"Initial Description," 4/2/17

Apologies if you have been feverishly awaiting this post. (Ha.) I got back from a little weekend trip with my girlfriends in the late morning and have been reuniting with my baby all day. Ah, parenthood.

Time to finish/time I gave up: 53:08. I guessed on some stuff at the end, checked the puzzle to see how bad it was, had 5 letters wrong (all in the SW corner), but managed to get them all without revealing. (Also without typing in every letter in the alphabet but not technically clicking "reveal," a strategy by which I have been tempted in the past but is definitely cheating.)

Commentary:
I did not enjoy this puzzle. I liked the concept of the theme, but I didn't like any of the actual answers. They weren't cute. Rex was less perturbed by this than I thought he would be, and I thought his examples were pretty funny actually. But when it came down to it...a swan is a "swimmer?" Three "rolled into" one? It all felt too stilted for not enough payoff.

Here's all the stuff I messed up in the SW:

• Michael Stich. I believe our first try was Smith. Which I thought was as good as anything else, as far as guesses about names.
• Egon Spengler.
• Dys. (Not dis.)
• Bad start? is a terrible clue.
• Therefore, we also had STEER and ACRONYM wrong, but I was guessing on Rene for Preval, and O. Henry, so I needed the Check Puzzle to guide me towards getting these right.

Also, I don't enjoy being reminded of Sean Spicer during my fun crossword time. Or Ayn Rand, for that matter.

Clues I especially liked! Yay!

• The line starting with 84A was a big win for me:
• Jose Cuervo
• Dora the Explorer
• I don't really care about Dora (yet?) but I was very confident I was right about this one.
• UNC (GO TAR HEELS!!! AHHHHHH!!!)
• Saga
• In context, not interesting, but I do really enjoy the graphic novel series by the same name.

I'm too young for this $h*t

• The song "Once in Love With Amy." Now that I have listened to it, it sounds vaguely familiar. However, if you are looking it up, you should know that there is a Muppet Show version, and while there does not seem to be any actual footage on Youtube (copyright issues?), someone has delightfully recreated the number with puppets, and the original audio in the background. Well done, sir/madam.
• Alan King, who spoke at Kennedy's inauguration, died in 2004. Wikipedia says he inspired Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and Billy Crystal, among others, so I guess he's worth looking up.
• "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay." This is from vaudeville, so everyone would be too old for it, except I guess Howdy Doody kept it alive?
• Loni Anderson. WKRP in Cincinnati is before my time.

Really?

• 20A Togalike Roman cloak ABOLLA. Two issues here: 1. Togalike is not even a word, so we are off to a rough start. (Why not "toga-like"?) 2. No one knows ABOLLA. I think this is the only time I have ever seen Google so short on related searches, meaning not only does no one know this word, no one even cares to find out about it:
  
• That's it. 4 suggestions. You've reached the end of the internet.
• The cross of the largest city of Yemen (SANAA) and the capital of Uganda (KAMPALA). Help a sister who's bad at geography out! 
• I did guess at this, but I felt pretty good about it. I'm 99% sure Sanaa has already been in a Sunday puzzle I've done. Crosswords > high school.
• Things I am almost certain I have complained about before, but like a bad penny...
• Gists = NUBS. If you say so.
• Cole Porter's "Well, Did You Evah?"

Things I learned today:

• I don't think I knew the word dotard? I'm not sure I like it. Looks like the r-word for old people.
• Rapa Nui is a Polynesian name for Easter Island and its people. I'm glad to know this!
• VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) is a brandy grade. I think we could have been a little more creative here, brandy-grading committee. Very superior?

Times I got to use my French major this week 

• La terre. That's all I got this time.

Fritz out!