James P

I didn't quite enjoy this one. I still didn't get the revealer after finishing the puzzle. Shouldn't the clues to CBDOIL and PROPBET indicating that the entries are abbreviated/shortened? I struggled with those. JIBES was really out of left field because everyone thinks of it as a negative thing (insult); not a form of agreement. OTTO HAHN got me got me thinking about another prominent South African chemist, Paul Daniel HAHN (I wonder if they're related?) MARMITE is popular in South Africa too! :) I think the best clues were for IPODS (Shuffles and Touches) and SOAP (Bubbly bar).

My second personal best in a bow! As a South African, I struggled a bit in the SE corner because of BARBACOA and HANES; plus I would never have gotten SOLID without the crossings. Now that I know what BARBACOA is, I enjoyed its crossing with SALSA:) I don’t know if ACES is a hand? I started with PAIR as it strikes me as the only hand that fits (in the glove, haha). I didn’t know ACORN was a hue given how much the colour can vary with species and ripeness. Seems like a not great basis for a hue… GAMUT was my favourite entry because this beautiful word is underused in everyday language. PS this puzzle made hungry! (SOUP, SUSHI, SALSA, ALE, BOWL, TREAT).

Personal best to start the week! As a South African I found it easier because of the fewer because of the fewer proper nouns. I was also excited to see Zulu! I had guessed BLAR instead of BLAT, which added a minute. I’m leaning piano so the revision of the G Major scale was welcome.