Well, now that last week's SNAFU is over, it's back to our...regularly...scheduled........ANNABEL!!!!!!!!!
Constructor: Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels
Relative difficulty: Hard (for a Monday!!!) (for ME on a Monday that is)
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THEME: SAY SEE SCI SO SIOUX— The first syllable of each theme answer starts with an S, and rhymes with A / E / I /O / U
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: SEGO (25D: Lily with bell-shaped flowers) —
What a great puzzle to come back to after last week's SNAFU! Really liked the alliteration in the northeast corner (ONETO, OCTET, OTERI, ORA). There were also a few words I genuinely didn't know, which was nice for a Monday, and I found out that SEGO lilies are really pretty! The Down clues in particular, though, left me a little AT SEA. I wonder how Down-only people did today?
The theme was nice, and as simple as A-B-C...er, A-E-I-O-U. I didn't understand it at first, and needed one of Rex's BFFs (my mom) to help me, but once I did, I liked it a lot. It would have been cool if the words had been linked in more ways, though, but hey, it's a Monday!
Bullets:
SCIFICONVENTION(38A: Where Darth Vader might meet Captain Kirk)— This one stuck out as a theme clue a little, because of that extra C, but A) it sounds the same so it doesn't matter and B) you'll never see me complaining about a SCI-FI CONVENTION! Actually...my friend went to one of those, and brought me back some Kirk and Spock figures from Star Trek, so naturally, I sent them on an adventure around my room.
Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired high school student
Constructor: Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels
Relative difficulty: Hard (for a Monday!!!) (for ME on a Monday that is)
THEME: SAY SEE SCI SO SIOUX— The first syllable of each theme answer starts with an S, and rhymes with A / E / I /O / U
Theme answers:
- SAYHEYKID (17A: Nickname for Willie Mays)
- SEENOEVIL (25A: Catchphrase for a monkey with its eyes covered) 🙈
- SCIFICONVENTION(38A: Where Darth Vader might meet Captain Kirk)
- SOFARAWAY (52A: Carole King hit from "Tapestry")
- SIOUXCITY (64A: Iowa port on the Missouri River)
Word of the Day: SEGO (25D: Lily with bell-shaped flowers) —
The Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah.
The bulbs of this and other Calochortus species were roasted, boiled or made into a porridge by Native Americans and were also used as a food source by the Mormon pioneers in Utah. Currently, it is grown as an ornamental for its attractive tulip-shaped flowers. (wikipedia)
• • •
What a great puzzle to come back to after last week's SNAFU! Really liked the alliteration in the northeast corner (ONETO, OCTET, OTERI, ORA). There were also a few words I genuinely didn't know, which was nice for a Monday, and I found out that SEGO lilies are really pretty! The Down clues in particular, though, left me a little AT SEA. I wonder how Down-only people did today?
The theme was nice, and as simple as A-B-C...er, A-E-I-O-U. I didn't understand it at first, and needed one of Rex's BFFs (my mom) to help me, but once I did, I liked it a lot. It would have been cool if the words had been linked in more ways, though, but hey, it's a Monday!
Bullets:
SCIFICONVENTION(38A: Where Darth Vader might meet Captain Kirk)— This one stuck out as a theme clue a little, because of that extra C, but A) it sounds the same so it doesn't matter and B) you'll never see me complaining about a SCI-FI CONVENTION! Actually...my friend went to one of those, and brought me back some Kirk and Spock figures from Star Trek, so naturally, I sent them on an adventure around my room.
 |
| "What is it, Mr. Spock?" "It appears to be some sort of...mind-weapon, used in one of this planet's brutal coming-of-age rituals." |
- BIGOT (8A: Archie Bunker type)— I have never watched All in the Family, but I immediately recognized Archie Bunker from a 1982 MAD Magazine parody, which then made it into an 864-page anthology, which I have read so many times I have some of it memorized. So, fellow students, if you want to be super smart, read comics all day.
- ARE (Diamonds ___ a girl's best friend)— Song jackpot!!! Okay, okay, so I originally knew this one from Moulin Rouge, not Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but Marilyn Monroe's version has shown me that both are equally fabulous. "Square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks don't lose their shape…"
- KOI (Japanese pond fish) — When I was little, I had two goldfish named Tilly II and Tess II. (These were replacements for the first Tilly and Tess, who died the day after we got them because goldfish do that a lot.) At a certain point, Rex's BFF my mom decided she did not want to take care of them any more, and, apparently, they're bad feng shui, so she put them in the neighbor's koi pond fifteen years ago. They're still alive, swimming around, making friends with the koi and thinking of me and my mom!
…Wait, the Internet says koi eat goldfish...
- FAVA (____ bean) — "I ate his liver. With fava beans and a nice chianti."
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Just like the koi did with Tilly II and Tess II!
Signed, Annabel Thompson, tired high school student