You think just because you're clued without reference to "Wells" or "race," I won't know who you are? Ha.
26A: Fictional upper class (Eloi) - you can't hide from me, ELOI.21A: Plays intensely, in jazz slang (wails) - I like this clue / answer pairing, for no particularly good reason.19A: Un article defini (les) - ACCUSANT at 1D led me to UNE here, despite the fact that I not only understand French, but also know Very well the difference between definite and indefinite articles.He doesn't come into focus for me until about 1982 (circa MTV and the "Jack and Diane" video). 54D: "I _ Lover" (1979 John Cougar hit) ("Need a") - more childhood memories I'd forgotten he sang this.
Way more useful than the dreaded E-CARD ( 20A: Modern greeting).
41D: They may be received by free subscriptions (podcasts) - I listened to "Fresh Air" and "This American Life" PODCASTS all last fall on my drive back and forth to the prison in Elmira.1D: One known for finger-pointing (Uncle Sam) - good one."Regrettably, your husband was D.O.A., ma'am." "Regrettable" just seems too. status (D.O.A.) - this answer makes me laugh. 58A: Noted fifth-century invaders (Jutes) - they invaded England, along with the Angles and Saxons.If only SPAGHETTIOS were actually Italian, this puzzle would have some claim on being the most Italian puzzle of the year. I conference site) out of my Euronalysis. Wait, I somehow left SAN REMO ( 7D: Post-W.W. I was trying to remember the name of the town where Nancy and Sluggo lived. MILANO is a delicious Pepperidge Farms cookie - and that LORRAINE clue is nasty. Today's puzzle is heavily European, with the bouncy EUROPOP ( 38A: Abba's style) sitting on top of MILANO ( 44A: Lombardia's capital) and across the grid from LORRAINE ( 64A: Where to find Nancy). Then there's 57D: Bygone crown (tsar) - so the TSAR is the "crown"? Is that some kind of METONYM ( 36A: "The White House," for "the presidency," e.g.)? I don't like that there are two "bygone" clues in this puzzle (explosive, crown). Take 56D: Serenade, as the moon (bay at) - do wolves really "serenade?" Or do people "bay?" Something is lost in this equation. While the puzzle was mostly enjoyable, there was some cluing I didn't care for. Other things I remember from my childhood: Dungeons & Dragons ( 34A: Dungeons & Dragons race = OGRES) and the 1984 Olympics ( 52D: Twins' name at the 1984 Olympics = MAHRE). I haven't heard the SPAGHETTIOS jingle or seen an ad in what feels like two decades, but it's indelibly imprinted on my brain from my childhood. I somehow got the answer off of just the final few letters (figuring that "refrain" must be the word affected by the "?"). Got both 15-letter answers easily today: CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE was nice, but UH OH, SPAGHETTIOS is some kind of genius ( 61A: Refrain from eating pasta?). Finally changed RIT to RAT and finished, but I was not at all sure I had everything right. grads everywhere are chirping with dorky glee, but I really have to wonder (out loud) if this is xword-worthy. Somehow, some way, I was able to coax AMATOL out of my brain ( 32A: Bygone explosive), but I spelled it AMITOL, so at the end I was left with BRASS RIT for the most enigmatic and loopy (to my mind) of all today's answers: BRASS RAT ( 3D: M.I.T.'s class ring, familiarly). KNACK was very vaguely clued ( 6D: Touch - I wanted SMACK), while ATM was very absurdly clued ( 4D: Long green box? - when's the last time someone referred to money as "long green?" I'm not that thrilled about the "box" part, either). As far as I was concerned US BANK ( 1A: Los Angeles's _ Tower) and NORTON ( 15A: Alaska's _ Sound) could have been anything. Getting CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE ( 17A: What a toaster may hold) very early didn't help much - not as much as I thought it would. Couldn't get into the NW, so went down and polished off the SW (the second-hardest part of the puzzle), and then went back and scratched and clawed my way to the end. APPLE PIE ( 16A: Mom's partner?) was the first thing that went in the grid, and from there it was a smooth progression from the NE down to the SE, then back up toward the NW. I think the puzzle was mostly Easy-Medium or Medium - until the NW, where I had to fight like hell to get real traction.