Well, hello everybody! How exciting to be back. I certainly didn't expect to be writing these blog posts any more, but after the ACPT, and the pleasure of reconnecting with the community of NYT crossword puzzle enthusiasts, it was hard to resist. With a quick glance back, I see my last post was nearly two years ago exactly, on Friday May 24, 2024.
And now I have returned to review a Monday pangram. I wondered when I hit the middle western section with that Q and Z, and then the J in the lower western corner. It's rare to make a puzzle with every letter of the alphabet represented that is as smooth as this one is. Congratulations, Mr. Woodford!
The theme is a cute reimagination of OHDEAR (45D: "Goodness me!" ... or a phonetic hint to 17-, 31-, 39-, and 55-Across). In each of these four long answers is hidden the letter O and then a synonym for that four-legged woodland creature. Handy-dandy circles tell the discerning solver where they are.
How useful it is to have memorized all the countries of the world
BILLBOARDCHARTS is the least cromulent of the four, only because of the necessary -S at the end. Otherwise, I do love an HORSDOEUVRE, and DROPINTHEBUCKET is very good.
In the fun clue section of the review, I have to recognize 30A: Take fowl foully (POACH). I also liked the duet of 4A: Animal that ranges around Peru (LLAMA) and 8D: Peruvian mountains (ANDES). The fact they intersect makes it more delicious. We also get MER and EAU in another pairing.
Thanks to all who have come back to read our posts again. It's nice to see the readership bounce back. Happy solving all!
- Colum
Welcome back, Colum! Yes, a nice Monday theme; very, as you say, cute. I enjoyed the solve. I take issue with two of the clues, though. First, no one wants to think of an UNZIPPED fly! Couldn't Woodford have come up with a more tasteful, more clever clue, such as "Mr. Rogers' sweaters while they are hanging in the closet"? Even worse is "a million gazillion" for UMPTEEN. That's just inaccurate, isn't it? One of the roots of the word is "-teen," so while the reference number is indefinite, it's usually thought to be no higher than the double digits, right? On another note, does anyone but a mother ever say "umpteen"? I've told you umpteen times to put your dishes in the dishwasher!" Not that my mother would ever have said that, but . . . One last confession: I know just about all the countries of the world, but I guess I'm just a little fuzzy on the exact geography of the various African states that border the Gulf of Guinea: I put in Ghana on the first run-through. Onward and upward.
ReplyDeleteThanks ET! I didn't even think about UMPTEEN.
DeleteI didn't really even notice GABON in there. I guess I was working the downs. Nice point on UMPTEEN, ET59, and I agree; that struck me as poor as I read the clue. I didn't mind UNZIPPED, though. We've all been there. Colum is dead-on with "Take fowl foully," though. That's the best clue of the bunch. I didn't realize it was a pangram, sadly. The appearance of Q and Z usually has me checking.
ReplyDeleteHi Huygens! Thanks for the comment.
DeleteHi Colum, I figured I should do my part since you all are!
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