I missed the DESERT ISLE boat, and since I had time on my hands, I dutifully wrote in ESK ISK ASK ESK. Here I am being characteristically encouraging :) Greatest Father's Day moment was learning that my daughter is dropping sub-5 times on Monday puzzles now. Anything else to say about this? Not really. Snore.' There is an 'ear pin' in this puzzle, it turns out, but it goes by the name of 'stud' and it goes in the PIERCED EAR at 18D: Place to insert a stud. BARPIN is about as boring a word for a piece of jewelry as I can imagine. TSKED is awful but I'm pretty sure I've used it in actual conversation. My cat does not get SLOBBERY when he gets a CAT TREAT, but some cats do and I like that those answers are symmetrical. The clue phrasing is awkward and to my ear incorrect. The ESCAPEE literally *is* the letters, and those letters are 'hiding' inside the larger phrase. Well, tiny bit mad at the revealer clue-the ESCAPEE is hiding in the answers, not hiding 'in certain letters in' the answers. But whatever, SKP is probably hard do perfectly and this one works and I finished in under 3 and had a genuine aha so Not Mad. POLK (where it's already sounded out as a letter) is a minor flaw, and a bigger part of me that doesn't give a f*** about 'stock market lingo' and thinks ASK PRICES sounds super dumb. yup, checks out!' There is a small part of me that thinks getting the 'K' from the single initial 'K' in JAMES K. I make this face when I don't get the theme immediately upon finishing, and I was just starting to make it, thinking it maybe had something to do with a letter 'E' that had 'escaped' from the themers (don't do that, please), and then I noticed the 'hiding' letter string SKP and then I was like 'o, wow, well, yes, that works perfectly. If I didn't literally 'aha' when I figured out the theme (after I was done), I came close. (wikipedia)Ĭonceptually, this is wonderful. Today, they are usually made of plastic tubing. Traditional materials for hoops include willow, rattan (a flexible and strong vine), grapevines and stiff grasses. Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately 70 centimetres (28 in) in diameter, while those for adults measure around 1 metre (40 in). 'Spud' Melin and Richard Knerr, but children and adults around the world have played with hoops throughout history. The modern hula hoop was invented in 1958 by Arthur K. Word of the Day: Hula HOOP ( 5A: Hula _) -Ī hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. POLK (61A: President between John Tyler and Zachary Taylor) ASK PRICES (52A: Lowest acceptable offers, in stock market lingo).RISK-PRONE (21A: Willing to accept danger).DESK PHONES (17A: Lines at the office?).

THEME: ESCAPEE (39A: Fugitive who, phonetically, is 'hiding' in certain letters in 17-, 21-, 52- and 61-Across) - letter string 'SKP' can be found inside all four themers:

James gang starr crossword