Thursday, July 6, 2023, Alison Perch

It's all about the Benjamins! Or baseball. Depends, I guess, on how you look at it. 

The first revealer, TAKEMEOUT (Request regarding "the ball game" ... or instructions for answering the starred clues) makes it possible to answer clues like "*Response to a knock on the door" with COIN, because you have taken "me" out of "come in." The second revealer, MAKEMONEY (Earn ... or what answering the starred clues will do in each case) means that each resulting, me-less answer is a kind of money. COIN, WON (South Korean currency), YEN, CENT. The set is a little loose, but it's understandable.

I liked how the first two answers start with the same three letters: SUET (Christmas pudding ingredient) (Gross. I wanted "plum" here); and SUEDE (It's from the underside of a hide). And there's some nice trivia in PIETA (Michelangelo's only signed work) and ROME (City where the 41-Across was commissioned). Apparently, someone claimed it was by another artist, so Michelangelo signed it immediately, right on the sash that runs across Mary's chest. He later regretted this decision, and vowed never to sign anything else. Ahhh, artists ... so rash.

And speaking of artists, ATELIER (Artist's studio) is a good word. Comes from the word for "splinter." I guess it started as a term for a wood shop. 

Lots of good long fill: TIMELINE (Where a dot may be a date), UNFORSEEN (Not expected), BRAINWAVE (Head line?), ENUNCIATE (Say it all), and GOFLYAKITE ("Get lost!"). I love that expression. And you know what? I should. Kite flying can be kind of a meditative experience. But, of course, it can also be a pain in the neck, when everyone else decides to go in the water and you have to roll in 500 feet of string before you can go too. Sigh.

Lastly - show of hands. How many tried dropping in "apse" when they saw 52D: Recess. I did. But no. It was the less-seen, but much more exciting NOOK. 

One more review from this DLISTer tomorrow, and then Frannie comes back to finish off the week.

Fun puzzle, and a strong debut for Ms. Perch.

- Horace