Sunday February 10th 2019, NY Times Crossword

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Time: 28:43
Sunday Average: 48:18
Best Sunday: 21:55

Sunday crossword and coffee on a travel day when I have hours before I have to make my way to the airport. Granted, that can take a long time in Delhi. After wrapping this one up, I noticed the title of "That's a Mouthful," which may have been helpful, but I managed the FIVE TIMES FAST revealer early on and knew that this was a tongue twister puzzle. The cluing isn't particularly exciting, but the answers are fun enough with THREE FREE THROWS, REAL RARE WHALE, SHOE SECTION, UNIQUE NEW YORK, IRISH WRIST WATCH, and SHE SEES CHEESE (sees? I'll roll my eyes at that one). I think that's all of them. There's not much to say about the theme, but my still over-tired brain enjoyed it well enough.

I'm listening to the podcast "The Dream," which is about Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), which some evil genius lawyers will tell you is not a pyramid scheme, but boy is that a terrifying SCAM. Are your friends trying to sell you worthless garbage on Facebook, or worse still, trying to get you to also sell that worthless garbage? Listen to this podcast first.

Odd-named architects are a rich vein for crossword constructors, aren't they? This week, it's Ludwig Mies van der RUHE whose nickname (Mies) and last name are both pure gold! I suppose I'd know him better if I lived in Chicago, but it seems he's famous for saying things like "Less is more."

The only tricky section was that little square up in the north with ILEEN Chaiken (I've never seen "The L Word) and TAROS, which I had no idea connected to poi, traditional food in Hawaii. But then there was also BALTO, who in addition to being a very good boy was the Siberian husky sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome. I guess there's some controversy about which dogs deserved the most credit and even fan favorite Roald Amundsen got involved somehow.

I'm sorry, but Andrew Jackson called his Tennessee home The HERMITAGE? Just another reason to hate that guy.

I expect "The Marvelous Mrs. MAISEL" will be making many appearances in future crosswords. Unless you're boycotting Amazon, you should really watch that show.

And now to finish packing for Karachi!

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