LIMITED RUNS
Greetings fellow Crossworders! By the time you read this, I will have completed a weekend of bike riding to raise funds for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation here in Toronto. Thousands of us. Millions of dollars raised. 260+ km over two days. (Sorry, folks, that's 160+ miles 😉 )
But enough about me. On to the Sunday crossword! A really fun, somewhat nerdy puzzle from Sunday crossword veteran Mr. Kugelman. The way I like to roll when not under time pressure (i.e. not at the ACPT) is (uh - here I am, talking about me again ..), I don't look at the clues for the long answers - I fill them in with the crossers and then try to deduce the theme after the fact. It was very quickly evident that something funny was going on - the long Across answers were composed of only a few distinct letters - four, in fact (think : "MISSISSIPPI"). And lo, the revealer in 110A, paraphrased as "What a modest play has in common with each theme answer?" : SMALLCASTOFCHARACTERS. What a coup!! Never mind how contrived and silly some of the theme clues/answers are; e.g. "Harsh taskmaster taken to task" = DERRIERERIDERDERIDED" (YOWIE!!) - that was a large part of the fun! I can only imagine the smile on Mr. Kugelman's face as he came up with these...
Aside from this, there was lots to relish in the puzzle. This was my first time seeing a reference to the OG of first-person-shooter video games, at 18D "Fireball-throwing demons from Doom" (IMPS). Ah, the wasted hours of my younger days.. Also, what do you do when you have to clue 'GAOH' into a word? Simple! A "measure of high resistance" is indeed a MEGAOHM. An example of excellent cluing : "Returned to air, as an old pilot, perhaps" (RERAN). "Modern art" (ARE) - yes!! And it took me right to the end to get CDTRAY for "It can carry a tune".
A couple of clues threw me off. Indeed, a PHONE is a "Bad thing to take to bed, it's said." I thought at first it was ANGER. "Volcanic gems found on every continent" are AGATES, not GEODES. (C'mon, Phil!) And although it wouldn't have fit, when I saw "Needle holder" (FIR), I reflexively thought of that old crossword standard the ETUI. "Innocent sort" isn't NAIF - it's LAMB.
I take minor issue with 60A "Part between the shoulders" (LANE). Clever, but it kinda doesn't work for most roads, does it? YOWIE ("Hoo mama, that's hot") seems a little forced on both clue and answer side. And I didn't love "Lunged (for)" (MADEATRY).
Great puzzle overall. Hope y'all liked it too! OCANADA!
-philbo
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