Singer Lovett / MON 1-2-18 / Red Sea peninsula / Like a half-moon tide / "Gotta run," in a text / Amazon IDs

Hey guess what? This might sound crazy, but it's Annabel!! This year, my New Year's resolution is to try new things. And one thing I've never tried is doing a Tuesday puzzle! Also Rex and I both totally forgot that yesterday was the first Monday of the month because of the holiday. Whoops. Rex will be back tomorrow of course, and I'll be back to Mondays next month, but for now, hooray for trying new things!


Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Relative difficulty: Uhhhh medium I guess? I don't really have any other Tuesdays to measure it against but it wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be



THEME: DISOBEDIENT— Theme answer clues were in the form of "Disobey a ___ order?"

THEME ANSWERS:

• TAKE IT SLOW (17A: Disobey a rush order?)
• MOVE AHEAD (31A: Disobey a stop order?) 
• HAVE A SEAT (49A: Disobey a standing order?) 
• STEAL A KISS (65A: Disobey a pecking order?)

Word of the Day: VOLGA (20A: Longest river in Europe) —

The Volga (Russian: Во́лга, IPA: [ˈvoɫɡə] ( listen)) is the longest river in Europe. It is also Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and watershed. The river flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, and is widely regarded as the national river of Russia.
Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are located in the Volga's watershed.
Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is often referred to as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga) in Russian literature and folklore.

Honestly I thought the theme was just okay - and I'm not sure STEAL A KISS was worth the "pecking order" pun (although to be fair, it is a pretty great pun). Don't steal kisses if you're ordered not to! *Ahem* anyways, I just wish the words themselves had been connected in some way, not just the clues. That's always way more fun. But hey, I'm not trying to SLAM the constructor, it was just fine for an early in the week puzzle.

Bullets:

• ERNEST (46A: Author Hemingway)—  I've read and watched "The Importance of Being Earnest" about a million times in various classes, and now I can't read any variation on the word or name "Ernest" without hearing it drawled out in an overdramatic British accent in my head.  "My ideal has aaaaaaalways been to love someone of the name of Eeeeeeeeeeernest....."
• PATIO (69A: Setting for an outdoor party)— For some reason whenever I sit on the patio I can only think about this: 
 

• ISPS (58D: AOL and MSN, for two)— Obligatory comment about Net Neutrality. :P
  
• EEL (43A: Fish with more than 100 vertebrae in its spine)—  Reptile people: how many vertebrae do snakes have? Or is it different depending on the size of the snake? I love reptiles and fish of any kind, so I love learning about them! I don't know what it is about cold-blooded animals, I just like 'em. I have a friend who owns a bearded dragon who likes to climb on people's shoulders and it's the cutest thing on the entire planet. My mom, on the other hand, hates snakes and probably hates that I even thought of asking this question.

This eel looks so friendly though!!

 

Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired college student.

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