Glutton for Pun #181 by Erik Agard
“THEMELESS 48“
We’re back in the themeless groove this week. Solve here if you haven’t already, then take a peek.
Keeping this review short and sweet. For Erik’s latest themeless, we have stacks of three 11s cradling the top and bottom of the grid, with Stevie Wonder’s SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE gracefully sliding down the center. For the long entries, I especially enjoyed figuring out that [Most famous Shak. work] was not Shakespeare, but Shakira, when HIPS DON’T LIE clicked. INSTANT FILM makes me wonder how long it’ll be before I tell patients’ parents that a certain vision testing device looks like a Polaroid camera, and the parents won’t know what I mean. HAPPY ENDING is a nice way to finish the grid.
The short fill is fine. [Pet food?] for CHIA next to [Pen line] for OINK right up in the NW corner are lovely. PPSS isn’t great, but then we get a gem like [Blue and White streamer] for NILE in the NE corner. Overall, it’s an enjoyable solve.
Next week should be more in-depth, without a sick child and patient labs to track down and whatnot.
