Thursday December 20th 2018, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 13:52
Thursday Average: 25:57
Best Thursday: 10:18

The combination of ANCY and ALEE has me singing "The Lees of Old Virginia" in my head this morning. Verily! And I'd have thought "Time for a mint julep in Louisville" would be basically any time, but apparently only RACE DAY is the time to PARTAKE.

Today's theme was straightforward for a Thursday, with the revealer being NO NO, as in common phrases that start with a "no" have that negative removed to fit the wacky clue.

  • "Choice of routes:?:" TWO WAYS ABOUT IT. This is probably the driest of the theme clues.
  • "Result of some sunburn I had?:" SKIN OFF MY BACK and I winced a little bit reading this one. 
  • "Declaration concerning British geography?:" MAN IS AN ISLAND. This is the second time recently that I've seen the Isle of Man used for a tricky theme clue riffing on the John Donne line "No man is an island," but this one seemed less tortured then the last time, if a bit dull.
  • "Nitrous oxide?:" LAUGHING MATTER. I like this one more every time I read it. 
Cluing MYANMAR as the "Home to the Rohingya" is about as overtly a political clue as I've seen in the Times in a while, which I appreciate, considering world governments seem to really want to ignore that particular human rights crisis. 

Ray KROC, the man responsible for all those McDonald's restaurants near your house, is probably a good trivia name for me to remember. 

I'd also never heard of a ROOD, which is a a cross or crucifix, usually set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.

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