Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Chase Dittrich

Today's puzzle generated multiple flash backs to another time, dear Readers. I invite you to LEANIN to the METAverse idea and take a LOKI at the various links to You Tube videos in the review. It'll knock your ORCS off. 

For a start, the theme clues do double duty; they are two, two, two answers in one, with both answers corresponding equally well to the clue with or without the answer's shaded letter. For example, both GOATMILK and OATMILK (with and without the initial G) can be described as an "Alternative to 2% ..." My favorite is "It may be half of a blackjack ... with or without the shaded letter" ([F]ACECARD), but "They might eliminate teams ... with or without the shaded letter" for [P]LAYOFFS is also good. 

And speaking of playoffs, how about the clue "N.B.A. Hall-of-Famer Bill." Despite my general lack of sports knowledge, this one was a gimme for a big fan of the movie Airplane! Thanks to this quote: Tell your old man to drag WALTON and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes. Comic genius.

As if that weren't enough, in one of those strange twists of fate or fortune, I can still remember the song that went with the UNDEROOS advertisement. 

Back on this astral plane, my favorite C/APs were two Question Mark Clues (QMCs) "Water repellent?" for MOAT and "Make a mistake while sitting down?" BUTTDIAL (heh). I also thought that "Quaff" and IMBIBE make a jaunty C/AP. Have I already mentioned that I love SETTO for "Scuffle"? Fill-wise, OODLES is a nice word, and it's excellent to have JAWDROPPING as a Down answer. 

And, INRE "On a streak?" (NUDE), there's an interesting article in last week's "New Yorker"  about Robert Opel, the man who 'streaked' the 1974 Oscars. 

~Frannie.