The title of the puzzle (Reverse English) made me shudder at first glance...I thought we were going to have answers appearing in reverse. That kind of stuff just messes with my eyes too much.
So it was a relief to see opposite words appearing in each theme answer, each cleverly clued to appear as a possessive of the first word.
22A: Part of a blouse that touches the waist? (top's bottom).
23A: The real scoop about lipids? (fat's skinny).
33A: Under-age child of a military officer? (major's minor).
38A: Nonsense of a market pessimist? (bear's bull).
53A: Toil of a Broadway show? (play's work).
55A: Match for a bad guy? (heavy's light).
78A: What can produce a "boing!"? (spring's fall).
82A: Ardor of a new employee? (hire's fire).
93A: Comeback of a Japanese game? (Go's return).
95A: Singer Johnny's gallop? (Cash's charge).
113A: Privilege of liberals? (left's right).
115A: Road in Yellowstone? (park's drive).
The theme didn't become apparent to me right away, although I was able to fill in one of the words in most of the answers. Once I got it, it was pretty easy to fill in the rest.
I don't always notice patterns in the grid (like yesterday's repeat of MAN and MEN), but today I saw an abundance of A-words...44A: Affirm (avow), 45A: Oven maker (Amana), 46A: Caught in __ (a lie), 61A: Make __ of (a mess)...not an ass, which was my first guess, 64A: Yes (assent), 68A: Watchdog org.? (ASPCA), 86A: Stop early (abort), 101A: Over (again), 120A: Give it __ (a try), 121A: Say yes (agree), 7D: New Testament book (Acts), 18D: __ nitrate (amyl), 21D: Words sung before and after "is just" (a kiss), 34D: Province of central Spain (Avila), 49D: Refuse holder (ash can), 68D: Comparable in size (as big), 101D: Italian wheels (Alfa), 103D: Miles away (afar), 11D: Alamo battler? (Avis)...clever one...and 116D: Wow (awe). Twenty words...unless I missed one or more.
I've been doing the New York Times (again) for about a year and a half, and this is the first time I've seen my name appear...48A: Oscar winner Hunt (Linda). As nice as it was to see that, I wrote Helen...one of my favorites. Linda Hunt won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Billy Kwan, a male photographer, in "The Year of Living Dangerously."
There were some sweet long answers to spice things up:
1A: Inferior (third rate). I can't hear that expression without thinking of the country song. "You don't look like my type, but I guess you'll do. Third rate romance, low rent rendezvous."
19A: Like some addresses (oratorical).
20A: Communist's belief (Utopianism).
118A: Become level (flatten out).
119A: Darlin' (sweetie pie).
13D: Child-raiser's cry? (Upsy Daisy).
26D: Literally, "fish tooth" (piranha). Didn't know that.
80D: Ukulele activity (strumming).
This puzzle had its share of people and places. Favorites include:
51A: Pianist Dame Myra (Hess).
60A: Italian port on the Adriatic (Bari).
62A: Sam's Club competitor (Costco). Today I watched King of California, with Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood. Douglas's character, Charlie, has just come home after spending years in a mental institution. He's convinced that a long-lost Spanish treasure is buried beneath their local Costco. It was a good movie, but sad...I work with people like Charlie every day.
89A: "__ la Douce," 1963 film (Irma). I wasn't old enough to see it when it came out, but I think I saw it some years later.10D: Patriot Putnam of the American Revolution (Rufus).
33D: "Happy Days" character (Malph). I'll bet I'm not the only one who had Ralph for a time.35D: Villain in "Martin Chuzzlewit" (Jonas).
69D: Veep after Hubert (Spiro).
94D: Artist Max (Ernst).
107D: Elisabeth of "Leaving Las Vegas" (Shue). Talk about a depressing movie.
114D: Actor Stephen (Rea).
I don't remember the last Hawaii answer we've had, but we have another one today. 30D: Hawaii's __ Coast (Kona). No pictures from there, though.
I smiled when I saw 63D: It's kept within the lines, usually (crayon). In my college commencement address, I compared us to a box of crayons. Some are pretty, others aren't, some are sharp, others dull...different colors, weird names. But they all have to learn to live in the same box.
That's it for tonight. Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
5 comments:
I too put in HELEN and RALPH.
"Leaving Los Vegas" wasn't just depressing, it was boring. When the Nick Cage charactor finally died my wife and I both agreed it was about time.
Ditto for me erred with -- Helen and Ralph. But who remembered Linda Hunt? This was a do-able puzzle and it was a pleasure to "get it" whereas the puzzle with the "ups and downs" was not for the average solver. Am not a speed demon like some of you talented people. I just want to enjoy doing the Times Sunday Puzzle.
I had Ralph initially, but had my aha moment when I nailed the crossing theme answer - good fakeout, I thought. For Hunt, I kept that open until I got the _ALPH because I knew it could possibly be LINDA and probably would be.
I too was afraid we were going to have some sort of backwards orientation to the theme answers, which didn't thrill me, so I was happy when I did figure out the schtick. I got BEAR'S BULL without any crosses!
Loved UPSY DAISY.
Renewed my faith in puzzles and my ability to solve them. Last several have whooped me.
rick, you and your wife probably weren't alone in your thinking.
anonymous, you're in good company here. There are some readers who are speed solvers, but many just do it for fun. That includes me...I'm not methodical at all in my solving and jump all over the grid. Whatever catches my eye...that's where I am.
I'm thinkin' now that I should have known better with RALPH and HELEN. Those would have been early week answers. It's a continual learning process.
kysurgeon, I continue to get whooped but just keep plugging along. I hope you'll do the same.
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