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Unlike most contributors to this space, it seems, I complete these puzzles in the physical newspaper with an actual pen so I don't get any guff from the Emu if I mess up a little. But, I also don't get flashing squares or triumphal music if I do it perfectly. The only sound effects are usually my own, like "Are you kidding me?" or, "I miss Teri Garr and Hedy Lamarr," or, as in the case of "Neal/etalia," I say, "close enough!" After all, no astrophysicists were harmed by the incorrect completion of this puzzle and anyone who has seen/heard Dr. Tyson knows he has a sense of humor and he's probably having a good laugh today.
My first reaction to 17A was a 2D and I thought the editors had strayed from their normie lingo and gone loco. But, knowing how golf-related clues are their jam, I thought of Fred Couples, (ignoring the apostrophe placement), and wondered if he had won TWOMASTERS in a row. When that proved way off course, especially with BR now starting the word, I tried to sniff out what might sap the ardor of romantic couples. Maybe getting hosed in a BRIDGEGAME? Ay, all that interior confabulation was for naught. Now, what did Occam's Razor conclude about that?
@Gina D One of the tables in a high school cafeteria?
Remind me to never schedule a doctor's appointment for a Thursday. If I was seeking relaxation by doing this puzzle in the waiting room, my blood pressure would be abnormally elevated and my pain level unchartable.
@Oikofuge Cufflinks didn't work either.
@Andrzej I was actually in an ULTA store yesterday and still didn't think of it until I had three letters. Besides, I thought OLAY owned those four squares.
@The X-Phile Or might ACCRA become the ERIE of Ghana?
@G I thought it meant Taylor's version of a break-up as opposed to her boyfriend's. Aren't her songs about high school?
@KK I think it suited its clue, "Make like a drum and beat it." They both sound like kid-speak. Since I used to tease my hair into a beehive back in the Year of the Flood, it came quickly, but I thought it wouldn't occur to men as easily. Although some men in public office now seem to be teasing their golden locks.
@Paul Nope. She's Hedy. Google her. You might be thinking of one of Hemingway's long-suffering wives.
@dutchiris Alas, they knocked ARA Parseghian out of the box.
@Liz Evans You shampooed with Prell, you conditioned with "Tame." Then you put a bonnet with a hose attached on your head and plugged it in the wall and when your head was hot enough that you almost fried your hair, your beauty regimen was complete. All for less than a $ a month.
@Barry Ancona But doesn't style require that a number be spelled out when it begins a clue as it does in a sentence? Must admit, the abbreviation IRT first came to mind. (With S for "system?") Maybe the constructor didn't know from subways? Or could have been a New Yorker well on in years who also fondly remembered the BMT and IND.
@Grant I would guess to make it difficult to counterfeit.
@DocP Well, I'm confused. Are you 20 years old or are you an astronaut? (Who's spending our tax dollars doing crosswords in space!)
@Grant Yup. If you hear New Yorkers talking about a car it's usually about what end of the subway they prefer to sit in. As for me, when the annual car issue of Consumer Reports shows up in my mailbox, it goes straight into the recycle bin of my apartment building. I like to think some passerby will snatch it up, but no one does.
@Times Rita I see him commenting on various news shows quite often, but when presented with just his last name, like here, I can't quickly come up with his first name. I've decided that it's because "Jamie" sounds like a child's nickname and lacks the gravitas that his well deserved status in the political hierarchy would seem to warrant.
@Jeff B MD Probably people under 30.
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