already forgotten about last week.)
Apologies for the late (ish) post: dress rehearsal today for tomorrow's Christmas concert, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. There are still about 25 tickets left, so get them while you can!
You know it's going to be tough going when you get all the way down the west side to 35A: It goes without saying (AXIOM) before you feel confident enough to put something in. Here, because 29D: Big actors (HAMS) gave me the M, and I felt like 36D was going to start with ON____. Just to make it clear, this was my last answer I filled in. I knew how it started but couldn't see ONEARTH for the life of me.
Even though I had ____HOAXES and YOUREONFIRE, I couldn't get the NW corner because I had put in walkS for 5D: Eschews a cab, say (WALKS). But I love 4D: Something you reach out and take (SELFIE). That's so good! And 17A: It just makes scents! (AIRFRESHENER) is hi-larious.
The middle down going staircase of long answers actually posed little issue for me. The Steven Wright quote was not immediately known to me, but I got it anyway. I love 16D: Cold shower? (THERMOMETER), and WEENIEROAST is just funny to look at.
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| Appropriate for the season |
43A: No-frills retirement options? (COTS) - yes!
14A: Place with multiple ports (WINEBAR) - not a wi-fi cafe. Or a recharging station.
7A: Certain parental figure? (DADBOD) - seen many times, but still guffaw worthy.
I loved this puzzle. There's so much more here to admire. Great work! Finished in 9:03, faster than yesterday.
- Colum
Similar experience for me. As a Canadian, I found my way in with AURORAL. I refrained from looking up "A Christmas Story", having never seen it (am I a bad person?) and so lost some time with REDRIDER (not 'Y'). Loved THERMOMETER too! Oh and SPOTREMOVER was one of the few gimmies, as I've seen Steven Wright doing that bit. This was a great puzzle! 8:21 for me when the dust settled..
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