07.20.07 -- Masquerade

A masquerade at the Pantheon in Oxford Street London as drawn by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson for Ackermann's Microcosm of London (1808-11).

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Friday, July 20, 2007

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Puzzle by Barry C. Silk, edited by Will Shortz

This A to Z ball of an alphabet soup is disguised in every way imaginable giving up its arcanum one painful square at a time -- much like meeting the guests at a masquerade with the need to know who's who, but by playing a game with every name

From its first entry, ABOVEZERO (1A Positive), to the last, SNAKEEYES (57A Loser in a casino), every entry or its clue of this crossword comes prestidigitatiously swathed with deception or duplicity -- words one's not met and old ones in dark terra incognita burkas -- LIVEALIE (13D (Be what you're not) is the rule!

Across
10 Vacuum maintainers -- no, not a repairman
15 Like some fruit bats and petrels -- anyone think Qbert?
16 Cornrow component -- could be “braid”
17 Whine -- unexpectedly colloquial
18 Royal jelly consumer -- I thought it was the “queen
19 Jungian principle -- weren’t there a few?
20 Samoan, e.g. -- so simple, it’s silly
22 Kind of party -- take your pick
23 Top of a stadium -- explain this one to me!
25 Comic character -- a stretch
26 From Niger to Zambia: Abbr. -- just geography
27 Hacker of the Middle Ages -- they had computers?
28. “The Dram Shop” author -- a tale within a novel
29. Squeals -- you’d think “oinks”
30. Start of a Spanish Christmas greeting -- I wanted “felice”
31. Certify -- lots of possibilities
34. Unwelcome discovery on a credit card -- ditto of above
36 Period to find out more -- a "q" but no "u", with an "a"
37 Tough companions? -- very sneaky clue
38 Minor leader? -- “asia”, “ursa”, etc.
39 Carving in an Egyptian tomb -- which one?
41 Relief may follow it -- “bas”, bah!
44 Botanist’s beard -- the plant, not the person
46 Rubberneck -- this one made sense
47 Where cell phones don’t work -- yup
49 Weed-B-Gon maker -- “Ortho” again
50 200 milligrams -- now I know
51 Popular reference work -- think internet
54 Match point? -- think place
55 “Shoot!” -- think “shucks”
56 Name on a truck -- not U-Haul, not Penske, think "Winona"
57 Loser in a casino

Down
1 Opportunities to run away from home -- very obtuse
2 Gustavo’s good -- foreign language
3 Require -- hop-scotch meaning
4 Female role in “Chicago” -- not Roxie
5 “Paint the Sky With Stars” singer -- who is this “Enya” anyway?
6 Suffix with proto- -- “zoa” matching 28A Zola
7 Abbr. on a key -- not "alt"
8 They're back on board -- another sly one
9 City on the Permian Basin -- this "Odessa" not that "Odessa"
10 Extend awkwardly -- just weird
11 Sparkle -- almost farfetched
12 Cousin of a hyena -- new to me!
14 Be a night watchman? -- not a profession
21 Manhattan ave. -- not Mad.
23 Sudden impact -- "bang" more appropriate
24 First home of the University of Nevada -- knew this!
27 Firm assistant, briefly --- this too!
28 Couple of pizzas? -- yesterday it was "Affluent duo?"
29 Revelation exclamation -- not "ahha", "ohho", etc.
30 Work unit: Abbr. -- this I still don't get
31 Black-and-white -- they're blue and white here
32 Spent from all the conflict -- not "worn down"
33 Webbed -- it's that "nsn" part that's strange
34 Generation-to-generation information -- long way to go
35 Poet Seeger -- Not Pete
37 Otherworldly one -- think "War of the Worlds"
39 It's appetizing to aphids -- another long way to go
40 What ochlophobists fear -- oh, those phobias!
41 Big-league promotional event -- matches 1-Down
42 For some time -- one of several possibilities
43 Drinks a toast -- another stretch
45 It's massive and relatively hot -- what begins with "bst"?
46 _____Waitz, nine-time New York City Marathon winner - var. sp.
48 King Claudius, e.g. -- nationality
49 Artist John, known as the Cornish Wonder -- another way to clue "opie"
52 Malay Peninsula's Isthmus of KRA -- Google constructing!
53 Publicity -- the final stretch!

37D - MARTIAN -- Alien tripod illustration from the 1906 French edition of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.
Puzzle available on the internet at
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6 comments:

  1. ftlb = ft. lb. = foot pounds = the amount of work required to lift one pound one foot high.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Top of a Stadium-Jersey




    it could possibly be how certain sports retire Players Jersey's and hang them at the Top of Stadiums.


    (just a thought)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Top of a Stadium-Jersey




    it could possibly be how certain sports retire Players Jersey's and hang them at the Top of Stadiums.


    (just a thought)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I see that your questions were answered about FTLB and JERSEY.

    Donald, if you seriously haven't heard Enya, you should. A Day Without Rain is my favorite of her CDs...very soothing music to help when I'm feeling WAR WEARY.

    Thanks for the tip on the image. I'll try that tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know any songs by ENYA, but she belongs in the Pantheon with ENO as far as crossword musicians go, so once I had the "N" from TUBENOSED, I confidently filled 'er in!

    Beautiful illustrations, Donald! Especially the Egyptian carving. For a while, I thought the answer might be GLYPHS.... Fun word. But "prestidigitatiously" beats anything found in the grid! Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious! I 'm pretty sure I misspelled that :)

    Wells' martian looks like a squirrel-proof birdfeeder... heehee. I've never seen Qbert, is he one of Dilbert's denizens? Whatever, he's tube-nosed for sure.

    Today's puzzle was a zoological extravaganza... petrels and fruitbats, seals, larvae, the little bear, scarab, snake(eyes), protozoa, AARDWOLF!, aphids....

    Later, gator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. rock rabbit

    Wish I'd thought of that -- e.g., petrels and fruitbats, seals, larvae, the little bear, scarab, snake(eyes), protozoa, AARDWOLF!, aphids.... a zoological extravaganza, plus a squirrel-proof birdfeeder!

    Linda and yourself have moved me to check out Enya. Of course, heard of in crosswords, just never heard her music.

    On to tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete