Kind of a pansy-shape today, no? I like it.
You know what fits in for "Offer that can't be refused, in business"? "leveraged buyout." And once I put that in I looked at 14-Down "Part of a river that ironically doesn't contain the mouth" and with my erroneous L in place, I asked myself, "Do rivers have lips?" Ugh. What is wrong with my mind sometimes? ... but soon enough, ALT, APIA (Capital on the island of Upolu) and MALLS (Places with multiple outlets) got me to take out my long mistake and put in HOSTILETAKEOVER, which gave HEAD for the river part, and I was off and running.
I enjoyed WALKIETALKIES ("Copy" machines?) and NOTRESPASSING (Sign of enforced boundaries). Heh. "Dated TV star?" is a cute clue for THEBACHELORETTE, but the whole idea of that show is so off-putting to me that I don't even like seeing it in the grid.
WHATCHAMACALLIT (Word when you can't find the word) I dropped in off the clue, but I hesitated for a while before the crosses proved SKOSH (Tiny bit) for me. Both solid entries. And I like how SKOSH and SKORT (Clothing portmanteau) are so close.
The onomatopoetic WHAPS (Hit sounds) and BLAT (Unpleasant sound from a tuba) were interesting from a VOCAB perspective, but I am not convinced about GOSLOW ("Easy!"). I mean... sure. But not exactly.
Once again, just the sort of hard-hitting, precise writing you've come to expect from me. Heh.
OK, so what else? Anything I missed? Did you like the MASCARA clue? "What one might use to lash out?" Again - funny-ish, but does it make sense? Does it have to? Does anything?
- Horace
I don’t have a response to Horace’s existential questions, but I did have ready answers to a lot of today’s clues. I finished this one in 12:09 - pretty good for me on a Saturday. I enjoyed WALKIETALKIES for “‘Copy’ machines?” I also liked “Ride in space” (SALLY).
ReplyDeleteI blasted through this in what is perhaps my fastest Saturday ever: 8:58! SALLY was great, both for the person referenced and because that was my grandmother's name. 24A Day in movies (DORIS) didn't fool me for a second, and I agree with Horace on THEBACHLORETTE: not my cup of tea by a long shot. GALPAL was good.
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