It's my last blog post of the week, and the day before somebody's special day. I won't say who, but strangely they have the same first name as me! Hope is in town with me, and we are going to have dinner out and see a Broadway show tonight, which I'm looking forward to.
What a nice chunky puzzle today, even with the fact that the NW and SE corners are essentially their own mini-puzzles. I love that central swath with the staggered 9-letter words. I often find myself approaching these central areas by getting the starts and ends and then working into the middle.
But I started on a wrong foot by putting in MoLto for MILLE, seemingly accurate because of ELMO and LOLCATS (remember those? They were all the rage in our household in 2010). Fortunately SEEYA and impossibility of 8D: Accessory with a scent (LEI) ending in O put me right.
The first middle answer I got was 24A: Conversation piece? (SOUNDBITE), which gave me the first part of 18D: Altar exchange (WEDDINGBANDS). I tried "oaths" first and then "rings" second, before finally settling on the correct second word. 28A: Action toys, perhaps? (STUNTDOGS) is very funny, and I love the word FORTHWITH. I shall use that word more frequently, forthwith!
3D: They're in circulation (BLOODSTREAMS) is excellent. The SW corner moved quickly, and I had the entirety of the SW to NE diagonal filled, before I started staring at the nearly completely blank isolated corners.
The SE went first. Getting KATY and TSK helped, and then I saw BREXIT. 42A: Like one with a spare tire (PAUNCHY) was good. I don't know SEANPAUL, and EVO was a guess, but fortunately the right one.
I finished in the NW where BALLOONS helped open up things. KABUKI was a word that would not come to mind for a long time, so that definitely added time. I really love the clue at 1D: Civilization, to Freud (KULTUR). It's the German word, not some metaphor that Freud came up with.
BANGUP job, Mr. Last! I turn things over to Horace for tomorrow. SEEYA!
- Colum
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