Wednesday, October 25, 2023, Aimee Lucido

DRUMROLL please - a request taken literally in today's puzzle. Four groups of circled letters are made up of the letters D R U M, in a circle formation - in each case a different one of the letters is at the top, which is neat. The names of three famous drummers contribute to the theme material. I was able to snare the answer to "Member of Led Zeppelin" (JOHNBONHAM) thanks to living with Horace all these years. And thanks to my own musical experience, I could provide the fill for "Half of a 1990s-2000s rock duo with six Grammys," MEGWHITE. And, of course, everyone knows RINGOSTARR, who is maybe more cymbal than drummer at this point. 

The drummers and the circled letters weren't the only kicks in this puzzle. There was a whole kit of quality C/APs in the grid. Some hi-hats include:

"John Wayne and Ian Fleming, for two" (AIRPORTS)

"Boring person" (DRIP)

"Hearty draft pick" (STOUT)

"Ballpark fare served with raspberries?" (JEERING) - heh.

"Number one focus?" EGOTISM

"Gave prompt attention to?" CUED - ha!

There were a couple of minor brushes with for this solver ("Scandal, to a career, say" (UNDOER) and "Materialize" (COMETRUE)), but you can't beat the excellent cluing and entertaining fill like DOUR, WHITTLE, RUTABAGA, GUSSY, and BYGUM that this puzzle brings to the tabla. 

~Frannie.