Friday, December 29 2023, Robyn Weintraub

Greetings and Happy Friday from les Cantons de l'Est in Quebec, where today's crossword was solved under the watchful eye of my mother, to whom I owe whatever solving proficiency I possess... Always a treat to see Robyn Weintraub's name up at the top, and today was no exception - a chewy Friday puzzle that yielded reluctantly to steady pressure. The start was a rough one today:  I chose LEONE over MADRE for "Sierra follower" - and it was neither (TANGO, as should have been evident if I'd paid proper attention to the clue!).  I had to abandon the entire NW section and move on.  Things were looking up with "Trashy television character?", which could only be OSCARTHEGROUCH, and I felt like I was back on Ms. Weintraub's wavelength.  But no!  "Acts exceedingly friendly" - I entered OOHSANDAHS without a second thought (it's OOZESCHARM for lord's sake) and poof went the SE corner and any vestigial chance of getting this thing done in a decent time.  (Oh and I'm also on my dad's laptop with its weird keyboard, and I blame that too 🙂 )

After finally straightening these things out, I was better able to appreciate the cleverer clues.  A little gem was GPA for "Calculation that might include calculus.." the 'G' of which led to SNOWBALLFIGHTS for "Cold war aggressions?", which brought a smile.  (Side note: no such thing here today - it's grey grey grey and a little green outside the window here...)  And "It's not long." (LAT) is admirable for its brevity and subtle use of punctuation..

As a final blow to my ego today, I left "Term largely replaced by 'Zoom'" as VIDEOTHAT, with the crosser "Red, white & ___ (2005 metal album)" as TRUE, which led to the dreaded FWOE.  They're VIDEOCHAT of course, and the eponymous-ish CRUE.  My heavy-metal-loving brother would hang his head in shame.

Great crossword, Ms. Weintraub!  I did not do it justice today, but I look forward to our next encounter.  Meanwhile, see y'all tomorrow...

-philbo