Three Sundays in a row! I used to stay away from Sunday puzzles because they were just too long. But how about this one? The long puzzle for today is the Spelling Bee, but that’s a post for later.
The title of this puzzle is Get Out of Here! In the past I’d forgotten to look at the Sunday title until after completing the puzzle, but it’s a new month and a new approach.
I pulled out 115A No-parking-zone fixture: HYDRANT because I was talking to Calah the other day about fire hydrants, and I couldn’t remember the word hydrant. It had been pushed out of my mind by the word plug because at least some part of the other side of the country refer to fire hydrants as fire plugs. I guess that serves me right for watching Parking Wars. I had filled out the answer as REDCURB, but that didn’t work with anything other than 85D Boxed a bit: SPARRED. So like a brazen parking-space-less driver, I tore the RED CURB out.
As for the theme, it was Get OF Out of Here, but the OF was removed(?)
23A Archaeologist’s assertion about a finding?: BONECONTENTION->BONE(of)CONTENTION, an idiom I just learned as the main point of disagreement.
33A Swim team guru?: STROKEGENIUS->STROKE(of)GENIUS
40A Hire Phil Collins’s longtime band for a gig?: BOOKGENESIS->BOOK(of)GENESIS. This one was no land of confusion.
51A The Serengeti, e.g.?: PRIDEPLACE (where lions are)->PRIDE(of)PLACE, an idiom I just learned that I think means pole position or atop the field? Help me if I’m wrong here.
63A Knowing everything that’s available to view on Netflix?: STREAMCONSCIOUSNESS->STREAM(of)CONSCIOUSNESS
77A Amenity offered at an internet cafe?: FREECHARGE->FREE(of)CHARGE
84A Bit of reading at a bar mitzvah?: RITEPASSAGE (Torah pun!)->RITE(of)PASSAGE
90A Stand-up’s bombs?: COMEDYERRORS->COMEDY(of)ERRORS. Like Rudy getting COVID?
106A Art shop worker’s manual?: FRAMEREFERENCE->FRAME(of)REFERENCE
Finished this one in 41:19. It’s below my Sunday average of 58:29 but above my PR of 15:11(?????) in August 2018. I still don’t know how that happened. I feel like it’s an error. But it’s something to strive for.