Sunday September 16th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 39:09
Average Sunday: 50:44
Best Sunday: 21:55

Sunday morning in the hammock with a BEER and crossword. It's a funny dream that I have these days but if this the APEX, I'll absolutely take it, especially since I got my dog here too.

SNOOD is a type of a "hair net?" Sorry, but I only know it as the computer game that everyone was playing in the computer lab when I was in high school.

The theme title this week is "Uh, What?" which obviously means that familiar phrases have an "uh" sound added in to produce some wackiness. So you have OREGON TRANSPLANT (organ transplant), SENATOR OF GRAVITY (center of gravity), RIOTING ON THE WALL (writing on the wall), etc. These mostly worked for me and I was impressed that they all involved a change in spelling beyond simply adding a vowel somewhere, except for PROJECT RUNAWAY (Project Runway), kind of spoiling that consistency. I also didn't care for KING JAMES BUYABLE because I only vaguely accept "buyable" as a  noun. I was also sure from the start that it was going to be some kind of King James Bible pun and yet I needed basically every cross to get it.

I'm not sure how I feel about MURSE. Can't a man carry a small bag of some sort or, God forbid, a purse?

PHABLETS? I love modern portmanteaus! I guess this is something that's ambiguously a phone or tablet because it's in-between sizes? I didn't know it, but it works for me!

Can't we clue 29-across as "Stop trying to make             happen!" I'm sure it's been done.

I didn't care for either of the Academy Award clues. Is the OSCAR or ENVELOPE really a "prop?"

I don't know the Leeward Islands (group of island near where the Caribbean and Atlantic meet, apparently not to be confused with the Leeward Antilles!), so ST MARTIN was where I got stuck for the longest. Fortunately it's a fairly inferable name.

All in all, it was perfectly enjoyable Sunday crossword. I recommend with beer, hammock, lake, and dog!


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