Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Billy Bratton

Four things that can be held start the four long theme answers today: door, line, floor, and - amusingly - mayo. It's classic crossword construction to end with one that leaves you with a smile, so nicely done. Sometimes people talk about changing the way the word is used in the theme answer and in the theme itself - like in MAYOCLINIC it's a person's name, and not mayonnaise, but it's hard to camouflage a door, or the floor. Still, I don't much care about that kind of nuance, so it's all good. 

What I do care about is fun clues, like "Mammal whose scientific name is just its name repeated (BISON) and "Old habit?" (TUNIC). Heh. See also: "Debriefed?" (NAKED). METTLE (Grit) is a good word, and a little geology is always welcome (ATOLL (Lagoon-forming landform). 

IXNAY (Pig Latin turndown) is always SWELL, and "Oscar-winning actor Michael" CAINE almost always brings to mind this bit from The Trip.

Also, how strong a single was "Wouldn't It Be Nice" backed by "God Only Knows" ?! The SIDEB is only the song that Paul McCartney once called "the greatest song ever written."

All in all, a fine Tuesday.

- Horace