Apologies for the late review! I slept in a little this morning after a difficult night on call, and then Cece and I took a day trip to Beacon, NY to visit Bannerman Castle (not a castle, but an armory and storage building), now in ruins after it exploded from stored gunpowder, and then decades later burned down due to the floors being coated with bitumen. Some strange choices there...
In any case, a fun and challenging Saturday. I did extremely well in the northern half, but had much more difficulty in the lower half.
I broke in with WOZ (not Steve Jobs), and the then quite apparent 3D: Gentle rock arrangements? (ZENGARDENS). This puzzle definitely loves its Scrabbly letters today. JUDAS was not expected at 30A, but JETE helped me find it.
I actually got the triple stack in the NE corner through attacking it from the ends. BEAR and URGE helped a lot. 18A: Ones waving at people who might be on their way out? (PRIDEFLAGS) is a clue that is beautifully twisted to get at its meaning. BBQPORKBUN is always a winner.
9D: It can't be helped (REFLEX) led to issues. Because I thought it was REFLuX (which also can't be helped, but not what the clue was getting at. Fixing that letter was the last thing I did in solving.
Two great 15-letter answers anchor the grid, with QUITDAYDREAMING and the excellent 33A: "Elvis has left the building" (EVERYBODYGOHOME).
The lower triple stack is also strong, and was helped by getting 50D: English channel (BBC). 55A: It has a hook and, sometimes, two claws (COATHANGER) was such a challenge to see! I was sure it would be a living creature...
42D: Sports stud (CLEAT) was unexpected. It took a while to see CORK and SAKE, and then the fix at 23A: Something that needs a spell checker? (BEE) and it was complete in 10:31.
Horace takes over tomorrow. I had a great week, and hope you did too.
- Colum
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