My time: 23:10, only about a minute faster than average, but that's still pretty good for a rebus that has four letters in each box. Still, I'm not sure why it took even as long as it did; there wasn't a huge amount of new information in this one.
Theme: a Valentine's Day theme, titled "Sealed With a Kiss." The rebus squares are outlined in red. Each of these squares includes RED plus the next letter of the answer.
The first one I got was JA[RED L]ETO, because I knew he won a Supporting Actor Oscar for The Dallas Buyer's Club. When I saw that those were the letters in the square, I figured each one probably started with red since they were outlined in red. Once I knew that, some of the rebus answers came a bit faster.
The extra letters in the rebus squares, when read left to right and top to bottom, spell out ruby lips.
I've heard of PANsexual, but I thought the other "prefix with sexual," at four letters, might be omnisexual. It's AMBIsexual, which seems to be an outmoded term for bisexual.
I like how the British "prats" is ARSES.
Keeping with the British motif, "barrister's deg." is LLD, which is abbreviated for Legum Doctor, Latin for "teacher of the laws" and thus abbreviated accurately as LL.D. The double "L" in the abbreviation indicates the plural.
And more Brits: F[RED P]ERRY was a tennis champion who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well as six Major doubles titles. In the late 1940s, Perry was approached by Tibby Wegner, an Austrian footballer who had invented an anti-perspirant device worn around the wrist. Perry made a few changes to create the first sweatband. His name is now a clothing brand. Moronic right wingers have adopted one of their black and yellow shirts as a symbol, an inanity that the copy repudiates.
Never heard of soubise sauce, made by sautéeing ONIONS and adding them to a basic béchamel sauce.
"Sea lion, for one" is EA[RED S]EAL. They comprise 15 extant species in seven genera (another species became extinct in the 1950s) and are commonly known either as sea lions or fur seals, distinct from true seals (phocids) and the walrus (odobenids). Well, that's sorted, then.
The BUSHTIT, a small woodland songbird, has the funniest name of all avifauna.
I had an idea that Mango Madness was a flavor of the many SNAPPLES, but I hesitated, because Go Bananas? Really? Don't knock it till you've tried it, I guess.
I don't know any regional capitals. PAPEETE is the capital of French Polynesia on Tahiti.
"Debussy prelude inspired by a water sprite" is ONDINE. The story, of course, concerns a water nymph whose deadly powers prove lethal to the mortal who betrays her love.
"West coast beer brand, in brief" is OLY, which is Olympia, as explained on July 15, 2018.
"Wheel of Fortune" freebies RSTLNE appeared on November 19, 2020, the "Wheel"-themed puzzle.
Capital of Yemen SANAA came up on June 26, 2020, but I just keep forgetting how to spell it. This time I put *SAMAA.
Clever clues: "Opposite of a standing order?" is BE SEATED. "Rules out?" is ANARCHY. "Post production" is CEREAL. "They'll be mist" is AEROSOLS. "Place with robes and sweaters" is SAUNA.
And that wraps it up with a bow. Happy Valentine's Day! Lisa Bunker, who constructed this puzzle, is certainly NO SLOUCH in the crossword department.
No comments:
Post a Comment