Ingrid
Germany
I genuinely grinned at the solution for “make two dos.”
Asparagus was an easy one, since it is currently Spargelzeit (asparagus time) in Germany. Everything is asparagus. You can even get asparagus ice cream at some ice cream shops. I enjoyed a delicious cream of asparagus soup at my local Ratskeller just on Monday. Yum!
@Grumpy I was curious and did some light googling. I found this quote from edmundoptics.com: “Microscope eyepieces generally consist of a field lens and an eye lens, though multiple designs exist that each creates a larger field of view (FOV) than a single element design.” Seems like an eye lens may be a part of an eyepiece? Definitely not common usage, I’d say, but not invented for this puzzle.
A great Friday, imo. A little bit of pop culture, a little geography. It took me a little under my average time to complete—not a record breaker, but very snappy and fun. I rode my first e-scooter this past summer while on a weekend trip to Rome. Let me tell you: e-scooter + cobblestones = the worst teeth-clacking, bouncy, terrible ride. I switched over to an e-bike as soon as I could find one.
@NobodyThree Funny, that was a gimme to me. Interesting how differently brains can work.
I was very proud of myself for knowing that the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna is the oldest zoo in the world and happily put VIENNA ZOO as the answer to 32D. Not sure why, since that’s not even the zoo’s name! Alas, my overconfidence threw me off in that whole section. Once I (begrudgingly) corrected my mistake, I breezed through. Nice puzzle.
Didn’t mind the trick; didn’t love the clueing.
@Henrik Agreed. I thought it was both clever and wrong, simultaneously.
It’s always interesting to come to the comments and see a consensus form directly opposite to my experience. I liked this puzzle! I got the theme right away and the only somewhat annoying section for me was the NY mayor crossing with a mushroom and a sports acronym. So fun how different puzzles are for different people. Anybody have any good cozy mystery recs?
Just a great puzzle. It’s not often a crossword really makes me laugh, but TURTLESHELL got me. I enjoyed it so much that I’m willing to overlook the use of some fill words that I don’t love (OREO, EMO, PLEB).
@Marshall Walthew same here. I was an emo kid, so all my mixtapes were that genre. When it also worked for the clue below, I had to rethink my assumptions.
@Hobby Gardener “sensible” in German and English is a false friend. In English, “sensible” means something more like “vernünftig.” In this case, a sensible chuckle is like a light laugh, nothing outrageous or over the top.
@Andrzej LITCHI is the declinated version of LYCHEE...
@Tisha Don't think that asparagus ice cream is a traditional German food! It's more of a novelty. And, yes, I believe it is made with—essentially—ground up asparagus. Usually the white variety.
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