Constructor: Alan Arbesfeld
Relative difficulty: Easy (19:00 exactly)
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THEME:"State Lines"— Phrases are reinterpreted as if two-letter words were state abbreviations.
Theme answers:
So... my understanding is that repeated three-letter strings are awkward but often unavoidable, but that constructors should be STEERED (124A: Directed) away from repeated four-letter strings. That's why I had a bit of a 119D: "Who'da thunk it?!" (GEE) moment to see both MOAN (43A: Haunted house sound) and MOANA (95A: Big 2016 film set in Polynesia). I appreciated that AA MEETING (42D: Part of a recovery effort) and IN REHAB (65D: Getting help getting clean) were clued without cutesy jokes about addiction. EWE ELK EEL ETE EPI, EERO EDGE ESME ETUI.
Bullets:
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Relative difficulty: Easy (19:00 exactly)
THEME:"State Lines"— Phrases are reinterpreted as if two-letter words were state abbreviations.
Theme answers:
- 23A: "Try not to miss Bangor and Lewiston"? CATCH ME (Maine) IF YOU CAN
- 34A: 2:00 in New York vis-à-vis St. Louis? ONE MO (Missouri) TIME
- 50A: Whistler from two Eastern states? MA (Massachusetts) AND PA (Pennsylvania) KETTLE
- 68A: "We shouldn't sell our Fort Wayne home"? LET'S KEEP THIS IN (Indiana) HOUSE
- 86A: "Sooner this, Sooner that ... can't you talk about any other subject? EVERYTHING'S OK (Oklahoma)
- 100A: Deal another blackjack card to a young woman from Salem? HIT OR (Oregon) MISS
- 117A: Midwest state secedes and will join the United Kingdom? OH (Ohio) TO BE IN ENGLAND
Eth (/ɛð/, uppercase: Ð, lowercase: ð; also spelled edh or eð) is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called edd), and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. It is often transliterated as d (and d- is rarely used as a mnemonic). The lowercase version has been adopted to represent a voiced dental fricative in the International Phonetic Alphabet. (Wikipedia)
• • •
Given my extensive familiarity with the Icelandic alphabet, I confidently typed in ETH, and was stymied in the NW until finishing the puzzle. Actually, I LIED (105D: Fabulist's confession) -- I don't know any Icelandic. We've seen many, many state abbreviation themes, and this is a reasonably unique twist. Had a chuckle at LET'S KEEP THIS IN HOUSE and OH TO BE IN ENGLAND. MA AND PA KETTLE and ONE MO TIME seemed a bit of a stretch. There are a few missed opportunities with this one -- how about YOU CAN CALL ME AL (Mobile nickname?), or CO OPERATION (Legal weed business?), or DOOGIE HOWSER MD (Neal Patrick Harris dramedy set in Baltimore?), or KY JELLY (Homemade strawberry preserves from Louisville?). But overall, it MADE SENSE (47D: Added up), even if it was not necessarily TOP HOLE (52D: First-rate, in British slang). While we're making WACKO (12D: Nutsy) jokes about states, why isn't MO's motto "Missouri Loves Company"?Gonna bring you barley, carrots and pertaters
So... my understanding is that repeated three-letter strings are awkward but often unavoidable, but that constructors should be STEERED (124A: Directed) away from repeated four-letter strings. That's why I had a bit of a 119D: "Who'da thunk it?!" (GEE) moment to see both MOAN (43A: Haunted house sound) and MOANA (95A: Big 2016 film set in Polynesia). I appreciated that AA MEETING (42D: Part of a recovery effort) and IN REHAB (65D: Getting help getting clean) were clued without cutesy jokes about addiction. EWE ELK EEL ETE EPI, EERO EDGE ESME ETUI.
Bullets:
- 125A: Having braids (TRESSED)— I don't think that's a thing. It's been used before, but, no. I'm sTRESSED just looking at it.
- 108D: Jeff ___, leader of the Electric Light Orchestra (LYNNE)— For once, ELO gets to be a clue instead of an answer.
- 28A: Kind of torch on "Survivor" (TIKI)— So remember how this photo went viral on the internets after those Nazi assholes marched in Charlottesville and carried TIKI© Brand torches while spewing racist crap? Turns out that even though the manufacturer of TIKI© Brand torches did indeed issue a statement denouncing the use of their product for racist crap by Nazi assholes, this particular sign regarding the use of TIKI© Brand torches for racist crap by Nazi assholes was actually a stunt by a Funny or Die writer.
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