Somehow, I have managed to go through my life without ever reading, or having read to me, the VERYHUNGRYCATERPILLAR. In fact, when I was solving today, I was briefly stumped by confusing that title with the unforgettable classic "Hungry Hungry Hippos." We never actually had that game, but it was advertised during the Saturday morning cartoons, books were not.
So anyway, apparently, the caterpillar eats various "tidbits," like "pie," "cake," and "cone." I'm not actually sure whether that's an ice cream cone or a pine cone, but I guess it doesn't make much difference.
I read just now that certain members of my species have tried to get this book banned, saying it promotes gluttony, but "leaf," "pear," "apple," and "plum" sound pretty healthy to me. And if that "cone" really is a pine cone, then pine nuts are probably ok too. And what's life worth if you don't occasionally have "pie" and/or "cake?" NOM!
So anyway, as you can see, I loved the theme.
In other news, I first tried ESCAPism for "Feature of an action comedy," but they wanted ESCAPADE. Heh. And I had a lot of trouble with ANTECEDE (Go before). 1A was unknown to me ("Wildfire season stat, for short" (AQI)). Turns out it's "Air Quality Index." Those who pay more attention to the news than me will probably have known that. "Hebrew letter on a dreidel" was also unknown to me (NUN). So all I had to go on was an educated guess for "Taylor Swift's "____ the Damn Season" (TIS). If that's her contribution to the lucrative holiday song genre, I will have to look it up. Sounds right up my alley.
One more thing - the number of times the word OUR appears in The Lord's Prayer varies, and as far as I can tell, it more often appears three times than four. Only in the "debts and debtors" version are there four. In the "trespasses" there are three.
On the other hand, I thought "Produce in bunches" (GRAPES) was maybe the best clue today.
- Horace
I did not see "tidbid" until I read your review. I assumed the letters would spell something, but couldn't see what order to put them in. Now I see you go from left to right, ignoring the ups and downs. Sort of like the book! In fact, the caterpillar also eats: strawberries, oranges, a pickle, swiss cheese, a lollipop, a sausage, a cupcake, and a slice of watermelon. For the record, the cone is an ice cream cone. A very beloved book from my own and my children's childhoods.
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