Friday, August 4, 2023, Brandon Koppy

A fine puzzle to ENAMOUR almost any solver, including people who might spell it differently. :) There were so many ELIE good C/APs with just the right amount of stretch in the clueterpretation to make them challenging to figure out and satisfying and/or entertaining when you got there. For example, "Junior mint?" for PLAYMONEY, "Big sister?" for MOTHERSUPERIOR, and "Space scrap?" for NOGO. Nary a STINKER in the bunch. 

There was just enough relatively easy fill (for this solver), sprinkled here and there, to provide some ins and to help figure out the trickier clues, including  "'Same'" (DITTO), "_____ Eisely ('Star Wars' spaceport)" (MOS), "Queen of _____" (SHEBA), and "Small amount of whiskey" (DRAM). 

There was plenty of VIM in the non-QMCs including "Ineffectual sorts" (WETNOODLES), "How some deli meats are served" (ONRYE), "Asteroids system" (ATARI), and "Non-English 'Uncle'" (NOMAS), "Column on the far right, maybe" (ONES).

My favorite clue today, though, was "Things that can really make someone pop?" for PATERNITYTESTS. So clever and funny when you get it. I initially had the incorrect ONThe[blank] as a possible start to the answer at 28D: "A little taller than normal, say, as a kiddie" which gave me an "E" at the start of 44A and I spent some time trying to make some form of eating contest fit there, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't cram it in. I eventually figured out ONTIPPYTOE and was thus better able to rise to the challenge. Things would have gone more smoothly for this solver if I hadn't blanked on the Kubrick movie "Barry LYNDON." It wasn't even NEWBS to me, I just couldn't remember it. 

To sum up, a STRONG Friday.

~Frannie.