COME FULL CIRCLE
A Sunday with a trick! The title and the grid art both hint at the solution, which is to complete the circle - turn those Cs in the italicized answers into Os, and then things start to make sense. For example:
32A Wild cats becomes "wild oats," and is answered by YOUTHFULINDISCRETIONS. Likewise 39D Bic filler is not "ink" or anything like that, because the clue is really "bio filler," which is LIFESTORY. Tricky, but you are clued in that something is going on by the italics, and once it becomes clear what that something is, things get easier.
That said, I still had some difficulty in the middle, where that central, black square C also needs to become an O, and that is done by way of three rebus squares into which the word "block" is entered. So the answer at 64-Across, which is clued with "Large summer delivery, in past times / N.F.L. linemen, at times" turns out to be ICE[BLOCK]ERS, the two answers being both completed and separated by the creation of a black square. Interesting, and kinda cool. And I love how 65-Down is just clued literally, with what needs to go there. Hah!
Even with all the trickiness, my last square was the A in SICARIO and RAMOS. I knew neither the Emily Blunt thriller nor the Philippine president, but while a U seemed plausible in the thriller name, it seemed less so in the human name.
I don't know that I've ever heard ADNOUN for an adjective used as a noun, and I didn't remember that East Asian fiddles were ERHUS. And what do we think of the clue "Get ad-libby-dibby while singy-ingy-inging?" (SCAT)? Is it just the ZANIEST clue you've ever seen, or is it CORNIER? Honestly, I think it is corny, and I think "Less freshly funny" isn't the right clue for that word. But what do I know, I'm not the funny one at this blog. :P
OK, I think Colum will start up tomorrow, but I'm really not quite sure. We haven't really gotten this thing ironed out again yet.
Thanks for reading!
- Horace
I will write tomorrow's!
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