Now no longer in NYC, I feel free from elevator worry. Unfortunately, we've tested positive for COVID! Ah well. The modern world giveth and it taketh away.
Meanwhile, we have a fun puzzle from Mr. Collins and Dr. Haight. The theme is clearly stated with the double H in black squares in the middle of the grid. There are six two-word phrases in the puzzle where both words start with H. It's interesting that the theme answers are either 9-letters or 7-letters long, while there are multiple answers that are 9-letters long or longer that are not theme answers. YMMV on this, but it doesn't bother me at all.
But also, did you notice that all of the clues start with H? I didn't until I'd almost finished this review!
I had never heard of HICKHOP before, although I know it is becoming more and more popular. Doing a Wikipedia deep dive, I see that broadly interpreted, there were rap style elements in country music going back to the 1960s, although I would hesitate to lump it all in together. More recently, country trap is an up and coming version as popularized by Lil Nas X.
HIGHHORSE reminds me of Hozier ("Take Me to Church") and HAMHOCK reminds me that we need to order our ham for Christmas.
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| Is Bart STARR bowling with a football here?! |
It's a fun grid shape because of those Hs. Even though it's segmented, the large proportion of 3-letter words meant nothing was too hard to break into. I had to absolutely guess about BEETAYLOR. I was missing the first two letters, and I did not know EVO. It's not an acronym, but rather short for the Evolution Gaming Tournament. Fortunately, "Bee" made the most sense, and I got the happy complete message.
As usual, Mr. Collins and Dr. Haight have come up with a fun and unusual puzzle type. Nice work!
- Colum
Pretty sad that I had to read your blog, Colum, to be properly apprised of the theme of this puzzle. Even with the 'H's front and centre in the grid! Like you, BEETAYLOR was a stab in the dark for me.
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