05.22.07 -- DO RE MI

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
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Puzzle by Roger Wolff, edited by Will Shortz
DEERAFEMALEDEER (17a Doe, in song), DROPOFGOLDENSUN (36A Ray, in song), NAMEICALLMYSELF (55A Me, in song) with EDELWEISS (11D Alpine flower), GERMANY (35D 1990 Reunification site), and DOREMI (43A Money, slangily) leave little doubt about this puzzle's main thrust.
"Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow Sew
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti
Do . . . So Do Re . . . La Fa Mi . . . Mi
Do Fa . . . Re So . . . So Do La . . . La Fa Ti . . . La So Fa
Mi Re Ti
Do - oh - oh
Ti Do -- So Do"
Cheerful? -- Think again!
This little Tuesday monster has a sinister underside -- ROTTENIDEA (15A Idea that stinks), AWASH (5A Covered with water), BRINE (22A Pickle juice), TRIPE (46A Nonsense), ONETWO (54A Boxing Combo), SMEE (60A "Peter Pan" pirate) OMANI (62A Muscat-eer?) sharing it's "i" with OMNI (54D Prefix with potent), THIS (46D "Don't breathe a word of ____"), LURE (38D Bait), DISARM (43D Drop one's weapon), ROBOCOP (23D 1987 sci-fi film set in near-future Detroit), POLICEMAN (32D One dressed in blue), PRONE (31D Lying facedown), KIDD (10D William the pirate), EATUP (25D Eagerly devour), STALIN (8D Red star?), PIT (37D Cockfight area), HADES (1D Pluto's alias) and WOE (6D Misery) -- all lurking in the shadows of joy!
This puzzle is rich with etymological imagery and rife with memories of the past and future, calling to mind the U.S. Open, Ivan Lendl, Pittsburgh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left over from yesterday's puzzle?), General Motors, Moline,_Illinois, Peter Pan, Reese Witherspoon, Helen of Troy, William Kidd, Humphrey Bogart, Pinky Lee and Peggy Lee, the Gin Blossoms, Elena Verdugo, Rocco Mediate, Muhammed Ali, Len Deighton, Ted Turner, Joseph Stalin and the Devil Himself.
To read more about this terrific Tuesday terror, check out the following:
For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
The completed grid above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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1 comment:

  1. You and I are must be entirely too busy. The day's almost over, and neither of us has commented on the other's blog. I saw your comment on Green Genius -- how bizarre is that!

    This is a hectic week for me. I hope I have the energy to puzzle and blog : )

    ReplyDelete