My mind isn't generally at its most receptive on Monday mornings - but I learned something new today - ASABOVE SOBELOW - a phrase lifted from the 9th century Emerald Tablet referring to the symmetry of earth and heaven. As dubious as this philosophy may be, it forms the theme of today's puzzle, in which the words 'AS' and 'SO' appear in six little four-letter blocks throughout the grid, with AS above and SO below (of course). An interesting concept for a Monday crossword and I imagine easier than usual to clue from a theme perspective.
No issues with the solve, though it played a tiny bit slowly for me today. I don't generally look to the theme for assistance and it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway. One slight hiccup was entering TACK instead of NAIL for "Poster holder-upper". Who nails a poster to a wall?? I liked the references to two of my favourite things - OSSO buco (mmmm - a dish with plenty of UMAMI), and origami and its FOLDS, my go-to Zen activity. STEFFI Graf was great indeed. So classy. SQIN ("small area measurement") was a cheeky way to clue a tricky 'Q'! My family and I did hop on the SQUID Game bandwagon - did you??
ALAS, I got nothing else, so I shall CLEAVE you now..
-philbo
Played slow for me as well, Philbo. I did not watch SQUID Game, but my younger daughter did, I believe.
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