Hello all! Rounding out my week of blogging is a real cracker of a Saturday crossword, with a clean supersymmetric grid bisected both horizontally and vertically by stacks of long answers, and content that came THIS close to breaking me in two separate places.
A bit of a soccer theme was detected, with French soccer star Kylian MBAPPE making his NYT crossword debut (as far as I can recall), and reference made to ENGland's national team the Three Lions. It reminded me that I did enjoy this year's FIFA World Cup, despite the off-the-charts corruption of its organizing body and (ahem) other related entities...
Back to the crossword! A fantastic new word was added to my vocabulary today : AESOPICA ("Fabulous collection")! I needed all the crossers to make any sense of it. It didn't help that I originally had OPENED in 1A ("Began") instead of DAWNED. I'd also never heard of OSAKA being referred to as "Japan's kitchen"... But my real near-nemesis was the NE corner, where I blithely wrote in ORAGEL as a "Toothache care option" and then wondering how the devil "7/" could be GUL. The penny finally dropped with ORAJEL and JUL - phew!
I loved the factoid about the Statue of Liberty's second TOE being longer than its first one. I'm looking at an image right now and yes, so it is - and also, there's only one foot exposed so the singular reference in the clue makes sense.
HOLLA as "Say 'Hey', say" was new to me, though I liked the terse symmetry of the clue. And I smiled at the clever and oh-so-familiar "Oil wells?" (PORES).
Much else to say .. e.g. my take on bullfighting, unfamiliarity with the TEXASTWOSTEP, ETCETERA.. But I have a vacation to pack for, so you're own your own. I now leave you in Horace's more-than-capable hands..
-philbo
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