Now this is what I call the ultimate in excellence in a Monday puzzle. What we're looking for in an early week grid is straightforward fill, smoothness of solve, and a clever but not too clever theme.
Let's take the last first: the theme is revealed at 50A: Of the highest importance ... or, when parsed differently, what each bracketed number in the clues indicates? (PARAMOUNT). And then, when you look at 18A, 23A, and 41A, you find the numbers in the bracket increase from 1 to 3, indicating the number of "PAR" in each answer. Thus PARCHEESI, PARALLELPARKING, and PARTYPARTYPARTY. Nicely done!
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| An Inuit KAYAK |
The solve flows nicely through the puzzle for the most part. The NW and SE corners are somewhat isolated, but the answers and clues in those regions are very straightforward, so it's not a problem. Outside of AGER, I don't find much of anything to complain about.
On the other hand, some lovely fill includes 43D: What misers take to an extreme (THRIFT), which always reminds me of Hamlet:
"Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."
What an amazing line.
Also, the fact that Bert Lahr was a LEO. Apt. Apt!
And 13D: Characterize? (SPELL). Hah!
- Colum
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