Ryan solves the NYT, Tue 7-28-9
Episode #64 of Fill Me In has been released and is at large. It features Peter Gordon quite prominently. As a matter of fact he pretty much takes over the entire show. So give it a listen and enjoy.
Today’s puzzle is by Tony “Y-e-e-e-s-s-s” Orbach and features a theme of decreasing expectations. I will illustrate the theme using the question, “Will this man eventually win an Academy Award?”
17A. “Sure thing” (WITHOUT QUESTION).
28A. “Chances are good” (IN ALL LIKELIHOOD).
35A. “It could go either way” (MAYBE YES MAYBE NO).
43A. “Doubtful” (NOT LOOKING SO HOT).
56A. “Forget it!” (AINT GONNA HAPPEN).
I’ve found that most of my decreased expectations end somewhere in the vicinity of Carrot Top.
Other highlights:
5D. Borscht, e.g. (SOUP). I spent a lot of my life being scared of borscht. Probably because of it’s deep purple (is it purple? I’m color blind) color. But, you know, I had some recently and it’s quite delicious. Let’s hear it for beets.
12D. Sequel title starter, sometimes (SON). You mean like Son of Puzzoola?
23D. The so-called fourth dimension (TIME). My friends and I played a lot of tag when we were kids. We made up a rule that when someone wanted a break instead of calling out TIME they’d have to call out “fourth dimension”. One of the many reasons why my schooling was a social disaster.
32D. God, in Roma (DIO). We just bought our tickets for the Vatican Museums. (Yes, I know they’re not technically in Rome.) I cannot believe we’re going to see the Sistine Chapel. I haven’t been able to wrap my head around that yet.
49D. Where one might see “OMG or “TTYL” (THE NET). We would also have accepted A SERIES OF TUBES.
Great puzzle today.
Next stop, Wednesday.
