STAIRMASTER made for a near-perfect central entry. It's something most everyone will have seen or at least heard of, so you can employ ...
read moreSTAIRMASTER made for a near-perfect central entry. It's something most everyone will have seen or at least heard of, so you can employ wordplay to your heart's desire. And the clue didn't disappoint. I wrestled with [Flight simulator?] for ages. Not a pilot's flight simulator, but a simulator of a flight of stairs. Man, that's clever!
It, unfortunately, needed the telltale question mark, which is why I said "near-perfect." Still, it's a 9.5 out of 10.
I have an extremely high bar for Andrew's stair-stack work — ah, the insider's nod makes STAIRMASTER even more enjoyable! — and this one didn't quite meet my sky-high expectations.
Part of it was that Andrew challenged himself more than usual, using three grid-spanners, CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CINCINNATI CHILI, and JUKEBOX MUSICAL. Integrating these into the grid skeleton rigidifies everything so much, that the fill can't bend in the wind. It's unusual to see so much CPO ESTD ILIE MOL OREL in a Ries production.
I have an issue with TIGER MOTHER. That technically is a valid term, but no one calls it that — it's always "tiger mom." Even my mom calls herself a tiger mom. She'd probably spank me if I said TIGER MOTHER.
I kid! Sort of. I did get spanked (mostly deserved). People laugh about the "Asian F" — an A-minus — but one of my clearest memories is of bringing home a report card with all As and one A-minus. My mom's reaction was to scowl while berating me for doing so poorly.
I guess her methods worked. In making me neurotic, that is.
Still, I dug Andrew's stair stack of INDEX FINGER / STAIRMASTER / RHETT BUTLER, plus SATELLITE TV running through them. And that clue for PITTED! [Like dates that lack a heart] — a bit of wordplay cleverness, a bit of social commentary. Thank goodness those days are long since past me!