Not to overshadow a fun Wednesday puzzle, but the big news out of Albany, NY is that I won't be in Albany for much longer! After many years, I have taken a new job in Hackensack, NJ. I will be starting there in January, so big changes coming down the line.
As for the puzzle, I was surprised at how challenging I found this grid, mirroring the theme answers too literally. I was well over my average Wednesday time. How about you?
It's a great theme, though, where the answers inadvertently answer the questions posed in the clues. Thus, 19A: Paradoxical answer to "What is 'Golf' in the NATO alphabet?" (GEEIDONTKNOW) - see, the answer is the letter G. Similarly, the meaning of the Russian word "Nyet" is "no," the source of oil (in many cases) is a "well" and the island between Ireland and Great Britain is the Isle of Man.
It's a classic Wednesday style theme, neither in the relatively simple camp of Monday and Tuesday, nor in the super tricksy camp of Thursday. And I think Mr. Gilioli carried it out beautifully.
Some areas of difficulty for me today included wanting Redye for 24D: Change from green to red, maybe (RIPEN); wanting mAsK for 7D: Scuba need (TANK); wanting longA for 30D: Start or end for Alexa? (SCHWA); and putting in ateUP for EATUP. It was just one of those days. Perhaps a lack of sleep is contributing to this solver's muddled brain.
One thing I would love to do in my life is to play Franz LIZST's "La Campanella." It is fiercely difficult and extremely beautiful when played well. It also featured in "Station Eleven," which we recently watched with Cece on HBO.
- Colum
Congratulations on the new job, Colum! I really enjoyed the puzzle...this type of humor cracks me up.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly!
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