Variety: Acrostic

I thought it was super-easy. I was expecting a Mother's Day theme, and boned up on the name of M.D.'s founder, Anna Jarvis, in advance, but it wasn't needed. I did this one in near-record time, however, only about half a martini's worth of effort. A fine Mother's Day present for those of us who sometimes feel seriously stoopid trying to do these puzzles!

As a Psychologist Management Consultant, I used to use the Shamu articles as an excellent way to show managers how to shape key behaviors from their team members. They caught on very fast!

This one was average solving time for me. I started with WHALEBONE, GARNISH, URSA, ARMS, AFFECTION and TAILOR; I also saw that the next to last letter was probably not an E, so not tinker. I worked as an animal technician for many years at clinics and also in a shelter. The animals taught me a lot about respecting their space and learning non-threatening body language.

I didn't find it a struggle, but I certainly didn't find it as easy as some others and had plenty of back and forth between the grid and the clues. Comically, despite my Philadelphia roots and loyalty (you can take the girl out of Philly, but not the Philly out of the girl), I didn't keen to the cute Hero=Hoagie clue for quite a while. I mean, a hoagie is just a hoagie to me!

This acrostic was unexpectedly easy for me—I had 11 gimmes on the first & second passes: TIE UP, HOAGIE, ROSEMARY, LION TAMER, ARMS, DAEDALUS, WHALEBONE, HAY FEVER, URSA, GARNISH, and TAILOR. (For TAILOR I looked at the letters and saw that the fifth letter had to be O rather than E). That may be an unprecedented number! And once those letters were in place, I saw “All creatures great and small” in the quotation. And then it was easy to go back and forth and fill in the letters. I do not expect this to happen very often! Usually I have to struggle a lot more to figure things out. Still, it was entertaining, and it’s nice to have an easy one every so often. NUMBAT was new to me, also.

Can't believe EV & HR let Mother's Day go unpuzzled except for F. and that's too outre. Otherwise, fun Acrostic.

Yes, this was a fast one for me, too. I lost sight of LeCarre on the clue and spent too much time trying to decide between sailor and TAILOR (DUH). HAY FEVER was a gimme that I probably entered while sneezing--it's been a rough season this year.

This acrostic was indeed pretty easy. I agree with Cyn that gentler puzzles are great for neophytes. My favorite clue was "Hero of Philadelphia". And the answer for "Built like a sumo wrestler" was extremely polite. My first thought for "A bit tense, fearful or anxious" was ANGSTY, but no. And I tried to make GOGO DANCER the "Performer in a cage", but alas it didn't fit.

Today's puzzle was the easiest one for me in a long time. I won't list my gimmes because I was pretty much able to go down the list of clues and answer them in order. The only two answers I didn't know right off the bat (ha!) were NUMBAT and MILKWEED. I'm not complaining -- I think easier puzzles now and then are great for new solvers, and even for those of us who have been solving for decades. I enjoyed many of the clues, and it was fun to get so many correct answers in a row. :) Thanks for another great puzzle, EC & HR.