28D: "Who likes generic beer" is also phrased like a Jeopardy question (hence, "Alex").
3
I've always avoided these puzzles because they just seemed so random, but they are really beginning to grow on me! Now, if NYT would only bring on more Diagramless puzzles, I'd be a happy camper. :)
1
In the print version, the clue for 16A is "How to make a scarlet scar". It wasn't until I checked my answers by filling in the online puzzle that I saw the clue L-E-T. Did anyone else encounter this?
@Beetgirl yes, I noticed this, too, and also print version was different for 6D as well.
This is the first fairly thorough PANDA explanation I've seen offered online in "real time" in a long time and a very big TY to Caitlin for that.
Re "ereader" in 56A -- I don't think the E comes from "eye" but rather than from the top of the eye chart is usually a big solo letter E.
4
@Debbie
My take also -- and I'm going back 70 years!
Loved 44 down, 1, 15 across but thought 35 down was just. A little too clever. Now I suppose it’s a new trick for future Pandas.
1
This was my first try at a P and A puzzle. I got KNIT then I was at sea. So I followed Caitlin’s process and learned a lot, got a couple more on my own, and thoroughly enjoyed the process although full of groans, etc. I look forward to my second try on the next one, but “whew.” :)
1
@Beejay --
Groaning is an integral part of the P&A experience!
1
@Beejay Keep at it. PANDAS are the gateway drug to cryptics. And once you've mastered American cryptics you'll want to try the British ones. Good luck.
@Tony S
Thanks! I have looked at British cryptic with a bit of awe. I’ll see if I can work my way there.
I actually thought 36D was pretty funny. 44D, too.
The answer I just don't get, though I filled it in, is 35D. What do all those numbers have to do with Violations?
OMG, I just got it! Looked at the clue again, saw the reference to "leaders". Applied to the spelled-out numbers. Aha.
1
@Madeline Gunther --
And who else filled 16A with LETDOWN?
1
@Madeline Gunther
not me
:-)
Excellent column for the puzzle! I'd just second what Caitlin wrote in her opening paragraph - once you get into PandA puzzles and more traditional cryptics, they become something to eagerly anticipate, though there definitely is a learning curve.
FWIW - in the version of the puzzle I printed out (on Thursday evening), Massachusetts (40A) is spelled correctly. Also - re 19A - the description seems backwards (the word that returns is "rat,", and the entry is TAR.
@RichardZ Allow me to add that TAR can be slang for a sailor, MA and NY are the postal abbreviations, and yes, there is no extra "s" in "Massachusetts" on that cluelist.
1
@Jerrold
I must have gotten a pre-published version with that typo! Should have checked. Thanks!
1
@Caitlin While we're "talking", what about 40D? I know that carpenters use a miter box, but are Cambridge students referred to as "Miters", or what?
Not the most difficult PANDA, but certainly enjoyable enough to elicit a tingle.
1
Whirlpool is always one of my favorite “middle” puzzles.
[SPOILER ALERT]
My immediate gimmes were COME TO/COMET and then TRIXIE, which gave me ELIXIR.
That was when I searched for a 1957 Disney movie beginning with O, and got OLD YELLER.
Sometimes it is wise not to write in an answer that you’re not completely sure of. I almost put in ROAMED instead of RANGED for the third row, so it was just as well that I had decided to hold off on it. Likewise I held off on putting in MAIM at the end of the whirlpool answers.
I got CARELL only from the crossings.
3
@Jerrold --
I tried ROAMED first, too.
I liked the clue for 2. Canine coat? Having spent a lot of time at the dentist in the past year, I got it right away.