Tuesday, October 10, 2017

My time: 7:42, forty seconds too slow.

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The theme of this Tuesday by Mark MacLachlan is ELEMENTS: several clues' numbers are the atomic number of the answer.  So, "this, on the periodic table" becomes HELIUM, for 2 down, and they are also all NOBLE GASES.

"Specks in la mer" did not confuse me.  I immediately and confidently put ILES, because of the similar clue, with dots for specks, on September 14.

I don't think I've ever heard of "opaque liquids such as milk" called EMULSIONS.  I think of them as liquids that are mixed through dispersion, not opaque.  Interestingly, the word comes from the Latin emulgere, "to milk."

"Act hostilely" is AGGRESS.  Watch out!  That pirate is known for going around and aggressing!  Geez, man, don't aggress; you're harshing my mellow.

I feel like AT. NO. for "atomic number" and LT. YR. for "light year" is stretching the limits of what a useful, known, and typically-used abbreviation is.

Clever clues: "one might be around a buck or two" is DOE.