Constructor: Herre Schouwerwou
Relative difficulty: Medium
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THEME: [Pickup line?] — same clue for all themers …
Theme answers:
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This works pretty well. It's a bit of a victim of poor timing, from my perspective, because there was a phenomenal "line"-related puzzle in the Indie 500 tournament in D.C. on Saturday—but that's an unfair comparison, on several levels. This one is, in most ways, different from that way, and this isn't meant to be a marquee puzzle; it's a mid-week puzzle, and it's doing its job just fine. The core concept works. All of the lines seem like actual lines, not forced or roll-your-own type dealies that you often see when a concept is stretched to its limits. Ironically, or aptly, or both, or neither, the one answer that isn't a (spoken) line is the one that I liked the best—the one that I struggled with, and that (pleasantly) surprised me: F-SERIES. Sometimes, inconsistency works. It's the shortest, it sits in the center with no symmetrical counterpart, and it's like "screw all y'all, i'ma do what I wanna do." I like its attitude. You be you, F-SERIES!
Fill is not great today, but it's up from yesterday, so I'm gonna keep comments to myself on that front, for once. I think of BEEFCAKE as a general category. I do not think of male models as individual cakes of beef (3D: Hunky guys). Speaking of oddly individual thing, we saw an individually (plastic-)wrapped pickle at a Sheetz yesterday. Speaking of SHEETZ, I wish it (they?) were less regional (I've only ever seen them in PA and MD). It would make a nifty crossword answer. (Sheetz is a gas station / food store chain, for those who aren't familiar.) … SO WHERE WERE WE? Ah yes, BEEFCAKES. Also, ENDALLS. That is not a plural I believe in.
Bullets:
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Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- 17A: "NEED A LIFT?"
- 24A: "CLEAN YOUR ROOM!"
- 39A: F-SERIES
- 52A: "SO WHERE WERE WE …?"
- 63A: "IT'S FOR YOU"
Irene Ryan (October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway.Ryan is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny," the mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen's character, on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971), for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964. (wikipedia)
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[Note: a version of this theme has been done before, with two of the same theme answers, back on Aug. 22, 2007, by Patrick Blindauer. Check out my (now-vintage) write-up.]
Fill is not great today, but it's up from yesterday, so I'm gonna keep comments to myself on that front, for once. I think of BEEFCAKE as a general category. I do not think of male models as individual cakes of beef (3D: Hunky guys). Speaking of oddly individual thing, we saw an individually (plastic-)wrapped pickle at a Sheetz yesterday. Speaking of SHEETZ, I wish it (they?) were less regional (I've only ever seen them in PA and MD). It would make a nifty crossword answer. (Sheetz is a gas station / food store chain, for those who aren't familiar.) … SO WHERE WERE WE? Ah yes, BEEFCAKES. Also, ENDALLS. That is not a plural I believe in.
Bullets:
- 59D: State made up of two state postal abbreviations (COMA) — I love this clue, but it felt Friday/Saturday tough. That "state" meaning switch, mid-clue, is hard / impossible to see.
- 13D: Manhole emanation (STEAM)— for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate, I'm finding the clue [Manhole emanation] … disturbing. Upsetting, even. I have to stop thinking about it now.
- 14A: Israeli conductor Daniel ___ (OREN)— Whoa. That's new to me. Terrible fill, but interesting trivia. I tried and tried to get BARENBOIM to fit.
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