Ooh I like a good Kameron Austin Collins themeless grid. My only sadness here was that it went by too quickly!
The highlight is the triple stack across the center. 31A: "I need at least a little justification" (GIVEMEONEREASON) is excellent. ANIMALSANCTUARY and LIVINGONTHEEDGE are also strong. And there aren't any major compromises in the crossing fill to boot. Nicely done!
Much to like elsewhere:
20A: Expression go support while keeping one's distance? (PROXYVOTE) is a fun clue and chunky answer.
8D: Ones who haven't signed (FREEAGENTS). There were multiple directions that clue could have led us to. I like this one.
30D: Your wurst side? (SAUERKRAUT). Hah! I love it.
The pair of "It may follow praying" clues were fun, at 14A and 32D (AMEN and MANTIS respectfully). It really ups the cluing game when the same clue has to be interpreted differently in the two places.
I'm not sure about VITALROLE as an answer. It is an accurate response to the clue, but just doesn't feel common enough to merit a two-word phrase answer in the NYT puzzle.
It's a strong Friday themeless, which zipped by in 5:55. At this point, I think Fridays rank slightly behind Thursdays in terms of time to completion on my stats board.
- Colum
Wow! 5:55! This took me almost 18, (but tomorrow's took me just ten!). Anyway, I enjoyed the struggle, as I usually do.
ReplyDelete