An odd-shaped grid today, no? Chunky corners with narrow inlets into that vertical middle. Weird, but fine. A change is better than a rest, right?
The theme today was decidedly not in my wheelhouse. When I got to 24D and saw that I had MARI___... and the clue started with "Chanteuse," I immediately dropped in MARIacallas. Derp. I'm not sure she had any chart-toppers...
But it was all sorted out quickly enough. MARIAHCAREY has, apparently, plenty chart-toppers, and of her 19 number one hits, "Someday," "Hero," Honey," and "Fantasy" are four. Sadly, they are almost in chronological order (1991, 1993, 1997, 1995).) But I love the vertical nature of it, and it's kind of incredible that Mr. Agard was able to sandwich those three long verticals together with only THON and ENTO to deal with.
Outside of that center, we have a lot of quality fill. SORORITY, TRUNCATE, PROVERBS, and ETHIOPIA are all lovely. STROVE (Tried really hard) is fun, OYSTER (Shellfish that may be served cooked or raw) (see also, scallop - but it didn't fit) is tasty, and who doesn't like a clue that includes the word "appurtenance?," as in "Pre-cable TV appurtenance" (AERIAL). Also, we have a bleedin' AERIAL in the attic, and it has served us well, as we are still "pre-cable."
Overall, I SAYYES to this puzzle.
- Horace
I wish we could be pre-cable still, but we live in the boonies and only picked up one sketchy channel digitally with the aerial, so alas.... This took me about the same time as yesterday's puzzle, oddly, both being a little more time than normal at around 7-1/2 minutes. Nice to see the full THOMAS in the grid, no? I never heard of a HALOHALO, but would no doubt try and enjoy one if the opportunity arises. I didn't love FANTASYSAGA; no one uses that term. Excellent having the very different "black and whites" on top of each other: OREOOS and ORCA.
ReplyDeleteI entered FANTASYSArc before realizing that there was an extra S in there. I also don't love the "saga" ending. But oh well, we know what he meant.
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