Author: Ogden Porter (Peter Gordon)
Theme: Types of people named for food
- 17a: Tall, thin person (STRINGBEAN).
- 25a: Insignificant person (PEANUT). I thought a peanut was someone small in physical stature, not significance.
- 45a: Show-offy person (HOTDOG).
- 58a: Chubby person (BUTTERBALL).
- 11d: Crazy person (FRUITCAKE).
- 33d: Weak person (CREAMPUFF).
Nice easy Monday theme with
Patrick Jordan points out that there are six theme entries, not four. I missed PEANUT and HOTDOG the first time around, as they are shorter than some of the non-theme fill. Still, I should have noticed. 25 bonus points for Patrick, and an extra kudos to Peter Gordon for a clean fill with six theme entries.
Sunny Spots:
- Well, there's definitely a good scrabbly center:
- 24a: Charmingly old-fashioned (QUAINT).
- 37a: Hose spouts (NOZZLES).
- 24d: Sandwich shop chain (QUIZNOS). Love the name. Not crazy about their subs, though.
- 3d: "Zack and Miri Make a ___" (PORNO). I haven't seen this yet, but I will. Props for putting PORNO into the puzzle.
- 43d: Farming industry, informally (AGRIBIZ). Nice fill.
Sundries:
- 5a: 1924 Edna Ferber novel (SO BIG). This sounds vaguely familiar.
- 15a: Papas of "The Trojan Women" (IRENE).
- 16a: Mötley ___ (CRÜE). Not my musical preference, but certainly well-known to me.
- 20a: Common form of bowling (TENPINS). Around here, where people actually play candlepin, it's called ten-pin. No plural.
- 21a: Ad answer to "How do you spell relief?" (ROLAIDS).
- 23a: Tennis score effectively the same as 30–40 (AD OUT).
- 28a: Hajj destination (MECCA).
- 40a: Newborn's wear (ONESIE).
- 42a: Miss-named? (NEE). Cute.
- 43a: "___ Flux" (2005 sci-fi film) (AEON). I'm pretty sure I saw this, but it didn't leave much of an impression and I couldn't tell you much about the plot at all. In fact, I think I might have it confused with "Ultraviolet".
- 53a: Like some odes (SAPPHIC).
- 55a: Former percussionist with Prince (SHEILA E).
- 64a: Grating (RASPY). As a voice.
- 1d: Jai alai player's basket (CESTA). I know this only from crosswords.
- 8d: Doing the same thing over and over (IN A RUT).
- 22d: Mojito garnishes (LIMES). I've never had one, but I've seen the commercials. Warrants the booze tag anyway.
- 37d: Pitcher's spot in the batting order, usually (NINTH). In the AL, the answer would be NEVER.
- 45d: Paris's mother (HECUBA). This name was slow in coming, but it was in there somewhere.
- 55d: Ladder part (STEP). Guessed RUNG at first.
- 56d: Lamarr of "Algiers" (HEDY). The only Lamarr I know.
Suns of Bitches:
None.
Decent Monday, with nothing horrendous, which is fine by me. For
Thanks for listening.
- Pete M.
4 comments:
Actually, there were *six* theme entries, not four. Take another look at 25-A and 45-A.
Good catch! 25 bonus points.
whoa, bonus points. it's been a while since we saw one of those.
i didn't even notice PORNO when i first solved it. i mean, i noticed it, but it didn't occur to me that it was unusual in any way. now, though, i think it's pretty funny. i doubt peter would have done that if he were still with the NYS, but i could be wrong.
PORNO has been in the Sun before, at least 4 times. It's also been in the NY Times, the LA Times, CrosSynergy, and WSJ. I don't see it (nor PORN) in the USA Today, Universal Press, nor Tribune puzzles, but I also have a few years less history of those than the others so I'm not sure if those editors disallow it or it just hasn't shown up since I've been collecting those puzzles.
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