Hello all! I find myself in an awkward position today, having completed (and enjoyed) the crossword and finding that I can't think of much to say about it. Not that it wasn't a perfectly good puzzle... let's see. Anchored by two long Across answers, both things that one might say to someone - IDONTHAVEALLDAY while anxiously tapping one's watch, and SOMETHINGCAMEUP after one's plans change. These both share a temporal aspect - "I'm gonna be late" and "Sorry I'm late". (The latter of which is soon going to apply to yours truly, if I don't get this blog done.)
There really weren't any hiccups while filling in the grid. I liked the indirectness of the very first clue - AHAB ("Stubbs was his second mate"). Also liked VIBRAPHONE as a "Marimba lookalike". I love the "vibes" and have great admiration for those who've mastered the instrument. Two side-by-side "Unspecified amount"s (ANY and ALOT) was a nice touch. And the two QMCs that tickled me were "Shell company?" (CREW) and "Bound for the big stage?" (JETE).
When one encounters a clue like "Bizet's 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle,' for one", one can write in ARIA without any operatic knowledge whatsoever. Such is the curse of the experienced solver. My mission this afternoon is to find and listen to that piece!
As a sci-fi-loving teenager, I was a huge fan of OMNI magazine when it first came out. Either it changed or I grew out of it, but there were some good years at the start..
22A ("Deep-fried bite") triggered an amusing little memory from the ACPT - we went for drinks at a bar after the stress of Day 1, during which Frannie ordered a round of TATERTOTs to take the edge off...TATERTOTs might not be a thing up here in Canada, actually.
That's all for now. Have a great day everybody!
-philbo
P.S. just about hit "Publish" on this thing, but twigged to something: the answer to 44A "Dances for which girls do the asking, informally" is SADIES, which, if we disregard the awkward pluralization, is short for SADIE HAWKINS - same surname as our constructor today! Coincidence? I...think...not........
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