SOME THEME'S MISSING
Christmas came early for me today - I got a themeless Sunday! And a fun one to boot! You might even say "I'm in heaven!" (AHBLISS) (THISISTHELIFE).
First of all, I like the spiral shape of the grid, the wide-open center, and the chunky corners. Then we get great C/APs at every turn. From the classic "What used to be yours?" (THINE) to the thoroughly modern MEMESTOCK (Sort of investment purchase with a spike in popularity through social media). "Joke that goes over the line?" (CRANKCALL). Let's enjoy that one while there are still a few houses with a landline (ours included!).
Our Canadian friend Philbo will surely have enjoyed running into POUTINE at 96-Across (Québécois dish of French fries, cheese curds and gravy), while the rest of us below the 45th parallel will have to settle for a BLOOMINGONION (Fried appetizer that resembles a blossom). And speaking of Philbo, perhaps he can tell me whether CESTBIEN ("That's fine," in French) is something he hears much. I mean, sure, I guess it means what they say it means, but I don't remember hearing it much while we were in France. It's not wrong, but...
ENFUEGO (Really hot, slangily) was great, and "Covered, in a way" (PAIDFOR) was one that I didn't see coming. "One might offer concessions" (FOODSTAND) was one of those lovely, obvious ones. But it was only obvious once I had enough crosses! See also: "Their business is picking up" (TAXIS). Just lovely.
Nice misdirection with the capital in "Apple product" (CIDER), and it was fun to learn the term PANTSROLE (Term for a male opera character played by a woman). Heh.
Overall, a really great themeless Sunday. Keep 'em coming!
- Horace
Yes Horace! Well spotted - I was thrilled to see POUTINE, Quebec's great superfood. As for CESTBIEN, I think one would more often hear CESTBON. BIEN on its own can be prepended singly or multiply to any sentence if you want to sound like a Quebecker; e.g. "Bien, bien, c'est trop froid dehors" (which it isn't really, for a mid-december Toronto day)..
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