This was a struggle for me, and it feels weird to say it, but it was because of the tricky wording in the clues. Now I know what you're thinking - "That's the whole point. That's what crossword clues are supposed to be. That's what they are every day." And sure, yeah. But today the clues didn't exactly lead to an elated smile, but to a sort of "huh, interesting." Like with "One who collects just for kicks?" cluing SNEAKERHEAD. I thought, huh, maybe that's a term now. And with "Shell filling station?" I eventually got TACOBAR, and ok, maybe with that one I had a little chuckle. CONTENTCREATOR was just clued with "One who makes videos, e.g.," and "Green cappuccino alternative is MATCHALATTE. And speaking of, I just bought my first one of those a week or so ago for my sister. I still have yet to try one. But anyway, those clues are so straightforward! I guess maybe people don't know about MATCHALATTEs yet? Like I didn't really know about NOMAKEUPMAKEUP (Discreet look?). Maybe that's all it is.
I don't know... it's probably my bad attitude. I've got a little bit of a head cold, and, well, it's been a rough week.
"One unlikely to make a pass" (BALLHOG) did get a chuckle. And "Contraction, for one" (THROE) was tricksy. For once I caught on to the clue "One end of Suez?" and checking each option allowed me to get MEZCAL (Spirit of Oaxaca). I didn't know "Country singer Jason" (ALDEAN), but I have heard of ROBYN (One-named singer with the 1997 hit "Show Me Love") but through a different song ("Call your girlfriend"). LICIT (Aboveboard) brings me back to my Latin class days, and SHROOMS (Sources of psilocybin, informally) brings me back to my ... days in Health class learning about all the drugs that we should never do.
I hope you enjoyed this one. It did seem very Friday-like, I'll give it that.
See you tomorrow!
- Horace
Maybe this is how we old folks stay current + relevant? NOMAKEUPAKEUP? SNEAKERHEAD? Hmm... I had ZED in there briefly, for obvious reasons... I didn't love the overall experience, but it was fair I suppose and only took me 6:10, a full 2 minutes quicker than Tricksy Thursday. TACOBAR was my favourite..
ReplyDeletePlayed hard for me. Never heard of NO MAKEUP MAKEUP, SNEAKER HEAD, and a host of others. Favorite entry? Dittoing Philbo with TACO BAR, given the clue.
ReplyDeleteThis played about twice as hard for me as a typical Friday, but it was a steady fill. I knew about ADELIE, but didn't quite know how to spell it at the end, so I needed both TINE and SNEAKERHEAD, but it's fine because I didn't see any penguins on my trip to the southernmost continent since I was so far inland. I learned of SHROOMS, and MEZCAL for that matter, from the same class Horace references. I believe ALDEAN was the one playing onstage during the terrible incident in Las Vegas a few years ago. I saw the documentary on that, and so knew the name, but certainly not any of his music, though I understand he's quite popular. Tried THROb at first, which slowed me down with CHEAPO, but eventually things righted themselves.
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