How about an extra large Saturday puzzle? The 15 x 16 grid allows for what must have been the two seed answers to cross in the middle. It's a slightly lopsided pinwheel effect overall.
For some reason, ARTFILM fell into place right off the bat, which greatly helped fill in the NW corner quickly. MEH, LENS, and IBID confirmed my guess. 2D: Pucker precipitators at a pub (SOURBEERS) is a fun alliterative clue. 13A: College assignment (ROOMIE) is a lovely bit of misdirection. And 16A: Take an unplanned trip (TUMBLE) made me chuckle.
I got ROCKETSCIENCE off the RO___ and I started to think I would finish this puzzle superfast (spoilers: I did not). BSMETER is fun as is 21A: Cries of shear terror (BAAS), because the sheep don't die, see. BRAINSURGERY is the other thing "it's not." My kids will attest to my displeasure that Neurosurgeons get all of that credit.
I finished the NE corner second, with BBCRADIO nicely clued with the spelling of "programmes." I love the word GNOSIS, which we see in "agnostic," or if you're a neurologist, in "anosognosia," which is the lack of knowledge that one is ill.
The SW corner followed. I had some difficulty here because I had put in CARingLY for 32D: In an intimate way, in a way (CARNALLY). But 41A: Victor's crow (IWON) put that right, and the rest fell. 56A: Like zombies and some loves (UNDYING) is quite funny.
Finally, I had nine white squares in the SE corner that took a lot of thinking, likely a quarter of my time overall. I never knew of the KIARIO, and 57A: They're not only human (BEINGS) was not much help in unraveling the remaining answers. Finally I got STOKES, and I was done.
Fun and challenging puzzle! Tomorrow, Horace takes over. Have fun puzzling!
- Colum
Fun puzzle! I got stuck for the longest time at KUSH, never having heard of it. Had the "K" since I was pretty sure the "Korean model" clue was nudging me toward KIA. ELKS LODGE gave me some trouble too which is crazy since my sister and brother-in-law are enthusiastic ELKS Club members. Thanks for the week, Colum!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you, Kelly, for your regular comments! It's fun to hear what our readers think.
DeleteI really liked this one - a perfect Saturday challenge in my view. Good week of reviewin', Colum!
ReplyDelete