See the 8 answer words debuted by Alissa Revness.
M | I | C | S | R | A | G | U | O | H | S | A | Y | ||
I | M | A | C | U | R | A | L | N | O | T | D | O | ||
T | A | M | I | N | G | O | F | T | H | E | C | R | E | W |
T | Y | P | E | O | A | F | R | O | S | I | L | L | ||
N | O | G | R | E | A | T | C | A | K | E | S | |||
S | I | C | K | O | S | O | M | E | ||||||
T | U | N | E | B | O | N | E | O | P | T | E | D | ||
W | I | T | G | I | F | T | C | O | P | H | A | I | ||
O | T | H | E | R | T | H | O | R | C | A | R | P | ||
A | L | A | I | C | U | L | T | S | ||||||
G | E | T | S | I | N | T | O | C | A | P | E | |||
E | T | C | N | O | O | N | E | S | A | M | O | A | ||
S | H | A | R | I | N | G | I | S | C | A | R | I | N | G |
T | A | S | T | E | A | C | A | I | E | L | L | E | ||
S | N | E | E | R | S | E | R | A | D | A | Y | S |
O | N | T | A | P | M | O | M | A | A | S | I | A | ||
M | E | R | C | I | E | R | I | C | T | A | N | S | ||
N | O | O | N | E | M | A | S | C | O | I | N | K | ||
I | N | T | E | R | N | E | T | T | R | O | L | L | ||
R | O | S | E | U | P | L | O | A | D | |||||
P | O | I | S | E | D | B | E | E | R | N | A | |||
A | C | M | E | S | P | E | E | D | D | E | M | O | N | |
S | C | A | L | P | A | Y | E | S | T | O | I | C | ||
S | U | G | A | R | F | I | E | N | D | T | O | N | E | |
E | P | I | I | L | L | A | G | E | N | T | S | |||
D | Y | N | A | M | O | B | O | D | Y | |||||
E | N | E | R | G | Y | V | A | M | P | I | R | E | ||
J | P | E | G | E | Y | R | E | R | A | D | A | R | ||
A | I | R | S | T | R | O | N | A | R | E | N | A | ||
W | E | S | T | S | O | N | S | T | E | S | T | S |
Such a devilishly clever theme: four monstrous phrases that describe real-life bad actors. The main reason Jim Horne and I don't allow comments on XWord Info is INTERNET TROLLs. ENERGY VAMPIRE is new to me, but it makes complete sense. Reminds me of the descriptive engineering term vampire power.
SPEED DEMON isn't as fresh as the others, but it's still in use. Not applied to me, of course, as I drive exactly at the speed limit or below. Much to my wife's impatient howls of chagrin.
Speaking of chagrin, our two SUGAR FIEND kids. Some new-agey nutritionists strongly urge putting dessert on the dinner plate to remove the aura of sweets. We experimented with this long ago, and after a week of Tess eating the sugar cookie and nothing else …
ANGST is right.
Not as many bonuses in the fill as I want, given the gridding flexibility, but IMAGINEERS is fun, SAILOR MOON is at least two recognizable words if you haven't read it (give it a try, it's entertaining!), and GYM RAT crossing BODY amused me. ACCRUED will accrue more interest among finance types, but FLORETS and OCCUPY Wall Street are more evocative.
I appreciate smooth Monday solves, and to require only MASC and ETTE is solid work. However, with four themers — two of them ten letters, a manageable length to work with — I want a spotless grid. Maybe there's a personal reason for putting in MASC (or loving MEMES as fill?), but that north region could have been squeaky clean (perhaps using an extra black square at the A of ACCRUED).
I enjoyed the beastly collection, and I appreciated learning ENERGY VAMPIRE today. Congrats to Alissa on her debut!