Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Michael Lieberman

Today's theme is all about oddball - one might even say silly - rhyming word pairs, which, as you have probably all guessed by now, dear Readers, entertained me. I was perhaps drawn in by the not-so-crazy combo TABOOBOOBOO at 17A. In today's world, who hasn't made one of those? I'll admit, the buildup to QATARTARTAR didn't shine quite as brightly, but the DACHACHACHA is something I'd like to see. And, while looking into lemuroidea on the Wikipedia, I did not find any references to LEMURMURMUR as a form of communication, but I did learn that "the ring-tailed lemur engages in 'stink fights' by rubbing its tail across scent glands on its wrists, and then flicking its tail at other male opponents." Good times. 

Over all, I found the solve fairly easy, especially once I clocked the rhyming element of the theme answers. My one false start was entering 'ocher' for "Earthy pigment" but Mia HAMM crossed the field and came to my rescue (UMBER). 

More senseless fun with another classic joke among the clues: "What the acorn said when it grew up..." (GEOMETRY) - ha. I was also amused by the C/AP "One of clubs?" (MEMBER). SWERVE, FLORETS, ABUELA, QUOTA, SCOURED, and DAPPER are fun fill. 
24D: RUNE

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to solve additional puzzles on paper in preparation for the ACPT. I've encountered a set of clues - in three different puzzles - all related to habitations with a rounded shape. The answers have been igloo, yurt, and now, TEPEE ("Conical dwelling"). I hope this sparkler makes it all happen for those of our dear Readers who will be in Stamford later this month. Stay tuned to this channel for more GRAPE puzzle advice. I'll be here all week.

~Frannie.
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3 comments:

  1. Kelly ClarkMarch 21, 2023 at 2:33 PM

    This brought me some smiles...although, for no good reason, I found myself wishing the BOO BOO entry had been clued in relation to Yogi's little pal. And the GEOMETRY joke may be a classic one, but it was new to me and had me groaning with pleasure!

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  2. PhilboMarch 21, 2023 at 10:49 PM

    I'm back (from vacay)! did you miss me? ha ha This was a fun re-intro into the crosswording swing of things, though once the theme was clear, it made the theme answers very easy to guess. In my own personal run-up to the ACPT, I feel like I should have done better than 4:05 on this one...

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  3. JimMarch 22, 2023 at 1:03 AM

    I was so proud of myself that I figured out which scan starting with E was for the heart and which was for the brain that I totally forgot about EcG vs EKG.

    As for my ACPT preparation, well let's see, reading this blog surely will give me a leg up, will it not?

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