Mon., 11/17 Timothy L. Meaker

[magus]

THEME:   first word of a phrase means center --- I think
   
GOOD ONES:     
There are none --- guess we need the valleys to appreciate the hills --- though this may be a chasm   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun
   
I have Time Warner high speed cable.  With it comes Time Warner low speed modem repair --- two days!   
   
   

[Thomps2525]

I assumed today's puzzle had no theme. Mister magus thinks the theme might be "center." With that in mind, I looked at the puzzle again. HEART, HUB, CORE and MIDDLE begin four different words and a fifth answer is CENTERLINE. I don't think there's a coincidence here. Meaker did have a theme...but it wasn't overly obvious.

Today's grid had 40 black sauares---Aarrrggh!---and far too many foreign words and Crosswordese words: ADORE, ALAI, AMEN, ANTE, ASTRA, EEL, ELM, ERA, ETAL, OCHO, OLEO and REDO. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that Meaker included the name of SABU, a young actor who appeared in seven films, including Elephant Boy, Arabian Nights, The Thief Of Baghdad and the 1942 version of The Jungle Book. He was born in 1924 in Karapur, British India. His birth name was Sabu Dastagir...or Sabu Francis...or Selar Shaik Sabu. Take your pick.