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Relative difficulty: Very easy
Theme answers:
- TABLE SCRAPS (3D: *Surfaces for some high rollers) (craps tables)
- LINEAGE (42D: *Mark of wisdom, some say) (age line)
- BARSTOOL (4D: *Quick-access rows of icons) (toolbars)
- TAPERED (23D: *Bureaucratic hassle) (red tape)
- HEADSPIN (39D: *Dummies) (pinheads)
- POTSHOT (8D: *Cook-your-own dishes in some Asian restaurants) (hot pots)
Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as sponsored airtime. The number of times the songs are played can influence the perceived popularity of a song, and payola may be used to influence these meters. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) treats payola as a violation of the Sponsorship Identification Rules, which requires any broadcast of paid material to include a disclosure.The term payola is a combination of "pay" and "ola", which is a suffix of product names common in the early 20th century, such as Pianola, Victrola, Amberola, Crayola, Rock-Ola, Shinola, or brands such as the radio equipment manufacturer Motorola. (wikipedia)
• • •
Looking around the grid, I am sincerely baffled by the Monday/Tuesday level of it all. The hardest clues for me were hard only because the clues were vague. Stuff like ["Hamilton" collection] for TONYS and ["You have a point there"] for TRUE. Every term, every person was super-familiar, and none of the clues seemed to be trying very hard to fool you or slow you down or even entertain you. There were some notable exceptions. I laughed out loud at the Debussy clue: 16A: Where there is "too much singing," per Debussy (OPERA). I've started to come around on OPERA, but I've spent most of my life knowing Exactly where Debussy is coming from (I could and sometimes do listen to Debussy's own music all day—decidedly singing-free). I rarely enjoy the silly "hidden words"-type clues, but [Cheese found in Notre Dame?] amused me. If you're gonna show me EDAM for the 10,431st time, yeah, go ahead and go nuts with your silly clues, I won't mind. And I'm only just now realizing that [Knot without a struggle] is a pun (on the phrase "not without a struggle") as well as a pretty straightforward description of a CLIP-ON TIE. That's a good clue (and answer) too.
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| [not all YouTube comments are bad] |
The SEALEGS clue is also not bad, as "?" clues go (25D: How a sailor achieves a good work-life balance?). When the floor of your workplace is constantly pitching underneath your feet: SEALEGS! The weird thing about this clue is the hyphen. "Work-life balance" would normally signify a balance between work and (non-work) life, but here the hyphen seems to turn "work-life" into a compound adjective, i.e. SEALEGS are for balance in your work life (as opposed to your home life). The fact that I am spending so much time thinking about the meaning of a hyphen probably tells you something about how interesting this puzzle is overall. I wish there were more to say, but alas. I remain anti-SCUD (an ugly and unnecessary and almost never-used word) (35D: Move like or with the wind), but no need to rehash that now (any more than I just did). See you LATER.
Today was an excellent example of why, no, we don’t just like puzzles when they’re easy to us, and loathe them when they’re hard, as some (usually anonymous) commenters sometimes claim. This was massively easy and I echo all of Rex’s critiques and share fewer of his compliments. This puzzle was neither clever enough in theme or wacky or fun enough in the theme or the fill to make up for a pretty quotidian gimmick. At most, it was cute in a basic way. For whatever reason, I had a total brain fart on “F1 Neighbor” - I got stuck on racing, and then thought it must be some music notation, and TE_H was no help. And then I mashed my way through the alphabet, saw “ESC” in there, and felt really silly.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the Debussy quote was one worth memorizing and a fun inclusion. My personal favorite unusual quote from a historical figure (yes, I’m odd for even having one) is from Kafka, who said “Coitus is punishment for the happiness of being together.” He was famously fastidious and body-averse, and perhaps asexual? Anyway, someone should put that in a puzzle sometime.
I’ll be sharing the Debussy line with my father, who as a child opera singer was in the Boston Metropolitan Opera and performed the Shepherd Boy aria of Tosca at the Met. My father had to take a couple years off during puberty to avoid damaging his vocal cords as they changed. By the time he could could go back was far more interested in counter-culture than “high culture;” well, at least not *that* kind of high culture. Anyway, growing up, my father had us listening to opera every Saturday, and I would have agreed with Debussy. But now I’m a casual fan and in deep awe of what these folks can do with their bodies.
Super easy, yes, but I liked it fine. I think the best thing about it is that most of the answers, and their alternates, were fun in and of themselves, aside from the switcheroo deal. HEAD SPIN and PINHEADS - both fun answers. TABLE SCRAPS and CRAP TABLES. You’d probably like seeing those answers even if they weren’t part of a theme. RED TAPE is fine, and AGE LINE is OK, but their mates TAPERED and LINEAGE fell flat for me because they are both boring and the only ones of the 12 theme answers that aren’t two words (or a compound word).
ReplyDeleteEven better for me, there were a plethora, a myriad, a slew of great clues. Rex mentions two favorites, for CLIP ON TIE and SEA LEGS (plus the OPERA clue made me smile too). Two other favorites were “brings down the house?” For DEMOS and especially “high court figure, at times” for BAIL. Having that many moments of delight in a puzzle makes me happy.
Then there’s the clue for TODAY, which I am still cogitating on. “It’s supposed to end at midnight, but then it doesn’t.” I guess that’s because today will end at midnight but as soon as midnight comes, it’s a new today? Hmmmm…. Also, given that I am always posting at like 6 am, you can guess I haven’t seen a midnight in a while.
Loved this puzzle! So there!
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
DeleteMe three!
DeleteEnjoyed the theme/gimmick for a change because it was easily discernible, didn’t put a ton of stress on the grid and was actually kind of fun. So it makes the puzzle a little easier - no big deal. Rex will have the next two days to whoosh, whoosh through while I end up scratching and fighting for even a toehold - so I’ll enjoy a slightly less challenging Thursday for a change.
ReplyDeleteThat whole “clamdiggers” and CAPRI SYS situation was all new to me (my only exposure to fashion was from Miranda Priestly) and DEMOS seems way, way off for the house blowing up. I get the joke, but no one ever uses the term in that context.
Similarly, the PACAS / AGOUTIS kinship is not anything that I have ever heard of. PACAS sounds like ALPACA which I’ve seen in XWorld - so maybe they are all part of an extended four-legged family. I don’t know that I even have enough curiosity to confer with UG (Uncle Google) on that one. I may try to tuck it away so that I have something to talk about if I ever date a zoologist (right after I ask her “What does a zoologist do?”).
I love these quirky English language finds. Flipping the beginning and ends of words to make totally unrelated words, sometimes one of them singular and the other plural!
ReplyDeleteDaniel has mentioned in previous notes that he writes computer code, and I’m guessing that that is how he found these answers, and I’m all for it. This is where computers aid puzzle-making, as opposed to, say, when a computer makes a puzzle without human intervention, and the puzzle feels dehumanized, sterile.
Nothing sterile today. Pure reward – CRAPS TABLES to TABLE SCRAPS! TAPERED to RED TAPE! And so on. Man, those things are so cool to me, eliciting a “Hah!” every time. So, my wonder at and bemusement at our quirky language and the treasures it yields was what I loved most about this puzzle.
I also loved the wordplay clues for SEA LEGS and CLIP-ON TIE. Plus, I admired the construction – six theme answers and reveal taking up a lofty 59 theme squares, ending with hardly a whiff of junk. Not to mention throwing in two terrific NYT debut answers, AUDIO TOUR and JOB MARKET.
This was a kid-in-a-candy-shop puzzle for me today. Thank you, Daniel!
I’m with @Wanderlust on this one (with all due respect, @Weezie, and nice to see you back). Nothing wrong with an easier-than-usual puzzle if it has entertaining clues and some fun answers. Enjoyed this quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteCamp Weezie/Rex today. The discovery of these words is great, but the puzzle needed to do something more with them to make it a Thursday theme. Because they all do the same thing, there's neither challenge nor interest in the way they are used in the puzzle.
ReplyDelete@SouthsideJohnny - pacas and agoutis are both rodents, so fairly closely related. And both darn cute.
Had fun with this - not difficult or as nuanced as some Thursday tricks but well filled and slick. Apt revealer - liked BARSTOOL/TOOL BARS.
ReplyDeleteSid
Liked BISECT, SEA LEGS and CLIP ON TIE. PACAS was backed into and LOTSA is unfortunate. Agree with the big guy that the 3s are gluey.
Pleasant Thursday morning solve
SCUD Mountain Boys
@Rex, Work/Life Balance would signal a balance between your work and your life. Work-Life Balance, means your life during work. As many other people will undoubted explain today.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't easy for me.
Harder for me than for Rex and others, but in a good way, a nice Thursday. I liked the theme, it was fun to suss out. Love the Debussy quote.
ReplyDelete🥱
ReplyDeleteThis one was harder (almost twice my average time), I think because of vague clues crossing proper nouns I didn’t know. But also maybe because of trying to do it while attending to a puppy.
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure, I got the revealer before any of the themers, which I normally hate to do, but it sure was helpful. First themer was HEADSPIN and then I thought the ENDS might all be terminal something-or-others, as your HEAD is the END of your body. Well, if your start with your feet. Overthinking at its finest.
ReplyDeleteHaven't thought of "clamdiggers" since I was in high school, but it came back instantly. Took forever to see old friend PACAS, due to my CLIPONTIE being a SLIPONTIE. OOPS.
Put me in the "liked it" crowd today. Pretty easy when I got going but found the themers to be clever and fun to suss out.
Nice Thursdecito, DB. Don't Be afraid to make more like this, and thanks for all the fun.
Giggled at sealegs and opera: those were cute. Agree it was too easy for a Thursday but would’ve loved it for a Tuesday/Wednesday, which I guess means I liked the puzzle! Not the constructor’s fault that Will Shortz put it on the wrong day.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t find it as easy as most of the others here. Maybe some of the references were just things I didn’t know? I have no idea but it took me longer than a Tuesday, that’s for sure. I liked it!
ReplyDeleteCrazy easy for a Thursday but not a bad way to spend however many minutes it took to complete. One you got one themer you had them all, but I still found them pretty clever.
ReplyDeleteThx, Daniel; well done! 😊
ReplyDeleteMed+
Didn't grok the theme until late in the game.
Dnfed with PACAi / iVEN; just a careless miscue.
Otherwise, a fun adventure! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness, Freudenfreude & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Pretty thin gruel indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd on the day of the week you want it to be at least SOMEWHAT grueling….
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteMy silly brain didn't even notice that the swapped words make actual words. As in, I was concentrating so much on figuring out the ON TOP-ness of it all, I only saw them reversed, figuring they'd end up being nonsensical words at the end. Man, gray cells, indeed.
Neat idea. Nice 6-Themer Downs puz. The grid is basically an Across Themer set-up rotated 90 degrees. If you turn your head (doing it online!) or your paper, you'll see the familiar look of an Across Themed grid.
Good fill, enough of a crunch to warrant a Thurs slot, but still think it should've been swapped with YesterPuz. 😁
Had sLIPONTIE, and couldn't find it after the Almost There message. Further brain drain proof.
I can imagine the creators of "Frozen" laughing as they named all their characters four letter names. "Let's really mess with the puzzle solving community!" *Rubbing hands*
There's Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Hans, Duke, Sven. *Chuckling*
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
You can't get more relevant PPP than John Tesh and NYPD Blue.
ReplyDeleteBARSTOOL came in before I'd figured out the theme and it was a great big "what on earth?" I'm not nearly computer-literate enough to have realized I was looking for TOOL BARS. But the theme did become clear at TAPE RED -- so now I knew what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteWould the constructor nail the landing? What would the revealer be? All I could think of was BASS-ACKWARDS. Other possibilities, some too long, were:
TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY
CART BEFORE THE HORSE
WHO'S ON FIRST?
Let's see. ENDS UP ON TOP. Aha. Not half bad.
Favorite clue: the Debussy quote. Boy, do I agree.
Most perplexing clue: TODAY (36A). But it does end at midnight! Doesn't it? Someone will explain, yes?
A cute puzzle -- but not especially challenging for a Thursday. I thought yesterday's was harder, to tell the truth. Maybe they should have been switched.
ReplyDeleteI was totally baffled in the NE when 8D had to be POTSHOT but I couldn’t relate it to the clue. Getting the revealer didn’t help because I missed the asterisk at the start of the clue. Yeah, that’s it.
I love it. Phrases you can split in half, read backward and get a new phrase. It sounds like the directions to those NPR weekend puzzles Will does.
ReplyDeleteI ended up stuck a coupla times over proper names, hello PACAS and ASTIN, but I was also boxed out of the northeast. I couldn't figure it out. Alas.
Good puzzle better than me.
Stumped on the clue for FIN even after learning about the saw horse deke. And what the heck is BUS Fillmore? I think I am going to buy a school bus next year and fix it up. I've always wanted to do something like that. I guess I will paint BUS Fillmore on the side.
Uniclues:
1 Booooooor-ing.
2 This blog's commentariat.
3 This blog's commentariat.
4 "Weeeeeeeeeeeee."
1 OPERA AT A GLANCE
2 LOTSA BEST
3 CLIP-ON TIE MAFIA (~)
4 SWING AUDIOTOUR
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: The dramatic aria sung by any lonely male sparrow in the spring. OPERA CHIRP.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Rudof Bing, long-time empresario of the Met, said of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, "It's longer than Gotterdammerung but not as funny."
ReplyDeleteThat Debussy line makes a cute epigram but there's more to the quote than that. He did actually compose an opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, which has, y'know, quite a bit of singing in it. I remember reading this succinct plot synopsis of it somewhere: "Nothing happens, then Mélisande dies."
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was pretty boring. "Knot without a struggle" is one of the worst clues ever. The clue for TODAY is also stupid.
Inchworm
Very enjoyable (if easy) Thursday. The theme was easy to figure out from the get go, but I wondered if the revealer would make it worthwhile. It did not disappoint! Spot on.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of SCUD used in that sense. I only know it as a missile used during the Iraq war.
Found it harder at first than many of you (I blame lack of sleep due to giant cast), but once the penny dropped it went fast. I also got the revealer before any themers - hi, @Pablo - but was looking for the "on top" to be separated by a blocker. We had a puzzle like that not too too long ago.
ReplyDeleteHad ___CRAPS and even though I had wIn before HIT that was the themer that fell first, thereby also fixing 1D from wAy to HAJ and so on.
I actually liked it, it's cool that we can take compound words and reverse the order to get something completely different.
Rex - have you not heard of SCUD - the disposable assassin
ReplyDeleteIn the world of Scud, bullets are cheaper than human life. Corner vending machines provide any weapon you might need. The most popular weapons are Scud disposable assassins: Robot hitmen that self-destruct when they kill their target. This volume follows Scud 1373, assigned to take out a hideous female man-eater named Jeff. While fighting the indestructible Jeff, Scud discovers his infamous warning panel in a bathroom mirror. Realizing that to kill Jeff is to kill himself, Scud blows off her arms and legs and hospitalizes her. Her life support bills will have to be paid, and Scud will have to find more work to stay alive.
Fun puzzle. Love the word "scud"!
ReplyDeleteLOTtA ENDS UP LOTTA ,TRUE. AT A GLANCE that’s it for Thursday. At least we got our rebii on yesterday’s grid. I’m more appreciative than OFL about Daniel’s gambit, but I’m also slow at picking up palindromes let alone those semordinalaps so beloved by @LMS. Glad I still have things to learn having forgotten so much already.
ReplyDeleteNicely done and fun to solve. I'm with those who groped in the dark for a while before light dawned. I was held up by LOTtA instead of LOTSA, which crossed BARtTO...??? Eventually, crosses got me to TABLESCRAPS and showed me how HOT POTS was right (in a way) after all. Still, I didn't find the rest a snap - like LINE...? and HEADS...? - I needed crosses for those. I'm with @Lewis in finding this sort of fun-with-English theme very creative on the part of the constructor and engaging for solver me. I liked the playful clues, too.
ReplyDeleteRe: Debussy - my first thought, when I had only the final A, was "at seA?" Did he have something against chanties? So, OPERA got a laugh - I'm such a fan(atic) that I guess I forget that others recoil.
yep. Kinda easier than snot for a ThursPuz. Well done, tho -- if U don't mind the easiness.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject picks: TBS & SYS talkin to each other.
some fave stuff: JOBMARKET. CLIPONTIE. BISECT. SEALEGS. PAYOLA. HEADSPIN/PINHEADS.
Thanx, Mr. Bodily dude.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
U want harder than snot? here ya go…
**gruntz**
Medium. No WOEs but sorting out the theme answers took some time consuming staring. A clever smooth Thursday, liked it.
ReplyDeleteRe the Debussy quote:
ReplyDeleteDying of consumption is a curse.
But singing about it's even worse.
Such a tragic, endless song --
Opera deaths take much too long!
After skimming comments, it seems I had to work at it more than others but I won’t CRY about it. Primarily I was a little slow on the uptake as far as figuring out the trick. Part of the problem was my first GLANCE at the revealer gave me ENDS UP AHEAD which didn’t quite click but once I got there then the rest filled in quickly. A little something different but a pleasant Thursday overall. Thanks Daniel.
ReplyDeleteThis felt like trying to explain to someone/anyone that banging my head on the floor was fun.
ReplyDeleteFor reasons unknown, my agita angst dyspepsia symptoms appear every Thursday. I wish I could un-wire my brain. I tippy toe in and wait for the AHA to appear - or at least a good WOW. Today is Thursday and so I failed to "get" the gimmick right away. Instead I just filled in what I knew and hoped the trick would emerge and that I'd like whatever it was.
I yelled for a theme reveal yesterday and today when I got one it meant nada to me. ENDS UP ON TOP? What does? Lots of things end on top. Mind wanders. How does CRAPS end up on top. Mind wanders. It wandered the most wondering who cooks their own food dishes in an Asian restaurant.
So my adventure today wasn't fun because I couldn't find the map I needed There were POT holes I couldn't navigate and besides, I stopped to listen to Debussy and pet some furry little PACAS
Anyway, that's my story. I'm truly happy for those who zipped through; calling it too easy for a Thursday, and getting the gimmick right at the git go. I wasn't one.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I think you're missing a whole layer of the theme on this one, Rex! All of the theme answers, as written in the grid, also describe something that ENDS UP ON TOP:
ReplyDeleteTABLE SCRAPS: the "ENDS" left ON TOP of the table after a meal
LINEAGE: depending on how you draw a family tree, the ENDS of the line are ON TOP
BARSTOOL: flipped ON TOP of the bar at the END of the night
TAPERED: this one is admittedly weak, but perhaps he's going for a TAPERED haircut where the ENDS are longer ON TOP
HEADSPIN: the feet are "ENDS" that are ON TOP while doing a HEADSPIN
I'm not sure I get the wordplay for POTSHOT, but maybe the sense that getting a hit while taking POTSHOTs is ENDing UP ON TOP even though the shots are somewhat random.
You are absolutely reading WAY WAY WAY too much into the theme imho. You're contriving oddly specific, yet inconsistent, scenarios for each theme answer that bring in elements not even remotely referenced in the puzzle or clues.
Delete"Agoutis" is not an abbreviation, but "pacas" is the abbreviated form of "alpacas". Shouldn't that have been indicated? And "demos" is a common expression meaning "demonstrations", not "demolitions". C'mon editors, play fair!
ReplyDeleteIt was only easy if you figured out the theme before answering the theme clues. Working the crosses from 1-A, I got HIT/HAJ, then OPERA, so I naturally put in HOT POTS. Figuring there might be a John ruSH or riCH, I added RED TAPE, confirmed by rEtinA for the eye part. So now I was hopelessly knotted up, and not without a struggle, until I finally came to the revealer and it all became clear.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was great, once I figured out. In addition to making real words, the reversals either merge two words into one, or form two words that break in a different place from the clued ones -- a nice touch, I felt.
Wondering if it was LOTtA or LOTSA got me thinking. Lotta takes an indefinite article, and Lotsa stands on its own. I guess because the latter really stands for 'lots of,' although that has never previously occurred to me.
I seem to remember a protracted debate about CAPRIS here a few years back. Was it @Gill and @Nancy?
@dragoo, thanks for the explanation yesterday!
ReplyDeleteWhat a hungry guy does at a cocktail party.
ReplyDeleteSaliva from a male bovine
Mouth opening on a Lyme disease transmitter
(Answers below, with my apologies)
I’m not sold on YEN meaning “Pine (for)”. I yearn for you, but I don’t think I YEN for you or anyone else.
Response to a PDA: Take your IUD and get a room!
I’m north of @Rex on this puzzle. I liked each themer as I discovered it and it’s converse. Thanks, Daniel Bodily.
(My apologies)
DIPSHIT
PITBULLS
LIPSTICK
Re the screenshotted comment: please don't sprinkle glitter in the forest -- there's more than enough microplastic in the environment already.
ReplyDeleteScud? In what universe is that a word for move like the wind?
ReplyDelete@ Upstate George, Demo for Demolition is common in engineering and construction. But I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteWIN before HIT and SAIL before SCUD made it harder for me.
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t familiar with that definition of SCUD. I think of it as those missiles from the Gulf War.
And I continue to despise ETAIL. No one says that.
A PACA is not an alpaca. It’s a rodent.
The best thing about tis puzzle, at this moment, is listening to L'apresmidi d'un Faun.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rex, for posting that.
I'm with the previous posters who liked the themes and the clever thing they did with words. And liked the clues for clip-on tie ( Caught the play on words immediately) and sea legs.
And looking aback at the puzzle that I did around midnight, I see I put a smiley face by "It's supposed to end at midnight, but then it doesn't".
I thought this puzzle had some good clues, even if the theme was a bit underwhelming. It might have been better suited for Wednesday, and yesterday's (with the A/I rebus) better for a Thursday.
ReplyDeleteKnot without a struggle / CLIP-ON TIE is my favorite clue/answer combination in recent memory.
ReplyDeleteI typically don't leave comments, but since I felt inspired today because of 60A, I'll weigh in and say I thought the theme was fine. Maybe even solid. Not outstanding, clever, or memorable, but still worth the price of admission. It was fine.
The Debussy quote always gives me a chuckle, and it took me until the second theme entry to get the backwards placement of the theme words, only because for a hot second, my old brain thought it possible that “BAR STOOL” was a hip new IT idiom for a place a user stops quickly to access a menu item on the computer. Yeah, I hear y’all chuckling at the old lady.
ReplyDeleteI laughed at me too when I got to TAPERED but out it in as RED TAPE, which didn’t work. Bingo, done and my BAR STOOL became the TOOL BARS. Head smack. Loud laugh at self.
And that leas than a minute of confusion and humor was pretty much it. I look forward to a good Thursday tussle with some clever twists and turns and maybe some humor. Not so much today but it wasn’t painful.
Big fan of the theme today. The choice of theme answers was outstanding; their quirkiness tickled my brain. A pleasurable solve today.
ReplyDeleteNever got it - a first in a long time. Tomorrow's another day.
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck is a sawbuck?? That crossing with the Costa Nostra clue (a term I’ve also never heard) left me just trying letters until it told me I’d finished.
ReplyDeleteAlso it’s spelled “Hajj” not “haj”. That held me up for a really long time. I guess that’s an Americanized spelling maybe? But in Islam it’s spelled with two j’s.
ReplyDelete@Upstate George - some people may refer to an alpaca as a 'paca' for short, but that is not the animal referenced in the puzzle. It's this animal.
ReplyDelete@Smith (10:36) I broke my left wrist long ago so I feel your pain. You’re doing great with one-handed commenting though - not a single typo. 🙂
ReplyDelete@Nancy (11:38). Nice!
@Anonymous (4:37) The Cosa Nostra answer threw me too. A sawbuck is a ten-dollar bill, ergo a FIN is a fiver.
Yay Shonen Knife!
ReplyDeleteI always love Rex’s dissection but the autopsy report should read: “Died happy!” Maybe if Rex had seen the world in color…
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. I jumped to the color theme clues right away after understanding golden opportunity. I’m in agreement with those who found this puzzle skillfully made. No I ROBOT could have made this one! Despite the LAG LOGY quizzical obliquity. Fun!
Loved solving this puzzle. Some inspired clueing - e.g. clip-on tie, and a coherent theme that sticks the landing every time. (Barstools = tool bars, table scraps = craps tables...who'd a thunk it?)
ReplyDeleteAnd who cares what day of the week it was published on? A great puzzle is a great puzzle...
Not "very easy," but lotsa fun. For a while I thought there must be some kind of drinking or tavernish theme - BARSTOOL, MOET, RUNSATAB anyone?
ReplyDeleteThe answers were coming together, but some of them just didn't make sense. Until I figured out the revealer. Oh You say that's how it's supposed to work? Ah ha!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords, and now, ONTOP!
LOTSA LUV LATER TODAY?
ReplyDeleteSARA HAS A DEMO I.U.D.,
got it ATA MINI MARKET shop,
A TAPERED CLIPON, so LET it BE,
that's BEST if she ENDSUPONTOP.
--- TONY ROMA
I figured it out about half way through. Liked it more than OFL but that's TRUE most of the time. LOTSA 3s and LOTSA abbr.s, 3 in a row at 49a, 50a, 51a plus others. TODAY a SVEN with no Ole or Lena, haha.
ReplyDeleteWorde bogey with too many shots at BGGBG. LOTSA possibilities there.