I have not commented on the Monday & Tuesday puzzles for awhile since they are unremarkable. The effort seems to be to make the puzzles easy, but in so doing they are made rather pedestrian. And as I have insisted before, easy doesn't have to be boring. For example:
For SMALL we are given "Pint-size." But "Coke or fry starter" is not much more difficult and is a bit more interesting.
For PATS we are given "Butter squares." I would use "Swayze and Saint." Everyone knows Patrick Swayze and St. Patrick.
For CHER we get "Sonny's partner." I think more clever and only slightly more challenging (for 40-yr.-olds and up) would be "Star's name that sounds like a stock holding."
And, if you don't agree with the first three, there's SECURITYBLANKET for "Comforting carry-along for kids." But "Linus prop" would at least create an image for the solver, and a pleasant one at that.
Furthermore, if difficulty is of concern, why is AMOI, a French term, used? Just how well-known is LANAI, "Delphic prophet," or Bashar al-ASSAD? Or Point REYES National Seashore? There are more, but the point is clear: clever clues for simple answers are not more difficult than many of the terms found in the easiest of LAT puzzles.
By the way, STOA is an ancient Greek porch or portico. The clue "Ancient Greek meeting spot" should elicit
agora, or market place. I guess people could meet on a porch, but a porch is no more a meeting place than say a garden.
