You know it's a Wednesday when the theme is four 11-letter answers that are anagrams of each other. Interesting that it can be done, but not much of an "Aha!" moment. The four phrases are strong enough. REDHOTCOALS is the best of the bunch, TRADESCHOOL the next best, while DOORLATCHES and TACOHOLDERS are okay.
The fill and clues are where this puzzle has fun. Outside of standard glue TILER and OARED, and the odd KWH or INT, the fill is smooth. I liked the wonderful PADSEEEW, which looks amazing in the grid with those three Es and a W. ROGUEONE was my favorite of the Star Wars add-on movies. I have not gotten into the TV series at all, but I hear that Mandalorian is pretty great.
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| The eponymous MACH |
28A: Adornment that may have a certain charm (BRACELET) is very nicely done. I also liked the pair of "ground breaker(s)" clues, resulting in PIONEERS and SPADE.
I don't have a ton to say about this puzzle. Perhaps I am too NEEDY today, but it didn't AMUSE as much as I would have liked. It's a darned good thing I'm not going to the ACPT this year, because I finished slow at 6:57.
- Colum
Gee...it took me a while to appreciate the fact that all four theme answers anagram to each other. And they're all solid phrases, too. I liked the clues, especially the clue for BRACELET. And seeing PAD SEE EW in the grid made me giggle.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's tasty too!
DeleteI had serious doubts about PADSEEEW, and stared at it a good while before entering the "S" of POLIS, which I knew was correct. Happily I got the "Congratulations" notification at 8:34 (the weight in pounds of a gallon of water (under certain circumstances, and with a decimal point in place of the colon)!). Like Ms. Clark, I enjoyed all of the phrases and appreciated the anagram aspect. Well done. Funny that AMUSE and NOFUN are adjacent.
ReplyDeleteI’m NSYNC WITH our esteemed reviewer, Colum, as regards the theme and fun clues. I especially liked the two chip clues in the top middle section, “Apples with chips” (IMACS) and “Loaded chip” (NACHO). Fill-wise, I liked SOLVENT and FUELCAN, the latter possibly because it reminded me of the “oil can” scene in the “Wizard of Oz.” I solved it slower than my puzzle PEEPS, finishing in 9:49.
ReplyDeleteI need to take notes while solving to remember to call out this stuff. Thank, Frannie!
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