Yet another puzzle that took me longer than half an hour that I pushed through to completion. This was an annoying one, but I felt I’d be even more annoyed if I didn’t power through.

I’ve certainly felt more excited by figuring out the trick to the puzzle than I was with this. This single-for-double letters was kind of a letdown, though my favorite of all of them was 54A Being stubborn at nap time? RESISTINGAREST.

My favorite clue of all in this puzzle was 18D Obama Energy secretary Steven, but not for the reason you’re thinking.

Back in 1998, Steven Chu was the keynote speaker at the California State Science Fair, and I went to hear him speak there. I must clarify the previous statement: I was nine years old, so it wasn’t really my choice where I went, but I didn’t voice opposition. Steven Chu had won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, and it was the first time I’d been in the presence of a Nobel Prize winner. Almost a quarter of a century later, I think he’s the only Nobel Laureate whose presence I’ve been in. (When I went to office hours for an econ class in college, I’d only seen 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics recipient Finn E. Kydland’s door closed.) It made me happy when Steven Chu was Obama’s pick to run Energy because I long had respect for the guy. I hadn’t thought of him in a while, so I liked having this reminder.

It bears mentioning that I had remembered the fair in the LA Convention Center, but it was in the Sports Arena (RIP). It was exciting for me to find out that I’d been in that building after all. http://csef.usc.edu/History/1998/

So I went longer than half an hour for this puzzle and finished in 34:25. It’s better than my attempt at last week’s Thursday where I wasn’t even close to finishing when I called it at half an hour.