The Sunday, July 6 puzzle by rock-star constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley (answers) is a dandy. When I saw the title I thought, what the H? These add-a-letter themes are sometimes dull. Not today, though. I especially liked "45, e.g." It's nothing to do with the Second Amendment. The answer is WHIRLED RECORD. And of course, I often say WHEE when I'm particularly pleased with a blog post.
I circled too many answers to talk about (that's a good sign!) so I won't get to them all but here are a few. Why is it that teens go "and he goes, and then she goes" when relaying a conversation? It's a completely accurate clue but the root behavior cause completely eludes me. I think that's what they call a generation gap. "Fully or partially" is a wonderful clue. There are words that mean the same as their opposite but I couldn't think of one that meant both in part and in full. I was on the wrong track. The clue, which I dare no longer call quarfotic, refers to the words themselves. Fully and partially are both adverbs. Nice.
Really out of it in 11 Down means really out of it. I was so sure it was a figure of speech that COMA didn't occur to me for a while. "Is shy" shouldn't fool me any more but it does. I'm a few bucks shy myself but I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. I bet you smiled when you figured out that "cutting remarks" were OWS. "Stir" is not a verb but a reference to the big house or THE CAN.
There were a couple of spots I had to get just from crosses. Is "Slogan" a golf ball brand or something? It sits on a TEE apparently. The Long Island Rail Road goes to Penn Station, I learned. N. C. Wyeth illustrated Treasure Island in 1911.
Is a missile course really a VECTOR? It might be aimed on such but gravity and air resistance will give it a decidedly arcing route. Maybe the missile in question is a laser beam.
A very enjoyable Sunday puzzle, Mr. Quigley.