My time: 4:47, about 35 seconds short of the record. Shoulda tried harder!
Theme: "Like goods that are temporarily out of stock," or BACK ORDERED. "Or a hint, alphabetically," to the highlighted answers. It took me a minute even after I solved it, but this means the themed answers are in reverse alphabetical order. I would have thought the connecting thread was that they all had double letters, except that TO LIFE doesn't fit.
As a theme, it's kind of anti-climactic. So many words that don't have anything in common except for the arrangement of their letters.
The grid is a little wearying, as well, with its US DO and the silly plurals IKEAS, MIAS ("Farrow and Hamm, for two") and ELMOS. But on the positive side, it has SPLIFF, BEFOULED, and SATRIANI.
And now to the fill. Not very much new to me today. IT'S ON!
I had no idea how to interpret the clue "gut course." I thought it might be a class on gastrointestinal medicine or something. It means EASY A. Apparently I totally missed the boat on the term "gut course."
I knew that 911s are PORSCHES, but never heard of Panameras. I will probably never own a Porsche.
L'chaim! literally means TO LIFE! Chayyim, also transcribed Haim, Hayim, Chayim, or Chaim, is a name of Hebrew origin which means "life." Its first usage can be traced to the Middle Ages. The feminine form for this name is Chaya. L'chaya!
Mike the Tiger, mascot of LSU, was mentioned way back on October 22, 2017.
Sparky the Sun Devil, mascot of ASU, came up on January 30, 2018.
LARGO, slow and steady in music, appeared May 26, 2018.
Actress NIA Vardalos was a standalone clue on February 20, 2018 and also appeared as part of a rebus on December 5, 2018. She's a Crossword Constant!
Clever clue: "One used to old habits?" is NUN.
I didn't think much of the theme today, but they can't all be winners. Almost all of the fill was fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment