Gripes about today's puzzle

[rhu]

First, an amusing note about the puzzle, then a few gripes.

For 26A I had _EATB_L_S and for a moment wondered why {Airplane sign images} were known as MEATBALLS.

And now, the gripes.

With both 16A and 33A being phrases with three consecutive letters the same, I expected a minitheme. 55A disappointed.

And 14D, {DONTTASEMEBRO}, was a memorable phrase in the news in 2007, but was it really a catchphrase?

Finally, the fill here felt a lot like the old days, before computers. STR and RDS and STNS in the same puzzle? And the blind crossings of 42D ({L'__ du Tour (annual cycling event)} with 41A {Correo ___} and with 51A {Province between Palermo and Catania}?

Comments

[qaqaq.livejournal.com]

I had the same minitheme thought, and so did one of the testers.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I was pretty unhappy with the 42D and 41A/51A crossing, all the more so because I'm not at all convinced that "I BEEN HAD" (as opposed to "I've been had!") is an actual phrase.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had the same reaction to IBEENHAD (and in fact refused to write it in for a while).

[ertchin.livejournal.com]

I tend to think of a catchphrase as something that a particular person or group of people say a lot, such that it is associated with them. So by that standard, I would say no to 14D. But I think MW's definition allows it, as a lot of people were certainly fond of repeating the phrase to represent a point of view. Several different points of view, really.

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

"I been had" should indeed be, "I've", (or making it a question by putting "have" at the beginning), unless we allow a "Catch Phrase" to be limited to a small group of people. "I been had" is an Inner City contraction such as those used to impress others of the same status. You can put any of these on the end: "my date"; "it on CD"; "feelings for the dude"; "this dress"... Cliques have always used cryptic esoteric phrases to enhance the feeling of belonging.

Now, back to the "real me":
I've had spaghatti and meatballs that tasted as if they were made from Seat Belts! :o) (I haven't see the puzzle or how the clue is worded, but Seat Belts is, technically, 2 words.)