Okay...on to the puzzle. And a very entertaining puzzle it was.
Loved the theme, revealed at 10A and 37A: FROM/START TO FINISH.
The four theme answers are all common phrases, but the first letter is moved to the last space...then appropriately clued.
18A: Reason to renovate an opera house? (RUST IN MET). Trust in me...that's the only one I'll translate.
20A: One cauterizing a skin blemish? (HEATER OF WART).
54A: Narc operation on Amtrak? (RAILWAYS BUST). This was the one that made the theme make sense.
57A: Dropped "The Simpsons" from the TV schedule? (ENDED BART).
The only clue/answer I didn't like was 5D: Caught congers (eeled). I don't think of eel as a verb...this seemed like a stretch. But I liked the theme so well, I'd be willing to let most anything slide.
Did not know and still do not get:
24D: Sponsorship: Var. (Egis). Should that be all caps?
30D: From the beginning (abovo).
Thought there was a third but I'm not seeing another. Things I didn't know, but they seem to make sense:
36A: Poem about Paris, in part (Iliad). I assume they're talking about Paris, the character, as opposed to the city. Clever.
44A: Hieroglyphic symbol for the ancient Egyptian "M" (owl).
60A: Florence's __ Vecchio (Ponte). Got it from the crosses.
61A: Toni Morrison novel (Sula). I'm not familiar with Morrison's work. Again, the crosses made it happen.
6D: Battle of the __, in the Spanish Civil War (Ebro).
I really liked the vertical stacks in the northwest and the southeast: 1D: Hurry in the direction of (rush to), 2D: Make a stud payment (ante up), and 3D: Climber's chopper (ice axe)...45D: Waiting area (lounge), 46D: Given the boot (ousted), and 47D: Comes out with (utters).
Favorite clues/answers:
45A: Bud's bud (Lou). Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Got it but didn't get it right away.
63A: Tee off (anger). A gimme...I didn't think it was about golf.
64A: Wax remover (Q-tip). Eeee-yewwww. Or however that's spelled.
13D: Boulder hrs. (MST). Mountain Standard Time made it to an earlier puzzle, with a clue that made you think it was about sports.
34D: Big bag of groceries, e.g. (armload)
.
.
37D: Hot (sexy). A much better clue than we had the other day...like a Playmate of the Month. I had a real issue with that one. I had nude for that one...which all Playmates are. But are they all sexy? I'll concede that some are.
43D: Slopes devotee (ski bum).
I'm ready to call it a night. Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
7 comments:
I thought this was too simple for a Thursday puzzle. 40D throws me. I'm assuming that's a baseball reference (Braves vs. Red Sox?)
60A Ponte Vecchio: was there three weeks ago and several times over many years. Florence is a magic city.
I'm not familiar with many chat line initials, what is IMOO? I know btw and lol but that's about the extent of it.
Enjoyed your post, as always, especially today's preface.
24D: Sponsorship: Var. (Egis). Should that be all caps? Common spelling is "aegis."
JD, I made the same baseball assumption. IMOO came about at Rex Parker's blog one day. Rather than the standard IMHO (in my humble opinion), someone used IMOO...in my obnoxious opinion. It may not be used universally, but it's used here. I'm glad you enjoy the blog and keep coming back to comment.
Anonymous, thanks for the clarification.
40D is a baseball ref.. but I think it refers to the Cincinnati Reds (like the Braves, a national league team).
Linda, add Toni Morrison to your reading list, particularly what I believe is her masterpiece, Song of Solomon. I read it more than 20 years ago and it still sticks with me. When Oprah began her now notorious book club, that was her first selection, and it resulted in a whole new wave (deluge probably more accurate) of sales for the book nearly a generation after it was first published. She won the Pulitzer prize later on for Beloved, which I don't think is as compelling a novel, but that's just me. IMOO, if you will. ;)
Wendy, thanks for the recommendation. Just finished Wicked tonight...really enjoyed it. I have loved almost every Oprah book I've read, and I've read dozens. I especially like when she picked an older book as you pointed out...another of those was The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Excellent.
Thank goodness I've found your blog. I'm a newbie, trying to complete a whole week of the New York Times Crossword Puzzles. I used to just give up in frustration, but now I check for just one, okay maybe fourteen, answer to help me keep going. And I'm getting rather addicted! And today (because I'm 6 weeks behind, in the dailies) I learned what IMOO and IMHO mean. Feeling very clever today indeed!
Thank you!
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