The New York Times Crossword in Gothic: July 2007

07.31.07 -- Walks

"Jesus Walking on the Sea" -- Gustav Dore

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Puzzle by Allan E. Parrish, edited by Will Shortz

WALKS (29D Word following the last parts of the answers to the five starred clues) is the anchor entry for TRIPLESPACE (20A “Line formatting option); COOLCAT (40A *Hipster); SCHOOLBOARD (61A *Education overseers); HOLYCROSS (11D *College in Worcester, Mass.); and PATTYCAKE (33D *Kids’ game), resulting in space walks, catwalks, boardwalks, crosswalks, and cakewalks.”

This Tuesday crossword vibrates WITH (44A Accompanying) activity: SCRAM (8D “Get out!”); START (51AGet going); VEER (18A Zig or Zag); YAW (23A Go off course); TAUT (49A Lacking slack); LOOSE (54D Not tied down); and THROB (42D Pulsate) and the people to do it.

ALEC (15A Writer Waugh); RAHAL (9A 1986 Indy winner Bobby); MILNE (19A Pooh’s creator); AGNEW (27A Nixon’s 1968 running mate); VEEP (7D 27-Across, e.g., informally); NOEL (73A Coward of the stage); REECE (71A Model/volleyball Gabrielle); GARTH (1D Singer Brooks); BLAIR (3D Britain’s P.M. until 2007); ROMERO (9D Cesar who played the Joker); ICET (35D “Ricochet” co-star); OSCAR (53D Musician/wit Levant); LOEWE (13D Lerner’s musical partner); PABLO (57D Artist Picasso); SAMPRAS (4D Tennis star Pete); ALTE (70A Der ___ [Konrad Adenauer]); SHE (43A Cyndi Lauper’s “___ Bop”); ARI (10D “Exodus” hero); PIKE (46A Explorer Zebulon); CHE (37D Rebel Guevara); and many others including EDSEL (59D Collectible Ford product) (named for Edsel Ford) and ALERO (2D Last Oldsmobile to be made) (named for R. E. Olds).

Contrasts are tossed about with APLOMB (52D Self-assurance), including ORONO (16A Maine college town) forming a cross with HOLYCROSS; HORROR (24A Blockbuster aisle) on line with MIRACLE (25A Prerequisite for sainthood); LOGIC and OPTIC; VEEP and VEER; SHE and CHE; ELI and ELOI; ARGO and OGRE; ALA and ALLA; with CAV and CAVERN sharing their starting C’s; and OLYMPIC and CHAMP tied by their C’s.

In short, it’s a good thing an OTTOMAN (48D Living room piece) is included to rest one’s PAW (31D Pussy foot?) from the ROAR (30A Big top noise) of movement in this wonderful and fun-to-solve crossword!

Man walks a dog -- Rock Painting, Madhya Pradesh Prehistoric Rock Paintings of Bhimbetaka, India

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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution 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.

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07.30.07 -- Crystal Ball

Monday, July 30, 2007

Puzzle by Elizabeth A. Long, edited by Will Shortz

ESP (33D Paranormal ability) is the central entry of this Monday puzzle and appropriately so -- Major League Baseball set an attendance record this weekend, and this puzzle has three inter-related entries concerning the sport:

LUCILLESBALL (20A Game equipment for an old sitcom star?) SALLYSFIELD (35A Game location for an actress?) ---------- NEILSDIAMOND (52A Game site for a popular singer?)

I don’t think the New York Times crossword puzzle relates to current events on such short notice, so it must be ESP. Other baseball-related entries include FACT (6A Fiction’s opposite), which baseball fans love; EST (13D Inexact fig.), as in “ball-park figure”; SAFE (32D Ump’s call with outstretched arms); and ERA (55D Pitcher’s stat.).

Lucille Ball Baseball -- My Favorite Husband Episode 54 -- originally aired 9/16/49: “Baseball” Story: Liz is determined not to be left out of the baseball game at the Annual Bank Outing, so she persuades her neighbor Mr. Wood to teach her how to play the game.

Sally Field Baseball -- The South Atlantic League, or "Sally League," is a minor league baseball league which operates mostly in the southeastern United States.

Neil Diamond Baseball -- There was hope for a while that a song written by Neil Diamond “I’m A Believer”, a big hit for the Monkees in1966, would be a portent for the Mets in 2003.

The three long entries of “star” names with an added apostrophe and the letter S are joined by a little over a dozen other un-related entries: WESLEY (1D Actor Snipes of “Blade”); IMMUNO (2D Prefix with suppressive); VIACOM (Owner of MTV and BET); FIDELITY (6D Faithfulness); COMBAT (8D Hand-to-hand fighting); TREATY (9D 8-Down ender); LECTERN (22D Speaker’s spot); SPLURGE (29D Go all out); PRIORI (42D A _____[kind of reasoning]); CALLAS (43D Maria of the Met); FACEDOUT (37D Wasn’t turned inward); GROUSE (45D Bellyache); “ANNIE Song (John Denver #hit) (46D); MODEST (47D Not given to self-promotion); OLEATE (24A Organic salt); TYCOONS (30A Captains of industry); POWERPC (41A IBM/Apple product starting in the early ‘90s) -- all very GRAVEN (49A Carved, as an image).

YOM and GAM make a symmetrical appearance left and right; ADS and SELL; IKE and BIKE; RAGU and SNAFU; are a few of the some-how-related entries. ZANY (62A Like some Steve Martin humor), and AND (26D &) make rare appearances.

Oh, and VSIGN (50D Winston Churchill flashed it).

For today's cartoon, go to TheCrossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.29.07 -- HELL

Sunday, July 29, 2007

TH-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, edited by Will Shortz

Is it just me, or is this the most arduous and groan-inducing crossword puzzle of the year thusfar? I'm sure I'm wrong! It has to be me! Brendan Emmett Quigley, the constructor of the this Sunday odds and ends chore is one of my favorite crossword creators -- what happened?!

NOTONESCUPOFTEETH (23A Somebody else's soaking dentures?)

CATHODEWRAITH (37A Ghost in a battery?)

ESCAPEKEITH (62A Avoid being captured by guitarist Richards?)

DOUBLEYOUTH (70A Baby twins?)

SEATTLESLEUTH (92A Sherlock at the Space Needle?)

BOTTOMOFTHEWEALTH (109A Billionaire's last dollar?)

THOROUGHBREADTH (43D Very detailed scope?)

HIGHWAYTOHEALTH (16D Good eating and clean living?)

Tongue-twisters, letter-plays: PINGPONG (1A Basis for the first commercially successful video); MAANDPA (9A Just folks?); PTER (42A Wing: Prefix) and PTUI (63D Spitting sound); POSSLQS (42 (D Some residents, by census classification) crossing IQUIT (69A Fed-up cry); NANANA (98A Repeated sounds in "Hey Jude"); AARP and AAHS; KHAYYAM (102A Poet Omar); ANGELOU (115A "Gather Together in My Name" writer); LOOP and SOON; ELY and ELIS; RAHAL (64A 1986 Indy 500 winner) and ARHAT (15D Nirvana attainer); THOTH (39D Egyptian god of wisdom) -- is TH-O-TH a lisp of S-O-S!

At the risk of sounding like a TEACHER (29A One who might stand in front of a map) who's one of those RANTERS (59D Highly opinionated sorts), I was UNAWED (94D Not impressed), SIGHED (45A Was wistful), ACHED (101D Suffered) and was SADDENED (119A Made blue) by this puzzle's DESCENT (118A Start of a trip in a bathysphere) to the BOTTOMOFTHEWEALTH (bottom of the well?)!

If "TH" were uniformly applied, there would be a key to the puzzle from it's title 'TH-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"; but "tea" is "teeth", "rays" is "wraith", "keith" is "keys", "doubleyouth" is "w's", "sleuth" is "Slew", "wealth" is "well", "breadth" is "bred", and "health" is "hell" -- confusion to the NTH degree (117A).

Little-happenstance-fill is rampant -- RAI, CAD, GNC, AFT, NYE, ILE, HAM, GIG, YON, ELY, ISO, SSR, ATT, LEE, JEB, INS, TEC, OLE, MAD, PAY, ART, ATE, YON, CTRS, ITIS, BOCA, DEET, SASK, VITA, AONE, MTGS, LEIA, HRS, etc.

Postitive stuff that ELATES (60D Lifts up) -- MISSIS (48D Wife, colloquially) which will be MISSUS when convenient; MOOCOW (9D Farm animal, in kidspeak) and when an "S" is needed, this will be MOSCOW; AKILL (55D "A View to ____") crossing dead center with TRILL (67A Fluttering sound) -- CREAM (95A Drub); AMORE (58A Love, in Livorno); DELVE (70D Go [into]) and DEARTHS (46D Shortages) -- IMOUT, BEATSME, NOSIREE, this NOTER is ATANEND -- TH-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.28.07 -- LINKS

ROOTOUT (55A Expose and destroy) -- Illustration: Device to Root Out Evil (1997) by Dennis Oppenheim -- Galvanized structural steel, anodized perforated aluminum, transparent red Venetian glass, concrete foundations
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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Puzzle by Manny Nosowsky, edited by Will Shortz

Four seven-across/seven-down squares linked by a passage with the letter “O” as a radiant for the entries and for four black-square crosses boldly eliciting the symbol for Christianity, this dense crossword puzzle construction is a formidable achievement visually and in wordplay; however, it does not render itself any less or more than the standard end-of-the-week Saturday stumper, and yet, there is no question that it is a paragon of symmetry.

EOSIN (35A Red stain in a lab) -- Illustration: Histopathology of bladder shows eggs of Schistosoma haematobium surrounded by intense infiltrates of eosinophils
Across:
1 Claimed as one’s own; 8 Paper binder; 15. Sandlot game; 16. Draft pick; 17. Looking ragged; 18 Lined with trees; 19 Rock guitarist born David Evans; 20 Mike Brady of “The Brady Bunch,” e.g.; 21 Half a nursery-rhyme spider’s description: Var.; 22 Longtime “What’s My Line?” panelist; 23 Go jump in the lake!”; 25 Begin, as an enterprise; 26 1947 semi-documentary-style crime drama; 27 Aces; 29 Communist federation: Abbr.; 30; Common site of archaeological remains; 31 They mean nothing; 35 Red stain in a lab; 37 Dance in a pit; 41 Running wild; 43 “Its true!”; 45 Carrying on; 46 First name in electrical engineering; 47 Run-in; 49 Made happy; 50 Bigger and stronger; 51 Class struggles?; 52 Sanctions; 53; Pro performer; 54 Others; 55 Expose and destroy

ELGIN (25D The _____ Marbles) -- Illustration: Lapith fighting a Centaur; detail of a metope from the Parthenon at Athens; one of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum
Down:
1 Guiness Book weather record category; 2 Former home of the N.F.L.’s Rams; 3 Cooling-off period; 4 Spoils; 5 Immobile in winter; 6 Not wait for an invitation; 7 Eye sore; 8 Bath and others; 9 Carnegie Mellon athletes; 10King of Belgium; 11 Races; 12 Pantries; 13 “_______ and Franklin,” 1976 biopic; 14 Makes flush; 24 Drum accompanying a pipe; 25 The _____ Marbles; 28 Island said to be the home of Homer’s tomb; 31 “Again?!”; 32 With no time to lose; 33 Celebrity chef; 34 Scoundrel; 35 Young members of a convocation' 36 Melville’s Ishmael, e.g.; 37 Comes through successfully; 38 Bristol Cream ingredient; 39 Guide feature? 40 Control tower equipment; 42 Purrer; 44 Links with; 48 Once, long ago; 49 Woodwind instrument: Abbr.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.27.07 -- DUST

Image (click to enlarge): Dust ‘knots’ like these are a factor as we contemplate future probes moving at a substantial percentage of light speeds. Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

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Friday, July 27, 2007

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Puzzle by John R. Conrad, edited by Will Shortz

Twelve entries sharing six one-square entries of the word “DUST” --

DUSTOFFS (4A Medevacs, in military slang); DUSTUP (4D Quarrel) --

SAWDUST (9A Shop coat?); DUSTCOVER (12D Furniture protector) --

BITTHEDUST (2D Went kaput);
DUSTYSPRINGFIELD (31A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee known as the White Lady of Soul) --

INTERSTELLARDUST (37A Nebulous stuff); DUSTBUSTER (42D Black & Decker offering) --

CHALKDUST (43D Classroom sneeze elicitor); DUSTMOP (62A Janitorial tool) --

ENDUST (57D Cleaning product with the slogan “It’s that fast!”); STARDUST (63A Big band era standard)

BITTHEDUST (2D Went kaput) -- Illustration from "Dante's Inferno" by Gustav Dore

Squeezing one word, albeit small, into one crossword square is a clumsy affair -- the electronic on-line puzzle allows only the letter “D” -- making for a rather clumsy SECRECY (3D Opposite of openness); however, it does LIVEN (60A Make more interesting).
(Image at left -- dust particle)
Other "dust" -- SOD (9D Plot thickener?); NIT (33D Thing to be picked); NOVA (52D Astronomer's study) (just that it fits nicely with "interstellar dust"; and things to make something else of dust -- ETCH (17A Sharply outline); DADO (19A Carpenter's grove); ATABOIL (10D Very, very hot); ADOBE (56A Reservation dwelling); WHIPSUP (49A Puts together in a hurry); ADZ (50A Wood smoother); HOSE (53A Rip off); SEED (61A Future shoot); SHEETS (14D What rain might fall in); SOPPEDUP (25D Absorbed); RESOLED (41D Put a new bottom on, in a way); and SPEEDY (45A Express) -- kicking up the dust!

Other stuff: NIT crosses dead center very nicely with POLITIC (36A Tactful); HITTUNE (46A Billboard listing) complements STARDUST; the pairs of HIES and LIES; ETRE and ALTE; ERROR and LIES.

The good words, or their clues: URIAH (15A Officer slain in the Old Testament); PENTA (18A Prefix with -hedron); OSAKA (21A City of canals); CHEESES (24A Things wheeled in supermarkets?); HORMONE (27A Kind of therapy); HECTOR (29A Cow); CELEBS (44A People people); ARTICLEI (22D (It contains the elastic clause); FILCH (35D Cop); IRIDIUM (37D Metal in the points of gold pens); NETZERO (38D EarthLink alternative); and WEBER (49D Grill brand) -- only because I thought it was "TYSON". Well, now it's time to ENDIT (48D Get divorced) and get on with the day!

Excellent puzzle!

To hear "Stardust", go HERE.

For today's cartoons, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Stardust holograph facsimile, dated 1/5/28.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.26.07 -- WORD/CROSS

Hamlet stands over his uncle Claudius praying for forgiveness for the murder of his brother -- the Bell Shakespeare Company at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, March 1, 2003.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

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Puzzle by Joe Krozel, edited by Will Shortz

I ripped this puzzle in half and changed the left with the right half so that the thing made some sense. It’s now a parallelogram -- note that the puzzles' construction is actually two puzzles completely divided by a top-to-bottom stepping of black squares -- so no harm done!

The across clues for 1, 13, 16, 19, 26, 34, 37, 41, 45, 51, 59, 63 and 66 on the left side of the puzzle are all the same -- a hyphen (-).

The right side of the puzzle (which is now the left side after being torn asunder) has the following across clues:

10 Opposite of all; 15 Loser; 18 Try, as something new; 22 Like some low-rise buildings; 30 Places where fans may gather to watch a game; 36 Noted 1829 West Point graduate; 40 Deem appropriate; 44 Irish playwright who wrote “The Shadow of a Gunman”; 47 Countryman of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer; 55 Target of chondrolaryngoplasty; 61 Barely; 65 Comforting words; and 68 What some browsers browse.

The English language is written left to right. Why are these entries right to left? The meager hyphen clues and their inter-related clues opposite are just gimmick for gimmick’s sake -- a joyless discovery eliciting “why?” ----- (Upon receiving a note in the Comments section from an "anonymous", my "why?" has been answered --I cannot but help agreeing with same -- the explanation is very enlightening and recommended. See Comments below at end of this post.)

The longer across entries and their clues are RANTED (14A Went on and on); EMCEES (17A Hosts); HENRYI (60A English king who was the youngest son of William the Conqueror); ENAMEL (64A Canine coat?) and SALSAS (67A Some dips).

The longer down entries and their clues: ATHROB (15D Like a thumb struck with a hammer); LIPSYNC (24D Not really sing); SMILEY (42D Symbol in Wal-Mart ads); ISRAELI (25D Certain Middle Easterner); OPEN ARMS (39D Guests may be greeted with them); and most of ARSENAL (43D Magazine locale).
On the new right is STEPSON (7D Hamlet, to Claudius) which hangs from GHOSTS (4A Common Halloween costumes) bringing to mind the action in the photograph of "Hamlet" above -- and this schizophrenic puzzle!

"Alas!"

Eugène Delacroix. Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard. 1839. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris, France

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Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.25.07 -- A Night at the Opera

Wednesday, July 26, 2007

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Puzzle by Ed Early, edited by Will Shortz

A quotation from the Marx Brothers' first MGM film, “A Night at the Opera“, “I’d give you my seat, but I’m sitting in it”, spoken by Chico Marx, is the main feature of this crossword puzzle filled with a great number of people in attendance, including Thomas Alva Edison, Raul Julia, Irma Rombauer, John McEnroe, Houdini, Orson Bean, Oliver North, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Bud Selig, Imus, Noah, Enos Slaughter, Bobby Inman, Jimmy Carter, Elton John, Saudis, Floria Tosca, Sgt. Snorkel, General Tso, Norm Peterson, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Chico’s brother, Harpo Marx -- but no Groucho, Zeppo or Gummo, much less a Karl.

There were two operas in the film “A Night at the Opera” -- "Il Trovatore" and "Pagliacci", but no TOSCA (1A “Vissi d’arte” opera), this puzzle’s first entry.

The quotation, broken up as IDGIVEYOUMY (17A Part 1 of a snaky quote by 54-Across), SEATBUTIM (38A Middle of the quote), and SITTINGINIT (64A End of the quote) ANCHORS (41D Firmly ties to) this very likeable and pleasant ONEA (23A Prime status) ACT (41A Take steps) by puzzle constructor Ed Early.

PSYCH (10D Coll. course), CLIMAXES (4D Punch lines, e.g.), TRIVIAL (43D Worth bubkes), PALED (44A Showed fright), SIN (36D Thing to confess), SNAGS (35A Picks off, as a pass), "It's nobody ELSES business" (33A), GRILL (14A Not just question), and SSS all seem to MOBILIZE (40D Put into action) emotions in this far from LACONIC (21A Unwordy) wacky Wednesday puzzle.

The people who COHABIT (42D Share digs) today's puzzle and make it their OME (23D Cockney's abode) for the day include HOUDINI (47D Master escapologist), IMUS (57A Celeb fired in 2007), Baseball exec Bud SELIG (51A) (oh, what to do about Barry Bonds?), and OEDIPUS (12D Antigone's father) -- a foursome that would complement the MARX (28A With 53-Across, noted comedy group, in brief) BROS (53A See 28-Across) by adding sheer TEARS (15A Evidence of pain) and escapism perhaps on TNT (65D "We know drama" channel).

Although this puzzle has a SOUS chef (kitchen #2)(32A) and OVENS (69A Some are Dutch) the only thing on the menu is HAVARTI (58A Pale yellow Danish cheese). Offering a SCRIP (6A Rx, for short) and a PESTLE (25D Apothecary tool), the only doctor in the house is SEUSS (29A Geisel's pen name).

Today's quote from "A Night at the Opera" will do fine for today --but next time give us Chico's reply to Groucho about SIGNERS (3D Parties to a contract) -- "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You can't fool me. There ain't no Sanity Clause!"

To view a trailer for the film, go HERE.

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Puzzle available on the internet at

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07.24.07 -- Gluteus maximus et lepus sequelitis!

Twin Brothers Cheer Chicago White Sox

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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

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Puzzle by Bruce Adams, edited by Will Shortz

Four inter-related full-across entries are the main feature of this crossword:

HOTCROSSBUNNIES (17A Angry rabbits in August?); HIGHESTBIDDIES (25A Hens at the greatest altitude?); KEEPINGTABBIES (42A Cat lady's mission?); and -- WHITESOXFANNIES (35A What a Chicago ballpark bench holds?)

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle of Wednesday, May 2, 2007 featured the following three inter-related entries:

FOUNTAINPENNY (20A Coin thrown for good luck); BASKETBALLFANNY (38A Result of sitting on a court bench too long?); HOTCROSSBUNNY (51A Bugged Bugs?)

See "Hot Cross Bunny" HERE.

So, same old story -- whatever I said in relation to the fannies and bunnies on May 2nd is fairly accurate for today’s puzzle -- except that instead of a penny, we have biddies and tabbies, and perhaps that this is a slight improvement over that construction -- which wouldn’t take much!

Today’s puzzle also features these long entries upper left and lower right:

ESPERANTO (1A Language in which plurals are formed by adding -oj) -- who knew? COUTURIER (15A Christian Dior, e.g.) -- had to consult Webster’s. CLAMBAKES (60A Beach cookouts) -- I remembered the song from “Carousel”. TETEATETE (62A Private chat) -- must figure out how to use this in normal conversation without seeming pretentious.

Look-alikes in today’s puzzle include TESS (8D Trueheart of “Dick Tracy”), HESS (14D Dame Myra), HISS (36A Villain’s reception), HAHN (25D 1944 Chemistry Nobelist Otto), and 54A In ESSE (existing). Then there’s the side-by-side ABBE (38D French cleric) and ABE (41D Face on a fiver), and the across-the-grid fillers NNE and MME.

I now know APICES (37D Zeniths) is the spelling for the plural of “apex”; that there is a team called the AEROS (33A Houston skaters); and ANNULI (11D Tree rings) also refers to fish.

Always like seeing such entries as OPULENT (40D Luxuriant); AFLAME (44D On fire); AROMAS (6D Scents), ECHO (1D Greek nymph who pined away for Narcissus); along with ININK (26D Permanently written).

My favorite of today's puzzle -- ALIEN (37A Green card holder) and BEING (29D Life form) crossing dead center. Now, if only we'd had a UFO -- WHAM (48D Impact sound)!

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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games