Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Puzzle by Daniel Kantor, edited by Will Shortz BADABING (20A "Just like that!"); FUHGEDABOUTIT (25A "Not on your life!"); and YOUTALKINTOME (42A "Yeah, wanna start somethin'?"), clued by MOBSCENE (50A "The Sopranos" clip? ...or where you might hear 20-, 25- and 42-Across) are the main long entries in this tiny Tuesday terror along with a generous helping of entries worthy of inclusion in dialogue for the HBO series of "The Sopranos", which ended it's six-season run this year
Other entries which would fit nicely into an episode are FLASK (1A Liquor holder in a coat pocket); AWE (6A Wonderment); BEEPS (9A Taxi sounds); AVERT (17A Ward off); ZONES (19A Sectors); EZPASS (22A Electronic toll-collecting system in the Northeast); HARASS (30A Torment); BAY (35A Cargo area); Holiday INN (37A); KARATS (40A Gold standards); PACT (45A War ender); BADDIE (47A No-goodnik); BAN (55A Embargo); FLAB (1D "Spare tire"); ACED (3D Nailed); ATONED (6D Made amends [for]); BUZZCUT (9D Army barber's specialty); SASS (13D Snippiness); Love, honor and OBEY (24D); Taken ABACK (surprised) (27D); TASTE (29D Small bite); GAS (33D Good time, slangily); FANNY (25D Rear end); STAINED (38D Tarnished); PACE (39D Walk to and fro); DEAL (49D Successful conclusion of a negotiation); and ENDS (53D Conclusions).
That's a lot of talk!
Left out of the conversation, but holding their own were IRONCAGE (36D Circus animal enclosure); LAVA (2D Content of some cones); ETNA (11D Italian source of 2-Down); IDES (21A Midmonth time); ISLAM (28D Religion with the Five Pillars); UPDATE (43D Timely news bulletin); ICONIC (44D Like some sacred art); ACLU (48D Legal rights org.); OIL (18A Texas tea); BEST in Show (31A); ILSA (36A Rick's "Casablanca" love); COIN (46A Create, as a phrase); EGGED (59A Goaded, with "on"); UZI (58A Israeli-invented gun) -- an OCEAN (54A Continent separator) of lively entries in today's MAZE (50D Labyrinth) of a tough-talking crossword!
A fun puzzle and a pleasant solve -- the constructor Daniel Kantor has made us an offer we can't refuse!
P.S.: Do you really think we've seen the last of Tony Soprano?
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For today's cartoons, 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.
Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
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2 comments:
The lion in the cage ("Ironcage" above)? Same as the symbol your blog?
The animals at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas spend a miserable lifetime as curiosity displays and are often dependent on caretakers with little knowledge of their specialized needs.
The lion is not the same one as the one in the logo -- that lion was photographed in the wild in Africa.
Sadly, caging is in many cases, the only way some species will survive -- making them at least comfortable and humane is the least one can do!
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