Tain
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London
The speed at which you lose control? Tempo tantrum
As a solver from across the pond, it gave me great joy to see Sam describe 'Ken' as crosswordsese. It was one of the first clues I was sure about! So much so, I even started to doubt myself, thinking it was too Scottish to be right!
Far too many proper nouns and US-specific terms, and even spelling & phrases that no one uses, for this to be enjoyable. As a British solver I've done my best to learn a lot of Americanisms, brands, history, etc. and often get stuck, but I rarely fall flat on a Monday crossword.
I grinned at least five times during this solve. Superb. Now everyone on the train thinks I'm weird. Also superb.
@Andrzej you can voice an opinion while not being cross about it. Both you and jennie can be right here.
The 'aha!' moment of this theme is definitely one I preferred getting at the end and exploring back over the answers. I usually prefer getting the theme early, feeling all smart about myself, then using that to figure out the tricky long theme answers. Excellent work, and an incredibly tight theme set.
I found this quite tricky, but still a 'Wedneaday' level tricky. Well judged IMO.
Has no one mentioned that 87 down 'lunged (for)' is a rugby reference?
@B it has a double revealer at the bottom! Plus having every down entry duplicated would have been a bit drab for me, so I prefer it this way.
Tough gig for those of us solving outside the US
@SWNH months 'after' doesn't tend to include the month in question.
Aaaarrrrgggg! Hidden Dad joke that everyone missed and made my solve double tricky! I solved two theme entries first - the revealer, and the 'until next time' clue. If you ignore the 'sound' hidden in the answer, it's a dad joke all in itself, and left me perplexed and unable to guess at all the other answers! (if it's still not obvious, think 'spreading germs')
I need to kick my Britishisms to the kerb if I want to persist with NTY crosswords. And also learn that asymmetry as two m's.
56A! If you're playing in dark mode, the 'e' in the clue looks to be part of the strike through, but it isn't! Can cause issues if you get the theme before the answers!
@Mike I'm a Brit, and we *only* say barefaced lie.
@Tim I'm a Brit, and honestly, it's a bare-face lie.
@Larry the clue is for the words in the answer, not what the answer sounds like as a pun. Beethoven = Sonata Je ne said quoi = that special 'thing' Opera = Aria What's [Up]...era Doc = joke/kidding I fully get your point that it's not fluid, though.
Definitely a grid I'm thankful to solve on an app rather than ink. I had the entire bottom right solved bar one entry before realising I had made several mistakes. Quite rare, but also quite enjoyable - having a lot of something wrong is so much nicer than having a lot of nothing because I don't know.
I got done by the mini! Maybe it's a British thing to 'SLAY' someone, but even worse is how snuggly 'YOLO' fit as the across!
What's the rule on whether an early week puzzle has constructor notes or not? Is it just a matter of whether the constructor wants to say something or not?
@Tain oh dear, I really should finish the puzzle before making these comments...
I'm from the UK. 30D means something *very* different in my neck of the woods.
@Petrol I'm from the UK, and I've never heard a Bobby called a con. Is the clue hinting at something different?
@EnviroLawProf I'm from the UK, but it's definitely a thing that's said. It's usually in refute of something in disgust, though. Like 'pah, you're talking jibberish'. It's a much harder, shorter sound than bah or wah or gah.
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