It's always a delight to encounter one of Ms. Weintraub's creations! Unlike my esteemed co-bloggers, I haven't done a good job (yet) of recognizing the regular NYT crossword setters and their respective styles. But THIS setter I know, and she really stands out for me because she seems to be right on my wavelength; and this puzzle was no exception. Armed with this vim and confidence, I immediately threw in ELLEN as the "show that featured the first prime-time lesbian kiss (1991)." Kinda reasonable? But no, it's LALAW and if I looked up the running periods of these shows, I'd probably find that ELLEN wasn't even close to that year. Anyway. Didn't take long to clear that up, and move on to the humourous "Early home decor" (CAVEART), the silly "Producers of green eggs (but not ham)" (EMUS) and "Who talks on the phone a lot", into which MYSISTERASATEENAGER wouldn't fit, so SIRI it was. Other great clues - ADAM is indeed the "subject of a first-person narrative" ... "Pool maker" is a really oblique way of defining TIDE ... "Bill for expensive clothing" (BLASS) was clever too. I could go on and on!
A few areas almost tripped me up. I'd never heard of Sephora rival ULTA before, nor NOE Valley in San Francisco, nor Sacher TORTE, made of chocolate and apricot (sounds delicious!) Fortunately, the crossers were unambiguous - and really, TORTE is a confection-y word. Aside from this, it was karmic flow the whole time. 5:52 for a Friday is a good time for me.
A note on the Tower of London and its MOAT. I visited the Tower of London a few years ago and among all the amazing things there - the dungeons, the crown jewels, Sir Isaac Newton's residence, and on and on - the most captivating for me were the resident ravens, which I could sit and watch for hours on end. Highly recommend if you've never been!
Hope you liked this puzzle. Thanks Robyn! (I met you at last year's ACPT and so of course now we're on a first name basis, ha ha)
-philbo
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