LAT Sun. 2/20 Peter Wenz

[magus]

Find Out

 
Maybe it’s me (I know), but this Sunday LAT puzzle is simply not up to par.  First off, the title doesn’t work.  The theme is the substitution of F for D --- F instead of D, not “in” it [FIND].
Then, some of the theme phrases are clued poorly.  Take the first one.  A stewardess serving a drink says, “This is not a frill.”  What does that mean?  And what is a FOGANDPONYSHOW, an “equine exhibition with poor visibility”?  And what are “Energizing banjos”?  The worst is STAYATHOMEFAD.  Since when has a mother not working become a fad?
To be fair, there were good theme entries and clues: 
Stick around for sautéing?   HANGOUTTOFRY
Pixie dust?   FAIRYPRODUCT
Written warning about gangster Gotti?   FEARJOHNLETTER
And WININGANDFINING isn’t bad.
There were three clever entries:
Come again?   REVISIT
Heads of England?   LOOS
Clip joints?   ARSENALS

But:
Spill preceder   TRIP [the phrase is “trip and fall” so the clue should be “Fall preceder"]
Pinochle declaration   MELD [“declaration” has that denotation, but is it ever used?  A meld is an action.]

RATING:  Three grins = Excellent: Loved it; Two grins = Good: Enjoyed it; One grin = Satisfactory: A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Unsatisfying: No fun

[DrewE]

I believe the title should be parsed as "F in, D out," which works reasonably well.

"FOG AND PONY SHOW," "FUELING BANJOS," and "STAY AT HOME FAD" are stretches, I agree.  I suppose fog could refer to the stuff used at rock concerts and not just the natural meteorological phenomenon, but with ponies in the mix?

Under what circumstances is an ELL an "orthogonal joint"?  The things that pipes are put together with are fittings; a joint would seem to me to usually imply movability (or incarceration or recreational drug use).

[magus]

Hi, Drew---

I think you're right about F = in; D= out, but I don't agree it works reasonably well in FIND Out because of the spacing of the letters.

STAYATHOMEFAD is not a stretch, it's a stench --- but I may be over-reacting.  In any event, there simply is nothing faddish about motherhood and homemaking.

As for an ell, I don't sense that such a joint suggests movement.  The joint could be a fitting in a rigid setting as in an elbow joint.