10.27.07 -- Consequences

A printer's exquisite corpse. Madison, WI: Silver Buckle Press, 1992.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Click here for LARGE PRINT.

Puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, edited by Will Shortz

EXQUISITECORPSE (39A Classic laugh-inducing parlor game with writing or illustrations), slicing across the center of this crossword puzzle, is as good a way to describe many a crossword as any -- and for certain, this puzzle is exquisite!

Consequences is an old parlor game similar to the surrealist game exquisite corpse or Mad Libs in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution.

MARKCUBAN (1. Billionaire sports entrepreneur who heads HDNet) at the top, and TOMATORED (65A What green might ripen into) at the bottom, with the in-between populated by elves, photographers, musicians, a marathon runner, vintners, engineers, college students, Shiites, heavyweight sumo wrestlers, an actress, a playwright, a band, a cook, an author, a film director, and religious fundamentalists hanging out for assembly. Plenty of fodder to play the game!

Dr. Seuss’s “Too Many DAVES” (25A) will need the READINGRAILROAD (32A) as a VEHICLE (21D). If they RSVPD (62), did they ASKTO (48D) be ILLATEASE (13D) ATANYTIME (15A), if so, it’s time to COUNTONESLOSSES (40A) TAKEN (41A) while waiting for GODOT (45D). Enough of FLIPFLOPS (12D) and EXOTICISM (33D), grab your CAMERABAG (17A), it’s time to ORIENTATE (63A) to the SALOONS (26D), so splash on some AQUAVELVA (34D) and SPAN (22A) the AREA (19A) to find what DONTIKNOW (58A). A MACAW (1D) in an AMANA (8D) is NYSYNC (14D), so DIGIN (25D) and solve this mischievous dog (37D AESOP) or EMOTE (50D) to the WINDS (23A) in ANSONIA (29D) or ELORO (45D). ROLLS and ROILY (16A and 18A) (almost an auto), NEGEV and NEV (7D and 20A); HAI and HAILE (28A and 30A); AMATI and ATARI (64A and 2D) are the non-identical twins of the day. Little bits and pieces: CYR, UTA, BIB, ERR, LOOS, REC, DES, SDI, NIM, TEA, FTC, OEN, CIV, AOL, all of which you can DUNK (35D) with the SIGEP (44A) who ACED (52A) while smoking a SALEM (47A) -- why that makes no sense at all!!!

Ah well, I’ll take the consequences!

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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.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

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1. billionaire sports entrepreneur who heads hdnet 10. like some seasonal helpers 15. within the next few minutes, potentially 16. some piano players 17. case made for a shooter 18. agitated 19. real-estate ad statistic 20. its motto is "all for our country": abbr. 22. go over 23. orchestra section 25. dr. seuss's "too many _____" 27. consumer protection grp. 28. yokohama "yes" 30. marathon runner gebrselassie 32. it served the mid-atlantic until 1976 39. classic laugh-inducing parlor game with writing or illustrations 40. move on after a humiliating defeat 41. claimed 42. vintner's prefix 43. kind of engr. 44. member of a popular college frat 47. parliament rival 52. shot one on 54. name for quantum computer services since 89 55. heavyweights compete in it 56. an overabundance 58. "you said it!" 62. sent regrets, say 63. help get settled 64. priceless instrument 65. what green might ripen into 1. bird remarkable for its longevity 2. breakout maker 3. far eastern bowlful 4. manipulate, in a way 5. france's saint-_-i'ecole 6. she played martha in broadway's "who's afraid of virginia woolf?" 7. one hanging around at red lobster? 8. range option 9. ben-gurion setting 10. stumble 11. "happy birthday" playwright 12. about-faces 13. nervous 14. band with the highest first-week album sales in music history 21. it'll get you somewhere 24. some religious fundamentalists 25. cook's words 26. old settings for many out-of-tune pianos 29. connecticut city on the naugatuck 31. factory seconds: abbr. 32. sport, for short 33. foreignness 34. old spice alternative 35. court stuff 36. bus spec. 37. "the mischievous dog" author 38. _ peres (st. louis suburb) 43. "lady for a day" director, 1933 45. one who's waited upon 46. ecuador's southernmost coastal province 48. provide an invitation for 49. kind of cycle 50. mug, e.g. 51. cut 53. firm part: abbr. 57. arms race plan: abbr. 59. takeaway game 60. hot spot? 61. gridiron datum