Now, 25 years later I finally understand what he was saying, CAMPARI! Oh, the enlightenment of crossword puzzles. After my blank stare he went on to explain that it was 'bitters'. It was about 25 years ago when I was on a job in Italy that the waiter asked me after dinner if I wanted a 'digestivo'. Why constructors put this kind of pop culture clue/answer in puzzles is beyond me. Finally figured out AVIATION and the puzzle fell. Googled for a vampire fish but nothing came up that made any sense. Like ACME, wanted lyrE for for JJB's instrument, but nothing would work, so Googled.Īctually, the NW was the last to fall. Had three Googles, two in the NE, NORAH and ARIANA, and OBOE in the south. His poor penis is probably still in a fetal position. She actually got him to lay down on the slab even after he told her that death freaks him out!!! PHENOL seemed so mysterious till I remembered PHENOL Barbitol (whatever that is).įellow 'Bachelor' fans will chuckle since we were just treated to the hometown date of Shawntel, the funeral director from Chico, whose romantic time with Brad was spent showing him how she embalms people! My lack of eduction made me think perhaps Bach played the lyrE.Īs for the NW, since I didn't know ARIANA, I debated between INePT or INAPT. So despite NEAR/GYMS I never got OBOE/GONG/LOAM :( I had a DNF as I never got GOLD uldn't get past wooD. (that would have been impossible for me without the theme) was a bit of a mess. Got the SW corner, but agree with Rex that LEOVII crossing with IVANI and GIING with a little NOTUS So the theme fell quickly and was super helpful in getting the NE and SW. This would have taken forever if not for thinking Liz Gorski's last Sunday was going to be a W under BAR. 55D: Sound heard at the end of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ( GONG) - I do not remember this, and yet I got it off the first 'G'.43A: Lötschberg Tunnel locale ( ALP) - just.1A: Zapper's casualty ( GNAT) - me, immediately: 'TVAD'.Also, did not like that the 'WEAR' in ' WEARIN'' is from the same semantic universe as the 'WEAR' in UNDERWEAR (whereas the other 'WEAR' strings have nothing to do with clothing or the lack thereof). Specifically, I didn't like 'rule.' It's a state of being, not a 'rule.' Do people really make the non-wearing of underwear a 'rule?' What a weird issue to be a hardliner about. Side note: didn't like the clue on the revealer, NO UNDERWEAR. ROSSSEA ( 46A: Body of water named for an English explorer) is like ARIANA to me - all I see is 'exotic crutch.' It's hard not to love a puzzle with a GOLD PIANO ( 55A: Elvis instrument now in the Country Music Hall of Fame) and NO UNDERWEAR, but I didn't love this one.

Peter's Basilica + 58A: Muscovite prince known as 'Moneybag') to the apostrophized WEARIN' ( 50A: 'The _ o' the Green' (old Irish ballad)) to the bizarreness of an alleged god named NOTUS ( 54A: God of the south wind). That is one ugly mixture, from the insanely improbable-looking GIING (dear lord) to the random pope+Roman numeral *crossing a prince+Roman numeral* (!!!) ( 44D: 10th-century pope interred at St. My dislike for the SW corner is going to be harder to write off. PHENOL crossing wasn't lovely either ( 24A: Embalming chemical).īut let's write my reaction in that NE corner off to personal prejudice. The NE felt a little icky - ARIANA ( 11D: Afghanistan's national airline) is one of those answers constructors know and (speaking for myself) try hard not to have to use because it's a relatively obscure proper noun and a massive grid crutch, giving you lots of handy letters in a handy arrangement. one of that length) being a suitable stand-alone answer in the grid. I want to love WE ARE DEVO ( 20A: End of a 1978 new-wave album title), but the constructor in me balks at the idea of the 'end of a. I just didn't think the fill was, in general, up to the quality of the theme. I didn't care for the construction of the grid overall, though, which is disappointing, because I really want to like this puzzle. People will probably like this one for its sassy theme - which is undeniably clever.

Prince moneybag