Tuesday, 11/29/16

I realize that it's Wednesday, but Tuesdays make me feel good about myself, and we didn't start this one until after 8, which is late when one has an infant.

Time to finish/time I gave up: 15:46
Did I finish it without help? Heck yes
Did I check puzzle? If yes, how many letters were wrong? N/A

Commentary:

I have a thing about always wanting to start the puzzle in the NW corner, where the 1 is. That section mostly eluded me at first though. While I was considering answer options, Jamie helpfully (not) jumped in with "Oh, that one is Nas [32A "Cherry Wine" rapper]." See, Jamie likes to look through the clues for things he knows and stick them in at random. Like, WHILE we are working on one of the other boxes. Ugh.

I will admit that this strategy worked out well enough, as we started with NAS/NTH (To the __ degree), and pretty much never looked back.

I'm too young for this $h*t

• 4D Neil who sang "Laughter in the Rain" SEDAKA. I don't think I know this song, but with the help of having Neil in the clue and the K already plugged in from TURKISH DELIGHT, I actually did know the name, although I wasn't sure of the spelling. Nothing too egregiously old school in this puzzle.
• Side note--shout-out to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for introducing me to Turkish delight, of which I think very fondly but don't think I have ever actually eaten. I am sure I'm not alone in this.

Really?

• 6D Commit arson on. "On?" Can we not just say "commit arson?" I am confused about this.
• 47D Shade provider. TREE. Wow. That is some People-magazine-crossword-level action right there.

Things I learned today:

• There are other parts of a croquet set besides the whacker thingys and the balls and the wickets. (It's the PEGS, 1A Croquet needs.) Obviously, I'm great at cricket. I mean, croquet. Whatever.
• HAMAN is the [35A] Purim villain. I am ashamed to admit that I did not know anything about Purim until I Googled this. Unless you count that Home for Purim is the fictional film-within-a-film in the Christopher Guest movie For Your Consideration. 
• Elihu Root is not someone that I knew, but I really like his name and will now never forget him.
• Alcoa is a company that makes cans, and their name comes from Aluminum Company of America. I kind of like that, although it also seems like what you would name your company if you got bored at the brainstorming meeting.

Fritz out.