Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: "My Treat" — all about ICE CREAM SODA (117A: Something delicious to drink).
Puzzle Note: "When this puzzle is done, the circles will contain five different letters of the alphabet. Connect each set of circles containing the same letter, without crossing your line, to make a simple closed shape. The resulting five closed shapes together will form a picture of a 117-Across. The five letters can be arranged to name a good place to get a 117-Across."
[Picture created by following instructions in the Puzzle Note includes a TALL GLASS, TWO SCOOPS, a LONG SPOON, and a FLEXIBLE STRAW. Five letters involved in the picture can be arranged to form DINER]
Word of the Day: MADRONES (47D: West Coast evergreens) —
n. 1. (Bot.) A small evergreen tree or shrub (Arbutus Menziesii), of Pacific North America, having a smooth bark, thick glossy leathery leaves, and edible orange-red berries, which are often called madroña apples ; the wood is used for furniture and the bark for tanning.
• • •
No pleasure here. None. I checked out mentally very early on, once I realized that the theme was straightforward and boring, and the fill was lifeless and often tortured. I have "ugh" and "ugly" written in margins all over the top of the puzzle. At some point, as I say, I stopped caring, and just dutifully filled in the grid. No marginalia in the bottom half. I don't even know what to say today. Theme is self-explanatory. Theme answers aren't good or bad—they just are. Fill is rough all over, but I don't have the heart to list it all. I can tell you that the puzzle lost me completely after just the NW, with its plural OKRAS and IT'SAN and SETA NDAK SDS REATA ABCD DRLAO (19A: 1964 title role for Tony Randall) PADMA DOI. Later I just stared at SIDERITE (33D: Valuable iron ore) and ESOTERY (?) (14D: Obscure things) and MADRONES (47D: West Coast evergreens). But mostly, by then, I didn't care. This is the danger of Sunday—if you don't like it, you're in for a long, uncomfortable ride.[I only just now tried to draw the picture, per the "Puzzle Note"'s instructions. What I have on my paper looks almost nothing like an ICE CREAM SODA ... Oh, the "E"s are supposed to be a *spoon*! I was like "why is that straw stuck in an olive?"]
Theme answers:
25A: Some versions of a 117-Across (BROWN COWS)- 27A: Ingredient in a 117-Across (SELTZER WATER)
- 59A: Ingredient in a 117-Across (FLAVORED SYRUP)
- 83A: Utensil for 117-Across (FLEXIBLE STRAW)
- 121A: Version of a 117-Across (COKE FLOAT)
- 4D: Container for a 117-Across (TALL GLASS)
- 11D: Like many a 117-Across (CHOCOLATE)
- 84D: Utensil for a 117-Across (LONG SPOON)
- 87D: Quantity of a key ingredient in a 117-Across (TWO SCOOPS)
Bullets:
- 23A: 1950s NBC icon (BERLE) — Uncle Miltie. Way before my time. Still, got it off the "B"
- 41A: Kimchi-loving land (KOREA) — Mmm. Wish we had Korean food around here. I haven't had Korean food since I lived in Ann Arbor (*several* choices there).
- 48A: DKNY competitor (YSL) — this was where I got the "Y" in ESOTERY. Possibly the low point in the solving experience.
- 104A: "Web ___" (ESPN segment showing great fielding plays) (GEMS) — Specifically, it's a "Baseball Tonight" segment.
- 12D: Private eye Peter of old TV (GUNN) — he has a very famous theme:
- 72D: Mountain sighting, maybe (YETI) — No. Not "maybe." Just no.
- 50D: Like mountains and computer images (SCALABLE) — I like the clue a whole lot better than the answer.
- 116D: Old U.S.P.S. routing codes (RFDS) — I'd hate this, but I used it once, so ... [whistling and looking the other way]
- 109A: A stake, metaphorically (SKIN) — most interesting clue of the day. I you have "a stake" in the game, you have SKIN in the game.
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