Monday October 15th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 5:15
Monday Average: 8:42
Best Monday: 4:41

Despite being from Massachusetts, I can never seem to remember that the ELM TREE is our state symbol. Maybe I'll remember it now (basically my blog motto). Currently, I'm sitting in an airport lounge in Muscat, waiting for my flight to Dubai where I'll catch a bus to Abu Dhabi. So I have about 6 hours of travel ahead of me after four high school visits. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Really, I'm looking back fondly at this Monday puzzle, with its YOUNG AT HEART theme. I'm impressed with the words and names that the constructor found with animal young at the center (heart):

  • INCUBUS
  • AKITA
  • OPTICAL FIBER
  • JOHN COLTRANE
In terms of what I learned, I never knew CENSE as the verb for perfume in a religious ceremony, but Google tells me it's archaic. I'd also never heard of ANATOLE France, but I'm excited to read in Wikipedia that he is "widely believed to be the model for narrator Marcel's literary idol Bergotte in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time," which I'm currently reading because I think I'm finally old enough, despite still being YOUNG AT HEART.  

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