Sunday December 9th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 22:17
Sunday Average: 49:18
Best Sunday: 21:55

This Sunday's puzzle carried me right through my light hangover after a holiday party last night. Obviously, J.K. Rowling inspired monster themed puzzle is exactly what I'm looking for every Sunday morning. More precisely, today's puzzle was FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM and featured three beasts and their mythical locations.

  • The ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN resides in the HIMALAYAS. I actually only recently learned that Sir Edmund Hillary of Everest fame also went on something of a boondoggle searching for physical evidence of the Yeti. I love that as a follow up to being the first to summit Mount Everest. 
  • The LOCH NESS MONSTER might be found in the SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. Of course, my initial reaction to this themer was, "Um... it's in the name."
  • THE KRAKEN apparently is limited to THE NORWEGIAN SEA. I first heard of the Kraken from the original "Clash of the Titans" film, so my knee jerk reaction is always to incorrectly assign the Kraken to Greek mythology. 
My only complaint about this crossword is that I want more monsters! You also have some classic villains populating the puzzle like DR CLAW, AHAB, and AMAZON (ECHO). I'm also happy to see STORM, one my favorite X-Men, making an appearance and I'm a little surprised that her real name, Ororo, doesn't show up more often. 

A couple years ago I was traveling in Kazakhstan for work and my office contacted me to see how I was doing and I responded that I was in ASTANA. Apparently, the reaction in the office was, "Are we supposed to know where that is?" So, I casually informed them that yes they should and they GOT AN F in my travel class.

I appreciate the clue "Housewives and househusbands" for HOMEMAKERS. 

As I promised myself several weeks ago on this blog, I remembered ELISHA Otis' name. 

I was so close to setting a personal record for Sunday today, which would have been especially satisfying for me because I hit the landmark today of one year of completed NY Times crosswords.
It wasn't a New Year's resolution, because I don't really believe in that sort of thing, but more of something that I gradually fell into, along with this blog. I suppose the next goal is a year's worth of this writing. 

Comments

  1. ArraDecember 10, 2018 at 5:34 PM

    Totally awed by this grid. I had amuse for 108 down, I can see the write over correction letters

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. QuillDecember 11, 2018 at 6:02 AM

      I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for commenting! I've been hoping to have more interactions on the blog because one of the reasons I started doing this in the first place is that I want to converse about crosswords more.

      Delete

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