Tuesday September 18th 2018, NY Times Crossword
Average Tuesday: 13:51
Best Tuesday: 6:10
Sometimes clues seem so entirely directed at me that my first instinct is to doubt myself. I was much too excited about "European capital whose name most people incorrectly accent on the second syllable," which is probably a few too many words, but OMG I know one of those! After living in Bulgaria for 27 months (and always subtly, without a SNEER, correcting westerners' pronunciation of SOFIA), it's actually difficult for me to pronounce the name Sophia correctly. Still, after reading this clue , I checked to see who the constructor was and now I'm wondering if Greg Johnson lived in Bulgaria as well. It's just too specific to not be something that annoys him too.
The actual theme for this puzzle is chemical compounds of various gases, I suppose. You can see the chemical make-up (I assume, haven't checked) of AMMONIA, CARBON DIOXIDE, and METHANE in the circled letters, which is fairly fun, I guess. The theme actually did help me a bit in the SW, where I spent probably about half my time trying out different letters. I've never heard of JORDACHE clothing brand (apparently popular in the 70s and 80s!) or DON HO, whose biggest hit "Tiny Bubbles" topped out at #14 on the East Listening charts in 1968. I also didn't know the word MALAR meaning "relating to the cheek."
Does this puzzle really need both IMAC and IPADS? That's starting to sound like a desperate search for letters.
In conclusion, my excitement about the cluing Sofia wore off by the time I was rotating letters through the Southwest. That said, I can think of a few people doing the crossword who are probably sharing my excitement, so it's all worth it. I'll send a HUG their way.
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