"I didn't bring your favorite chicken dish." "That's okay. No parm, no fowl." ("Okay, good, I thought you'd brood about it.")
@Mike's fans Please do not hit Recommend; you're just egging this crackpot on.
Geez, why they gotta henpeck Mike?
I..n..s..t..r..u..c..t..i..o..n..s....u..n..c..l..e..a..r. T..u..r..n..e..d....i..n..t..o....t..o..a..d. T..y..p..i..n..g....w..i..t..h....t..o..n..g..u..e. H..e..l..p c..c..:..e..m..u....h..a..n..d..l..e..r
@Steven If you hop on over, I'm willing to kiss you and lift the CURSE. You may prefer life as an amphibian, alas.
I struggled much more than usual for a Wednesday.
@Lpr Me, too. Beat my average by just two seconds.
@Lpr This took me longer than the typical Wednesday, too. I couldn’t summon up HENRY KNOX without a few crosses. which made the top half harder. And I was a little slow to pick up on the theme.
Even though I've not heard the term "tuxedo cat" before, I'm still a bit ashamed that my last clue to be solved was OREO!
@Steve I'm ashamed to have to fill in any clue that ends with that spackle-filled abomination 😉
@Steve Our family had a cat for many years named Doublestuff. Just black ears and tail. His official name might have been Doublestuffed Oreo -- I don't remember for sure. She moved next door after we got a dog and she felt displaced. But the two kids next door loved her, so everyone was happy. It's all been 30 years ago.....
Well, the theme got me looking inside all the puzzle answers, and some sweet serendipities popped out. Such as OAST (of I'M TOAST) touching … OAST, and TOT (of NPR TOTE) crossing … TOT. And I especially liked seeing MAGE (of HOT MAGENTA) in a puzzle with a magic spell theme. Oh, I also liked seeing that RAT in AD RATES echoing nearby KING RAT. On top of that, wheelhouse deficiencies of mine caused some lovely resistance in some areas, which satisfied my brain’s work ethic. Very impressive construction, with its two sets of symmetrical answers – the types of spells are symmetrical, and the long words that break them are as well. Bill, your theme was clever, with its play on breaking spells, and double play on the word “spell”. That in itself raised my thumbs. The sweet serendipities and resistance lifted them even higher. This was a day-brightener, and thank you so much for making it!
Really enjoyable and as a relatively new player, my first Wednesday without any help or hints. One nitpick where I thought I may have been walking into a trap was the Italian main, I would have probably felt better if it was referred to as Italian-American, as you will need to look quite a while to find it on any Italian menu.
@Jonathan I think it’s even more popular in Australia than in the US. Italian-Anglophone? Though I doubt the emus like it. Or the koalas.
Jonathan, Meta reference to a recent puzzle? The clue says "entree," not "main," which makes "Italian" a dish served in the U.S., not in Italy. ..............
35D, Ninja's forte, 7 letters. That's gotta be TURTLES, right? That's where my mutant brain went. Cursed insomnia. I solved this puzzle in the wee hours today. Thanks, Bill, clever theme, and wide-ranging references. Now, where can I get some APPLE BETTY and Linzer TORTE for breakfast? My mother used to make apple betty, and blueberry crumble, and peach cobbler, and all those good old-fashioned desserts. And she loves crossword puzzles. She had a fall late Sunday night, and went into hospital. Ergo my insomnia. I'll be traveling up to help her, so my internet access will be sporadic for a few weeks.
@Linda Jo sorry to hear about your Mom, wishing her a speedy recovery.
@Linda Jo Hope your Mom recuperates and recovers! Keep her motivated and set small goals with her. Every accomplishment will then be a step forward!
Nice one, Bill Thompson. Congratulations, and many grateful nods to Joel Fagliano! Unleashed from the Mini confines, Joel adds crunch, zest, elan and excitement to the weekly solves. Wising all the best to Will, etc, and hope some of the Fagliano fanfare continues. Boy Howdy! hold on to your solving caps. it's a fun ride with Joel. Yeehaw and eagerly awaiting tomorrow.
I generally like magic in the form of illusions, not spells, but these "spells" were already broken for us and were fairly easy to spot. I had a little trouble figuring out 21A, but eventually I got to the point where I could recognize BETTY, and APPLE followed from the initial A, though I was expecting "brown". I did remember HENRY KNOX somehow, and then I recognized how we broke the HEX. The other theme answers provided easy clues for the other spells when they appeared. I enjoyed this little magic show. Thanks, Bill!
Cool theme, but much tougher for me than, apparently, everyone else! Took me forever! I love it, though. No nits. I gotta get to my other puzzles to get my mojo back! Happy Wednesday!
@CCNY It wasn’t just you. I found it more challenging than the typical Wednesday.
@CCNY Your mojo got a chuckle from me. Perhaps someone put a whammy on you this morning? Bad juju for emus.
Thunderstorm and nervous little dogs woke me, so why not do the Wednesday puzzle. Lots of fun. I really enjoyed all the clever little broken spells. I learned of a giant hoax, a snakey baseball team, and an old secretary while the lightning lit the foyer and the thunder rolled. It was, after all, a dark and dreary night with all sorts of mischief afoot. The pups woofed in agreement. Time for all good souls to go back to sleep. Let the storm tomorrow keep. Find shelter from the storm, all Emus under April's spell. Keep safe. Stay well. Don't wander into harm.
@Bonnie Ann That was quite a storm, wasn’t it? We live just south of downtown and got some heavy rain and lots of thunder and lightning. A friend in the Allandale neighborhood (seven or eight miles NNW of downtown) got golf-ball sized hail just before sunset.
I didn’t pick up on the alternate meaning of “spell” until almost the very end. Like any good puzzle should do, this one kept me spellbound. Well done, Bill.
Well, typical long Wednesday workout for me. Had to do some googles early on with more than a couple of factual unknowns. But then - finally catching on to the theme was a big turning point and that's always a nice touch. Didn't recall this constructor so went and looked up his author page on Xword. Turns out he's done similar types of themes before. His last published puzzle before this one was a Tuesday from 2015. In that one the reveal was: MIDDLEEAST And... some of the theme answers (and yeah, I'm highlighting the theme related part): gonEASTray stagEASTrike adelEASTaire yEASTy fEASTs Thought it was quite remarkable that the string of letters EAST appears EXACTLY in the middle of each of those answers. I'm done. ..
@Rich in Atlanta No wonder I didn’t recognize Mr. Thompson’s name. His debut was in 2010, so all his puzzles fall in the part of the archives I haven’t yet reached.
I like the cluing for 3D. Apple got UNIX certification for their OS back at version 10.5. I bet lots of people don't know that, though. :-)
@Wendy I had the U in from the cross and somehow my first-year computer science course knowledge popped this into my head. That was a over decade ago! I love crosswords for bringing these fun moments!
@Wendy while this clue was a gimme for me, you can count me among the many who did *not* know that macOS was UNIX-y in any formally certifiable sense…in fact, I didn’t even know UNIX certification was a thing! In particular, I’m kinda surprised that Apple chose to make macOS compliant with any such open standards. TIL — thanks for the interesting comment :)
The certainty that BETTY was *brown* caused a brief traffic jam that got quickly resolved in this fun, and brief, solve. The Irish Oatmeal box still gives instructions for preparation "On the HOB". Well done and thanks.
@John Hand up for APPLE BROWN BETTY as the proper name of the dessert. That's how it was titled in the cookbook the time I made it. The newer revisions of _Joy of Cooking_ go into great detail to differentiate among 'crumbles, crisps, buckles' etc. AND "BROWN BETTYS" is a category. See page 901.
Oh my goodness, the best thing in the world just happened to me!! I'm at work and just received correspondence from someone who lives in Natick, MA! I squealed with joy!!! Okay, maybe it's not the single best thing that's ever happened to me but surely it's in the top 10!! And to think, if I hadn't joined the crosswording community last August, I'd never have known this small joy!
@HeathieJ can someone explain the Natick jokes to me? Im newer to the crosswords but Ive lived here forever and want to know what im missing!
I've always called it an APPLE brown BETTY, so I was trying to figure out the Wednesday trick or see the Wednesday rebus that wasn't there. Once I broke that spell, I found an easy puzzle. Your runway heading may vary.
@Barry Ancona Yes, APPLE b r o w n! BETTY, and I want some now. Emmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmu, you'd love it.
An NPR Tote is a fine thing, indeed. But I'm holding out for a Nina Totenberg Tote!
Way too many proper nouns / references. Glad others enjoyed but untouchable for me.
@Jon Wednesdays are the worst about this. I feel like they up the difficulty solely by coming up with more obscure references/trivia.
I'm more of an eggplant PARM kinda gal! 😋 Cute theme, but my mileage definitely varied from a lot of you, based on the comments. I could never quite get in sync with this one and found it surprisingly difficult. There were very few I knew off the bat and felt good about. "Gee, I wish I was back in the ARMY!" being one of the few and proud. How many times have I watched that movie? OCEANS! 💃🕺 And there was a lot of entering and deleting (no STET for me!), which is a good example. First keEp, then save, then I remembered STET from previous puzzles. 'Twas a hot mess! Perhaps someone put a POX upon me! But, still, any day I can do a puzzle or two is a good day in my book!
By the time I had HEX, AUX and KNOX I thought we were in for an X-rated theme. I wondered what the heck KYNGRAT meant. I figured it must have been the name of a P.O.W. camp. Huge head palm finally ensued when I realized my error.
@Andrew - I also parsed K_NGRAT as one word, and tried various endings to SHERR_! At one point I even had KyNGRAd because that seemed like a plausible place name 😂 Meanwhile, I do know White Christmas (and the earlier movie in which its eponymous song originally debuted, Holiday Inn) and now have 🎼"...three meals a day, for which we didn't pay...Gee! I wish I was back in the ARMY"🎶 running on loop as I prepare to boot up my UNIX-based (Linux) VM. It's the hap-hap-happiest Wednesday since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny ****ing Kaye!!
Reading comments from across the pond, I didn't realize "tuxedo cat" was an Americanism, although I understand in England a moggie is more likely to be called tortiseshell-and-white rather than "calico." Here are some interesting cat color facts: domestic felines (and I believe their large wild cousins) may possess both phaeomelanin and eumelanin alleles, the former producing orange (red) pigmentation and and the latter producing shades of brown or black. Tortiseshell coats occur due to X-inactivation—portions of genetic code are inactivated on an X chromosome, allowing non-orange expression from the other X chromosome to get peppered in with orange expression. The pattern of inactivation is random, resulting in the mottled appearance of Torties. Because this requires two X chromosomes, most Torties are female, but Klinefelter males can be as well. Meanwhile, white-spotting is a deactivation of any melanin production. It occurs in early fetal development and has a fairly predictable progression, affecting first the chest, then paws, neck, chin, belly. The top of the head, along the spine, and finally the tail are the last parts affected by white-spotting. The extent of white-spotting is rife with sartorial descriptors: locket, mitts, boots, mask and mantle, cap and saddle, and of course, tuxedo!
@MAR1 Holy cow...or, rather cat! Charlotte the Kitty has an adorable white traffic marking down her dark back, along with impeccable pure white chest, belly (scratch my tummy!) and legs, Her white paws are tastefully adorned with black pads. Her back, sides, rear, and tail are brown with black stripes. No matter what you're wearing, she's got you covered (if you know what I mean.)
@MAR1 We’ve always referred to the white “locket” on one of our black cats by a different sartorial nickname: because of its lacy appearance, it’s her jabot. (We originally thought her sister was all black, but then discovered she has white fur between her pads, only visible when she flexes her paws.)
Got back from vacation on Sunday to find I was locked out of my account. Finally took the time to reset my password and get back after it. Missed the puzzle and missed hearing from the wordplay crew. I hope you all are doing well. I had EXL for PC file extension which I crossed with OLlIATE instead of OLEATE HENRY KNOX was a bit naticky for me crossing with HOBS (especially since PAPPY could have been PAPPa) Still shaking the rust off after some time away from solving. Is it just me, or does the beginning of this year feel a bit harder than the end of last?
The association of something as charming as a pencil box with a blight such as the POX troubles my mind ("A pox upon all thy houses!"). And while it took a moment to equate KISMET with one of the scores of definitions for "lot," I thoroughly enjoyed this playful, clever puzzle. (Are there really pom-poms on a beanie?) One must often inhabit the medieval mind to solve quandaries, particularly in recent election years. Perhaps most enjoyable was Sam's inclusion in her comments of the pictured Georgia cheerleaders, whose several pretty faces evinced everything on a range from from ecstasy to terror, along with several intervening stages: a tiny version of one's daily life. Well done, all. How you consistently crank out such a fine product on a daily basis is a source of ongoing puzzlement. Hah! Thanks.
@Foster The wee pup BB was annoyed that her human did not edit his message cleanly, but still sends a fruity ARF! for a happy product from the puzzle team, with best wishes to their fearless leader for a full recovery, as conditions allow.
@Foster I associate Beanies with a propeller topper. POMPOMs are on knit caps, NOT beanies. You know what? These guys need a 'Golden Oldie' on staff to clarify such matters,....Will's absence is apparent at such moments.
A fun puzzle, except for, as a Yankee fan, being reminded of the "tragedy" of the 2001 World Series. Game 7. The Yankees take a one-run lead into the ninth inning. Mariano Rivera is on the mound. Mo never blows a save in the ninth, and never-ever in a post-season game. And then.... Damn you, D-BACKS!
Apple BROWN Betty was what my aunts made in Connecticut. Never heard them call it just BETTY. Fun to see HENRY KNOX, the Boston bookseller turned artillery genius, get a shout out here. And runway nine? Adding that to my file of interesting trivia. Maybe it will turn up on Jeopardy one night Fun puzzle. Loud Cheers. .
King Rat. Wonderful novel by James Clavell (Shogun). Don’t know the film.
Holy cow! Besides his Asian novels, he also wrote The Fly, The Great Escape, and To Sir, With Love. Prolific
@Clem And his daughter, born to Clavell’s mistress* in Japan, was raised and adopted by Marlon Brando! *I suspect “mistress” is now no longer politically correct. Since this is a place frequented by wordsmiths, perhaps one of you could helpfully tell me how I should express this?
When I saw the magic clues, I thought the puzzle was going to test my knowledge of Harry Potter lore. Thankfully it did no such thing. I completed it, as I often do, by filling in the theme answers without understanding how they relate to the theme. Once done, I looked at the completed puzzle and saw the twist that made the HEX, POX, CHARM, and CURSE fit. Nicely done.
HENRYKNOX directly above PENCILBOX is, somehow, my favorite part of this puzzle.
@Ann I very much enjoyed the back to back "air" and "err" double of 55 and 56 across!
Having been a proofreading back in the days when there were actual typesetting shops, STET was one of the first clues I got. Manage to do the entire puzzle in 42 minutes, which is fast for me. Fun.
A fun one! A couple of clues that I had to grope for blindly, and I accidentally went for a brown BETTY rather than the APPLE variety, but perhaps I got my own back with HOB being a piece of cake for a Brit like me (aka A WALK in the park). For once I was amused to find an OREO - I have no idea what a tuxedo cat is but now I think I can picture one. Nice clue! I also have no clue why people might especially covet a bag with the NPR logo, but I am an NPR fan, so no objection. And I can only surmise that HENRY KNOX gave his name to the eponymous Fort. This kind of knowledge has to be useful, one day…?
@Petrol You are correct about Fort Knox. Henry Knox was an important general of artillery during that first little dust-up between America and Britain, before he became a cabinet secretary for George Washington. For me, this knowledge was useful because it gave me something to contribute to this forum! Strangely enough, I once knew a lady who had (among several other pets) a calico cat named 'Oreo' and a tuxedo cat named 'Jasmine' and I have no idea why the odd name mixup came about. An interesting and entertaining puzzle.
18D. Geez. And you'd think after working at an affiliate 'college' station for 20 years I'd get it right away. Instead I had "tote bag," then the very unlikely "arm tote" after thinking 21A was Brown Betty. A tougher Tuesday for me. Oh heck, I got hexed.
@Call Me Al Don’t be too tough on yourself. It was a Wednesday puzzle after all! 😉
@Call Me Al I tried PBS first. Hope that makes you feel better. Emus can't carry TOTEs. Are emus "TOTEs adorbs"?
half the puzzle is proper nouns - i don't understand how these are enjoyable. these are tests in absolutism - you either know it or you don't and it minimizes problem-solving [the entire point of these brain games]. what a waste of a wednesday.
Charles, Fewer than 20% of the answers are proper nouns, and they include real trivia toughies like YMCA, OAHU, INCAS and EMMAS. Sorry you had a bad Wednesday.
For Sam Corbin: the words oleate and oleic (acid) are, indeed, related, but they don't mean the same thing. An oleate is an organic compound that results from the combination of oleic acid with another substance. Paul
@pjbodin Ooh, thank you for this. What kind of substance? Anything I would recognize, or is it chemistry jargon?
@Sam Corbin not being a chemist I can only guess. Perhaps an alcohol or, more specifically, a glycerol.
@CaptainQuahog One of my favorite Dilbert cartoons is the one where the boss says they need more eunuch programmers. Punch line: "Tell the nurse I said never mind." (Just in case that earlier UNIX thread gets black-holed for gratuitous pedantry.)
Would anyone care to explain the “runway nine” clue? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an airport with nine runways, so there must be a code behind it, and some lore explaining the usage
Alan, Airport runways are designated by compass heading, with the last digit dropped. Runway 9 is for taking off and landing due east (90 degrees). Actually, it's runway 9/27; in the other direction it's due west (270 degrees).
@Alan Young runway designations are based off of approach direction and are 1/10 the degree from magnetic north. This explains it well. (Spoilers for those who don’t want the answer). <a href="https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/topic/mobility/airport-runways-what-do-those-big-numbers-mean" target="_blank">https://www.stantec.com/en/ideas/topic/mobility/airport-runways-what-do-those-big-numbers-mean</a>
Alan, P. S. Not every airport has a runway 9(/27). I see Chiang Mai International Airport has only one runway: 18/36. In NYC, neither LGA, JFK nor EWR have one. In Chicago, ORD has three! (L C R)
King Rat is a great film and shows you how great George Segal was before he became a sit com standard.
Wow this was a fast Wednesday! Looks like we all SLAYED this puzzle and learned about OAST!
@Pani Korunova I’m laughing at how different (embarrassing) my experience was with this one! Is there a corner where all those (just me?) have to sit with noses to the wall for not knowing HOB OAST KEKE KINGRAT ASA AWAY (wide?) ARMY And had to play around with SHERRI (4th spelling finally got it) APPLEBETTY(brown) NPRTOTE DBACKS LEE And “semoitician” is a TIL as well! My no-look-ups streak/ rule made this a nearly 40 minute Wednesday! I love how we are all here, for the same reason, with similar skill sets and can have such different experiences with the same puzzle. Today whooped me. In a good way! Happy for all of you who breezed through it, too. *Many* mental notes for me today!
@Pani Korunova Well, everyone may have SLAYED theirs, but as for me, I SLEW mine. [Snicker]
What a great puzzle. Thanks Bill Thompson. TIL 23A and 44A. And the name of the tuxedo cat. Lots of fun!
Steering away from all political comments today (not feeding the emus). A fun, breezy puzzle. I confess I didn’t catch the nature of the theme til Sam explained it. ‘‘Twas then blindingly obvious. Doh. HOBS and OAST were gimmes, which balanced out the unknown names nicely. Kent still has many beautiful OAST houses, with their distinctive skewed roofs. Hadn’t heard of tuxedo cat, but from the answer I’m guessing they’re black with a white chest? I’m severely allergic to all cat kind, so I pay little attention to them. The previous owners of my home abandoned their barn cat, so the other members of my family take turns to feed it. We moved it to the stables, which I don’t often visit, so I can access the barn without succumbing to an asthma attack. Never fun. I had patty for BETTY, not knowing the dessert. But the crossing of 47A with 48D held me up the longest; I haven’t heard the term at 47A and still have no clue what DBACKS are. I’m assuming a nickname for a sports team? Lots of fun overall. Off now for yet another dog walk in the rain. Will it ever stop?
@Helen Wright Re: DBACKS - yes, it's an abbreviation for Diamondbacks, an Arizona MLB team. Oh, and DIAMONDBACKS has only been an answer in one puzzle. ..
@Helen Wright OAST was also a gimme for me today, but not because I’ve had any experience with the term in the wild. It’s been clued more than 300 times, but only 69 in the “Modern Era”. I remember that early last year it had a very unique clue, “Outbuilding that’s sometimes converted into a dwelling” (now I see that was 2/3/2023). At that time I went to look it up in Wiki to find that their article led with a photo of one such example from Frittenden, Kent. That area is famous for not just its oast houses, but also as a center of black “treacle mining”, often an ingredient in APPLEBETTY.
This seemed a bit crunchier for than most Wednesday puzzles, but it was also fun. The biggest surprise for me was the runway 9. I actually guessed at EAST early on, but will have to research that a bit when I have time. Thanks for a terrific puzzle, Bill Thompson.
@Shari Coats A runway’s identifying number is its magnetic bearing (direction), rounded to the nearest 10, with the last digit removed. So a runway that’s oriented at 93° magnetic will be runway 9. The number used for the same surface in the opposite direction is 27. Letters (L, C, and R for left, centre, and right) are added for multiple runways oriented the same. This system helps pilots easily choose the best runway for the prevailing wind (it’s best and safest to take off and land into the wind … this minimises ground speed and hence the length needed) and one can quickly confirm by checking the aircraft heading when aligned. Mark
@Mark Cousins Today I learned! Thanks for this fun tidbit of interesting knowledge!
@Mark Cousins this was the coolest tidbit. I would have taken it at face value (ie 9 = East) had it not been for your comment! Peace.
This was one the first few Wednesdays I could solve mostly on my own as a new solver. I often get stuck on many Americana clues and I'm a STEM teacher with very little arts and history background, so I'm learning a lot with crossword solving! Today's puzzle was super fun and I'm delighted to have solved it nearly 20 minutes faster than my average. Practice makes improvement! For Sam: Acids usually have a H in their structure that can be given away as H+ ions. Organic acids all have a -COOH group attached to them. Vinegar (acetic acid aka ethanoic acid), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and oleic acid all follow this pattern. They donate the H to the solution they are in, making it acidic (pH is a measurement of the concentration of H+ ions). When the H is gone, they become a polyatomic ion made of many atoms (essentially the rest of the molecule minus the acidic H). When they have done this, the suffix changes to -ate instead of -ic acid. This is where OLEATE comes from in today's puzzle. It the same concept as HCl becoming H+ and Cl- but with fancier organic molecules. Bonus fact, I bet that's where the inspiration for the brand name Olay comes from, phonetically.
@Katrina S. Thanks so much! I love it when nerds nerd out about their nerdy specialty! And do so with evident glee! . . . I probably need to feed the emus some olestra
@Katrina S. What takes the H away is a base like NaOH ,i.e lye or toilet bowel cleaner. The H combines with the -OH and together forms a harmless molecule of H2O water. The rest of the stearic acid minus the H is stearate which attaches to the Na. The stearate Na combo is a salt of the stearic acid. It is basically a salt. Most soaps were originally made for hundreds of years by mixing fatty acid residues of cooked meats with lye.
@Katrina S. As someone with a writing background -- and a lot more arts and history in my wheelhouse than science -- I love this! Thank you for the science grammar lesson. Mych appreciated! And congratulations on your Wednesday solve! 😁 Are emus basic or acidic?
Any theme that elicits a "that's so silly but I love it" tut from me is a good theme in my eyes! Streak day two complete!
At long last I get to make a petty correction. The Cardiff Giant was found in Cardiff NY not Syracuse. I grew up near Jamesville NY and we would sometimes visit the "discovery" site in Cardiff, Cute trick. Now can you make rebus puzzles disappear? Thank you, Bill
I guess this puzzle was a response to the people who didn't think HOT MAGENTA was a thing a few puzzles back. (Why do coincidences make us so suspicious?) 😄 I found this puzzle quite 'charming', and it flowed fairly easily. I got hung up a bit on HENRY KNOX and DBACKS, but the crosses were kind.
Doh!! You got me George Hull. You got me good. I can't believe that was a hoax. Seventeen pilgrimages to Cardiff all for naught.
The word "magenta" always makes me think of Rocky Horror. And I knew it was too long, but I kind of hoped for Apple Pan Dowdy, at 21A, which reminds me of June Christy. Fun puzzle today.
@Margaret In re magenta: Me too! In my head, I think of the audience line "what's your favorite color?" or, more likely, the audience line for Columbia, right after hearing or seeing the word. I saw RHPS too many times in my teenage years - a lot of common words and phrases bring my mind right back to it.
Lately, I’ve been finding the puzzles either impossibly difficult or extremely easy, without regard to day of week. This was one of the latter. Maybe I’m just on the same wavelength as the constructor, but I breezed through this like a HOT MAGENTA speedboat. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, because I thought it was a fun concept, well executed. And it even included a few novel terms! I am familiar with HOB from its use in international recipes, but I was certain that one of my crosses for OAST had to be wrong, because no way was that a real word.
@Heidi I knew none of the trivia or abbreviations so I needed lookups to finish. Had I known that stuff though I would have completed the puzzle in Monday or Tuesday time, so I suppose it really was rather easy.
Particularly tricky transatlantic solve today. Never heard of a PENCILBOX - we would say pencil case. Luckily the theme and the clues were great so I was able to guess DBACKS, HENRY KNOX and OREO. 😄
@Conor Manning I think the PENCILBOX has gone the way of the T-Bar..... amd the slide rule/
@Conor Manning I think I the US we would mostly say pencil case as well, but a pencil box is acceptable too. Case seems more versatile as it could be a zippered pouch or a (usually plastic) box. .:.:.:
This was a nice one. TIL oleate probably means more than one kind of fatty acid compound, George Segal's movie (didn't fill that in until I had K_NG), KISMET is from arabic, Shepherd's first name and the name of the first secretary of war. I was really helped by being able to go back and forth between theme entries and "spells". Well done Bill.