NYT Crossword, 0727

As a relative newcomer to these NYT crosswords, this one totally threw me. The theme involved a whole word (in this case a direction word like up, down, right, or left) fitting into a single space. I had a couple of them, except I couldn't figure out why there seemed to be a extra space. That probably contributed (although I can't say it completely explains it) to my inability to even get close to solving this one. There were some very obscure words in there though, and I will mention them at least.

portrays = LIMNS ??? (It even comes from Latin, but sheesh!!)

genus of poisonous mushrooms = AMANITA

pasta used in soups = ORZO

sphagnous = MOSSY


And of course the infamous proper names that probably few have heard of outside of crossword-dom or locals to the name:

City that overlooks a bay of the same name = HILO

old musical high notes = ELAS (The fact that I could only find this on a crossword explanation web page tells you that it is hokey.)

Tasmania's highest peak = OSSA

Construction porject that gave rise to the Ted Williams Tunnel = BIGDIG


Some crossword bloggers seemed to like the little self-referential plays on words, but I don't think they belong in a crossword puzzle. So no more trickery like "Hollow center?" = DOUBLEL, or Building component = SILENTU. Ugh!!