And speaking of trios, I had at least three minutes worth of trouble in the north east. I was pretty sure about NAB ("Catch, as a criminal), but unclear about what was wanted for "Park in Manhattan, e.g.: Abbr."), and completely stumped by the unknown-to-me chocolate treat named for a Vancouver Island city, the NANAIMO bar. I read a little about it just now. Sounds like something I might like know that I know about it. I imagine this one didn't slow esteemed reader and speed solver Philbo down one bit. :)
Funny how it's always a combo of unknowns that causes trouble. For example, I've never heard of BENNETT, "Brit who wrote 'The Vanishing Half'" at 47A, nor did I immediately remember Susan G. KOMEN's last name at 55D, but neither slowed me down thanks to the gettable surrounding material.
I enjoyed STACKS ("Shelving area in a library"), "Architectural style started, strangely, in England" (ITALIANATE) and "Skeleton that's no longer in the closet" (SCANDAL). I've always liked the word EDICT. LEONINE is another nice one.
I was less happy with the TENOR of a few of the C/APs, which struck an off note to me, including "Way off base" for ERRANT, "Strict" for STERN, and "Gives permission" for ENABLES - all valid in a way, of course, but none destined for the crossword puzzle hall of fame, IMO.
~Frannie.
Frannie, you got that right - NANAIMO was a write-in for me and the eponymous treat ("Nanaimo Bar") is delicious :) Like you, there were a few other unknowns, all of which were rescued by their crossers. I generally enjoyed this one, and liked the revelation in the theme. Did not like 'EDENS'. 3:26, continuing a fairly speedy week :)
ReplyDeleteNANAIMO was completely unknown to me, of course, so I'm with Frannie on this one. I'm with Philbo on EDENS, though! One of the strangest plurals I've seen. I've read quite a bit about MOORESLAW the past few years, and passed San Luis OBISPO many times without stopping by, though I'm tempted to see it briefly since my mother went there many decades ago and bought a little golden bell for me as a souvenir. Other than those, a normal Wednesday for me, clocking in around ten.
ReplyDeleteI file EDENS in my mental etui. I mean it probably just barely is an English word you might see but it is more a matter of the crosswordese rule that you can get away with pluralizing just about anything. Looking around the internet I see a bunch of usages as a person's name or a company name, but none of them seemed to be famous enough to be clued that way.
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