Thursday, November 23, 2023, Vasu Seralathan

It's a busy day, but I'm squeezing in a little time to talk turkey about today's puzzle. I'd like to be able to say I gobbled up this puzzle, but, in fact, I was a bit slow to catch on to the trick of it, despite the fact that I love the kind of visual word puzzle represented by the four theme answers. The first one I got was GUTBUTSING depicted by the clue "BEL LY" - ha! I thought they all deserved a seat at the table, with EYEOPENING (OPTO-) and "MAR" (ARMTWISTING) being my other two favorites. 

Although not specifically Thanksgiving-themed, we get a nod to today's festivities with 1D: "Site of what many regard as the first Thanksgiving" (PLYMOUTH). Perhaps, in some cases, other apt entries might be CHAR ("Grill past perfection"), LADLE, and, hopefully, OOHED ("Audibly enthused").

In addition to the fun main course, there was lots of added gravy. I enjoyed the simple SMASH for "'Hulk' action, the C/AP "Emphatic type" (BOLD), "One taking the lion's share" (HOG) - heh - and a personal ROI, "What the Dutch call 'klompen'" (CLOGS). "Pan, e.g." was, or could be, nicely misleading, especially today, but I had enough letters in place to see GOD. Also, how about the constructor yamming it up with the pair "Knock-off weapon" (LANCE) and "Hunting tips?" (SPEARS)? :)

Well, dear Readers, speaking of spears - the pickle variety! - I have to get on to other DOINGS. I'll be back tomorrow if I am not too stuffed to type. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

~Frannie.