Friday, April 14, 2023, Billy Bratton and Clay Haddock

This puzzle solved pretty smoothly, for me, although there were a few squares I needed to MOPUP after the first A & D pass, primarily in the northwest. I had painted myself into a corner by guessing 'emptySPACE' for "Blank part of a page" (instead of WHITESPACE) and 'aHME' (instead of OHME) at 13D. I got no help up top from Tom's (of Tom and Jerry) feline friend TOPSY. To top it off, there are so many ways "Fool" this puzzle solver that I had to wait to figure out other answers before I could get to TWIT. Also, birds are not my strong suit ("Fork-tailed bird (TERN)). I would not blame you, dear Readers, if you ever wondered, well, what *is* Frannie's strong suit. I do have a few, I think, but topics like the French Monarchy since 1515, Jane Austen, the Black Death, cathedral novels, and Excel formulas don't seem to show up in puzzles very often. :) 

Anyhoo, SOYA want to hear what I thought about other parts of the puzzle? Well, I SHTETL you. I thought there were some very good C/APs today, especially including 

"Walk on water?"(PIER)

"Pricey" (STEEP)

"Ottomans, e.g." (TURKS)

"Bro hugger, perhaps" (SIS)

"Took for a ride" (CONNED)

"Medium talent" (ESP) - which is very nice, but also, tangentially, has anyone else noticed that many younger persons, say the generation after the AVOCADOTOAST eaters, haven't heard of the medium talent, ESP? That doesn't seem normal to me.

"Texted eyes, maybe" (COLON) - couldn't see this one for a while. 

"Gave the finger?" (POKED) - LOL.

I also enjoyed the nice pair, so to speak, STANDPAT and HIT. I had fun figuring out "Name spelled by the first letters of consecutive calendar months" (JASON). I started with the 8th month, but then I thought, "Aug? oh, not." I was happy to drop in MINTOREO off the clue for "Snack item with green filling" - classic! I also enjoyed that Pearl Jam named an album "TEN" that has 11 tracks on it. 

I have come to enjoy the term 'word salad' and I think the term 'letter salad might aptly be applied to the answer to "Cop show co-starring LL Cool J, informally": NCISLA. Fun fact, it has the Dutch word for salad (sla) right in it. Hah! I only ADDS this one minor criticism to the review for those who LOVETOHATE. ICANTSTOP! Oh, wait, yes I can.

~Frannie.