Hello, everyone, it’s Clare — here for a slightly later Tuesday than usual! Hope everyone had a good January, filled with making resolutions (and then forgetting them two weeks later). I just moved into a new place, so things are a little hectic, and I’m sitting here writing this while surrounded by boxes, half-assembled IKEA furniture, and piles of clothes; I’ll get around to putting it all away eventually! I’m also more sore and tired from moving in than I have been in a very long time — I’m on the third floor, sooo….. I’ve still been rock climbing a bunch (getting better, slowly but surely), watching sports (let’s not talk about Liverpool), and generally just staying busy.
Anywho, onto the puzzle…
Relative difficulty:Fairly easy
THEME: A series of related items that can be grouped together into a well-known phrase (that’s the best way I can think to describe it)
Theme answers:
This was a really lovely Tuesday puzzle. And I’m not just saying that because I’m sleep-deprived and frazzled. (I’m seeing cardboard boxes in my dreams.) The theme here was fresh and fun; nothing about the grid felt super forced; I kind of flew through it; and I thought some particular clue-and-answer combos were great. The puzzle just made me smile in a way that not many Tuesday crosswords have in a while (at least that I can remember).
- DAISY CHAIN (18A: Buchanan-Duck-Duke)
- SUBWAY SERIES (29A: Paris Métro-BART-London Underground)
- GUITAR STRING (49A: Fender-Gibson-Yamaha)
- PICKUP LINE (63A: Silverado-Ram-Tundra)
Paul Neal "Red" Adair (June 18, 1915 – August 7, 2004) was an American oil well firefighter. He became notable internationally as an innovator in the highly specialized and hazardous profession of extinguishing and capping oil well blowouts, both land-based and offshore. (Wiki)
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In fact, I knew I’d like the puzzle as soon as I figured out DAISY CHAIN (18A). I put together Daisy Buchanan and Daisy Duck and Daisy Dukes and thought the way the three came together was super clever. It was joyful!
PICKUP LINE (63A) was probably my favorite out of all of the theme answers. Some other favorite answers were MAGIC BEAN (3D: One of several traded for Jack's family cow, in a fairy tale); STAND TALL (36: Act confidently); LOOKS UP TO (2D: Admires). I started singing when I saw 54D (Car mentioned in the Beach Boys'"Fun, Fun, Fun") and wrote in T-BIRD. I love seeing ELIZA Hamilton (31D: Sister to Angelica and Peggy in "Hamilton") in a puzzle (and I started singing songs from the musical, too). Some of the other clues/answers were also interesting in the way they were phrased. SEGO (72A: State flower of [Utah]) was a bit different than the usual “sega.”. “Like a bug in a rug” should be the only way ever allowed to clue SNUG (60D). 5D: Third degree? for PhD and 14A: Organizer of a couples cruise? for NOAH were both clever clues that made this puzzle feel fun.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t have a couple small complaints, of course. I got held up with SCOOB (23A: Snack-motivated Great Dane of toons). I get that the clue might be hinting to you to find a nickname by using “toons” instead of “cartoons,” but I still thought I had something wrong here because I was so sure it had to be “Scooby.” There was also some tired fill such as ARIA (7D); IM PEI (53D); EMO (66D); and YETI (19D), but I’m inclined to look past that because the rest of the grid was so nice. I don’t even have a theme answer to complain about because they were all so good.
Wow, I’m really waxing poetic here about the puzzle. This was just what I needed to take me out of the drudgery that is unpacking boxes and turning screws.
Bullets:
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Bullets:
- I’m not a big poetry person, but SHEL Silverstein (62D) will always have a special place in my heart. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a brilliant book full of zany, heartfelt poems, and the titular poem is a wonderful idea, beautifully written.
- I was reminded by some Greek trivia in the puzzle, that HERA (15A: Greek goddess of marriage) and ZEUS (46A: Brother (and husband) of 15-Across) are both husband-wife and brother-sister. (Guess we know where George R.R. Martin got his ideas.) I thought that was an interesting tidbit, and of course, my Greek mythology–loving sister already knew it!
- I can’t even say how many times I watched “Scooby-Doo” growing up. That was my ultimate comfort show, and I somehow never got tired of watching them unmask a person every time and still being surprised it wasn’t a monster.
- Seeing ELIZA (31D) in the puzzle makes me want to share this version of “Burn,” which is brilliant. All the singers have such lovely voices and showcase the emotion of the song really well (and of course, Lin Manuel Miranda wrote some incredible additional verses).
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