Anyhow, this evening, after a difficult and harrowing weekend, I finally sat down with a glass of wine and the Monday puzzle. Phil was in the kitchen working on a stunning paprikash sauce, whose aroma was wafting through the house. Then I hit 12D - Kitchen Magnet - A_OMA... what serendipity!
Especially fun that in the opposite corner were SMELLY gym socks.
It was, in fact, a gourmet's delight, with ECLAIRs, Black-eyed PEAS, BAGELs, Chewing of the fat, BEL Paese cheese, OVO, Uncooked: RAW
Here's our clue-by-clue replay. Thank you Andrea & Michael Blake.
Summary
Puzzle completion time
Solve time
|
Pause time
|
Total time
|
|
tita
|
10min:52sec
|
9min:16sec
|
20min:8sec
|
ralph
|
5min:10sec
|
No pauses
|
5min:10sec
|
ACPT results (based on time limit of 15min:0sec)
Effective time
|
Correct words
|
Wrong letters
|
Total score
|
|
tita
|
15min:0sec
|
51
|
50
|
510
|
ralph
|
6min:0sec
|
78
|
0
|
1155
|
Overall comment:
tita
|
A near perfect Monday! Another
A-E-I-O-U suite - with a very meta spanner dead-center!. Some fun fill, like
YEOW, OGRESS, EATME, IMHOT, DIE... Nice meta-puzzle, with OED and of course,
FILLINTHEBLANKS! Some junk, but not much!!
|
ralph
|
Cute puzzle. Saw F*LL after I was
done. FILL IN THE BLANKS was probably the seed. A little worried about ABFAB.
|
Write overs (word evolution)
tita
|
2D Eaglet's nest
[eERIE-->AERIE]
1A Chews the fat [yAkS-->GABS] |
ralph
|
31D C.I.O.'s partner
[AFc-->AFL]
44A Greeted and seated [LEtIN-->LEDIN] 71A Tavern [inn-->BAR] |
General comments
1A Chews the fat [GABS]
tita
|
Nice as 1A, though I had yAkS
first.
|
1D Harsh and brusque[GRUFF]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Not a very common word. I likes
it... All 3 words have the same harshness of tone that all set off their
definitions.
|
2D Eaglet's nest[AERIE]
tita
|
crosswordese
|
Not sure of the spelling... Like
the thought of an eaglet.
|
3D Breakfast order with a hole in it[BAGEL]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Only in NY, baby! ANywhere else,
they're Wonderbread...
|
ralph
|
nice clue
|
Not a donut
|
4D Like gym socks[SMELLY]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Indeed!
|
5A Fiona, e.g., in "Shrek" [OGRESS]
tita
|
nice clue
obscure pop name |
A new word is coined?? I like it!
|
5D Dunderhead[OAF]
tita
|
Dunderhead is a term not used
often enough...
|
6D 4.0 is a great one: Abbr.[GPA]
tita
|
gimme
|
7D Kramden of "The Honeymooners"[RALPH]
tita
|
pop name
gimme |
|
ralph
|
Hey Ralphie! and then there was
Archie Bunker. Two blue collar icons.
|
8D Cream-filled pastry[ECLAIR]
tita
|
Easier to make then one would
think... Ralph - do try some in Paris!! Same pastry as New Orleans beignets -
one is baked, the other fried. Either way, yum!
|
9D Mount Everest guide[SHERPA]
tita
|
gimme
|
11A Hula-Hoops or Furbys, once [FAD]
tita
|
nice clue
|
The former has far outlasted the
latter...
|
11D Squirming[FIDGETING]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Perfect description...I can just
see that 3-year old doing both in his high chair.
|
12D Kitchen magnet?[AROMA]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Phil is making a paprikash sauce
as we speak...mmmmmmm!
|
ralph
|
nice clue
redirect |
14A 500 sheets of paper [REAM]
tita
|
gimme
|
15A Geronimo's tribe [APACHE]
tita
|
obscure
|
Didn't know, but inferable/
|
ralph
|
Got this off the A
|
18A One knocked off a pedestal [FALLENIDOL]
tita
|
nice clue
|
|
ralph
|
No hint of theme yet
|
19D African antelope or Chevrolet[IMPALA]
tita
|
nice clue
|
When I worked in Da Bronx, this
was a much-desired car among the locals... Nice cluing.
|
21D Jane or John in court[DOE]
tita
|
gimme
|
22A Course guide? [PAR]
tita
|
redirect
sports |
Oh - I get it now - not a golfer,
so this is 'meh' to me. Nice redirect, none-the-less.
|
ralph
|
nice clue
redirect |
23A C.E.O.'s job: Abbr. [MGMT]
tita
|
If only - too many don't know
their own business! Hats off to those that do...
|
24A Paid postgraduate position at a university [FELLOWSHIP]
ralph
|
No idea of theme yet
|
26D Hit, as a fly[SWAT]
ralph
|
Nice cross of SWAT and YEOW
|
27A Black-eyed ___ [PEAS]
tita
|
Susans didn't fit...
|
28A Cry after hitting a hammer on one's thumb, say [YEOW]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Ouch!
|
29A Morocco's capital [RABAT]
tita
|
obscure answer
|
|
ralph
|
crosswordese
obscure |
30D ___ Paese cheese[BEL]
tita
|
gimme
|
was a fabulous restaurant in
Rye...alas, went out of business - Italian - huge portions, home cooking -
totally delicious! Lots of food clues today!
|
ralph
|
obscure
|
For a Monday. Potential Natick
here for some solvers?
|
31A "Much ___ About Nothing" [ADO]
tita
|
gimme
|
31D C.I.O.'s partner[AFL]
tita
|
redirect
|
Can't believe I got sidetracked by
this one - thought CFO, I guess because of teh _F_.
|
32D Repeated cry when sticking a stake in a vampire[DIE]
tita
|
wow
nice clue |
Love this!!! Inspried clue
indeed...!
|
ralph
|
nice clue
|
33D 1957 Disney dog movie[OLDYELLER]
tita
|
I'm crying just typing this answer
in!!! (This was back in the days when Walt Disney was alive - the current
company bearing his name should be sued for defamation of character!
|
34A Uncooked [RAW]
tita
|
gimme
|
35D "___ Let the Dogs Out"[WHO]
tita
|
pop name
gimme |
Oops - didn't even see this.
|
36A Beethoven's "Für ___" [ELISE]
tita
|
gimme
|
Old standby, straightforward
cluing. (I used to be able to play this...)
|
ralph
|
The cheese may not help with this
one
|
37D Cousin of calypso[SKA]
tita
|
crosswordese
|
Finally hammered this through my
brain a few months back...
|
38D Mind reading, for short[ESP]
tita
|
crosswordese
gimme |
39A Solve a crossword, e.g.? [FILLINTHEBLANKS]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Very cute, in a meta sorta way!
Nothing to do with the theme, though...
|
ralph
|
nice clue
|
40D Big name in toy trains[LIONEL]
tita
|
gimme
|
Puzzle spouse is a big-time train
buff - real and model. We incorporated his love of trains into our Village
(see blog)...
|
41D Tattoos, slangily[INK]
tita
|
nice clue
gimme |
!
|
42D Dastardly[EVIL]
tita
|
gimme
|
He whom we do not name...
|
43D Pro ___ (like some law work)[BONO]
tita
|
gimme
|
44A Greeted and seated [LEDIN]
tita
|
Had sawIN
|
45A ___-lacto-vegetarian [OVO]
tita
|
gimme
|
ode food... ;)
|
46A Old Navy alternative [GAP]
tita
|
Fresh clue
|
|
ralph
|
Isn't it The Gap?
|
47A Harnessed, as oxen [YOKED]
tita
|
nice clue
|
In Portugal, yokes were fabulously
carved and beautifully painted. Amazing folk art.
|
48D Cause's partner[EFFECT]
tita
|
nice clue
|
50A Mother of Don Juan [INEZ]
tita
|
opera
|
Did not know, but inferable...
|
52D One of the Gabor sisters[ZSAZSA]
tita
|
pop name
gimme |
53A "You said it, sister!" [AMEN]
tita
|
wow
nice clue |
I think they say this at barn
dances...
|
53D Beeb comedy[ABFAB]
tita
|
obscure
pop name natick |
Near natick., but decent guess at the
crossing [A]RE.
|
ralph
|
Never heard of it
|
54D Actress Tierney of "ER"[MAURA]
tita
|
obscure
pop name |
No idea
|
ralph
|
Did not know
|
55A Put a spade atop a spade, say [FOLLOWSUIT]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Great clue - had no idea what you
were getting at!
|
57D Salt Lake City native[UTAHN]
tita
|
Really? Did not know this was a
legit spelling!
|
58D "Can we turn on a fan or something?!"[IMHOT]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Just love this clue...well done!
|
59D Manages, as a 71-Across[TENDS]
tita
|
This disambiguated 71A - made it
clear it must be BAR, not inn...
|
|
ralph
|
This favors BAR over inn
|
60A Barn dance seat [BALE]
tita
|
nice clue
|
Never been to one, but this paints
quite a picture...
|
61A Miami locale: Abbr. [FLA]
tita
|
crosswordese
|
Duh - too obvious...
|
62A Cake words in "Alice in Wonderland" [EATME]
tita
|
nice clue
pop name |
Like this clue much better than
that Al Franken or somebody-or-other cluing of late...
|
ralph
|
Mildly risque
|
63A Illegal wrestling hold [FULLNELSON]
tita
|
sports
|
Didn't know - not much into
wrestling!
|
ralph
|
nice clue
|
Did not know this. Deducible from
half nelson
|
65D Brit. reference work[OED]
tita
|
crosswordese
|
Undoubtedly a gimme for
constructors - therefore, rather a meta clue!!
|
66D Bill the Science Guy[NYE]
tita
|
Another repeat clue - wasn't this
in Sunday's? He is a great guy - always loved him! I really don't get what's
so "hard" about editing that they can't avoid so many
repeats...from Saturday to Sunday we had PTBOAT and NTEST... 2 repeats!
|
68A "___ You Experienced" (Jimi Hendrix's first
album) [ARE]
tita
|
obscure
pop name natick |
Did not know...but could guess the
A.
|
ralph
|
Never heard of it but made sense
|
69A Sean who wrote "Juno and the Paycock" [OCASEY]
tita
|
obscure
pop name |
No idea
|
ralph
|
obscure
|
70A Like show horses' feet [SHOD]
tita
|
Most horses, no?? (Though in general, I DO like alliteration in clue/answer pairs...) This
coulda been clued around the Belmont, had the timing only been known...
|
71A Tavern [BAR]
tita
|
Wondered if it could be 'inn'...
|
|
ralph
|
Had inn for a long time
|
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