Pablo Picasso, Las Meninas (after Velázquez), 1957 ----------------- Sunday, January 27, 2008 I NEED MY SPACE, Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel, edited by Will Shortz
This Sunday construction houses seven entries that add a ROOM to each entry:
AFRAID OF THE DARKROOM (24A. Like a useless photo lab employee?);
BRINGSHOMEROOMTHEBACON (39A. Offers breakfast to students before first period?);
POWDERROOMKEG (53A. Beer sources for genteel guests?);
THEBALLSINYOURCOURTROOM (72A. Reminder to a forgetful judge on bowling night?);
GREENROOMPARTY (92A. What talk show guests have before the broadcast?);
NORESTROOMFORTHEWICKED (107A. Sign outside a church lavatory);
DAVYJONESLOCKERROOM (125A. Where a Monkee changes after a game?).
After those rooms have been given the once-over, there are plenty of nooks and crannies in this crossword puzzle to explore, many of them are dead ends and others are mazes leading one into an attic or a boiler room of angst. Clues are duplicitous and entries are auspicious in strange ways.
Giving pause is such fare as BEAV, SPAC, ZIG, ROUX, OHGOD, OMAHA, OOFS, ASHRAMS, ATANEND, PUTUPJOB, VOSTOK, CHEST, KTOSLIN, and KOBE. Nothing really sadistic or vicious, just a little wiggy here and there, ditto with the clues; e.g., 71D. Pouting person’s action winds up being STAMP -- well, who knew that pouting could lead to that?! Who do you know that stamps when they pout? -- I’d smack ‘em good a couple of WHAMS (32D. Loud hits)! Here’s some pouting and stamping to a tune by DRJOHN (85D. “Right Place Wrong Time” singer, 1973).
Incidentally, it appears there’s a fee for the use of the church’s facility (Sign outside a church lavatory -- “No Restroom For the Wicked”), delineated in the central lower hallway of this puzzles’ maze, following RESTROOM, ONION, FUMES, LOCKERROOM, is TITHE (132A. Church support), immediately followed by 136A. ENTER! Unless you haven’t taken care of 29A. Trespasses -- SINS! -- OHGOD (84A. 1977 George Burns film), a lovely Sunday puzzle?
Finally, subject crossword ends with ONSET (137A. Beginning) -- an appropriate exit -- but hopefully not out the bathroom door into the graveyard!
“My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not true, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you?” -- John 14:2
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Across: 1. literary elephant 6. succeeded in 11. Hot 17. drag show accessory 20. _ stadium, home of the university of Hawaii warriors 21. baseball hall-of-famer edd 22. Admonish 23. suffix with absorb 24. like a useless photo lab employee? 27. Stephen of "breakfast on pluto" 28. Dejected 29. Trespasses 30. Lineage 31. imported by plane 33. TV oil baron 35. "let's go, Miguel!" 36. Wally’s TV brother, with "the" 38. take on 39. offers breakfast to students before first period? 43. marriage _ 44. part of a. a. r. p.: abbr. 45. first word of "jabberwocky" 46. put a rider on, e.g. 47. it may be false 48. game stopper 50. place for a panel 52. director Anderson 53. beer sources for genteel guests? 57. extremely inept person, slangily 59. sharp turn 62. _ arbor 63. through64. cartoonist bil 65. sauce thickener 66. name in a hymn 67. worthless talk, in slang 69. it may charge you a fee 70. casino surface 71. mattress brand 72. reminder to a forgetful judge on bowling night? 78. early invader of Britain 79. esq. 80. sette minus Quattro 81. Utter 82. give _ of hope 83. Functions 84. 1977 George burns film 86. Fix 87. letter addenda, for short 90. band with the 1989 hit "stand" 91. own (up) 92. what talk show guests have before the broadcast? 95. Yowl 96. playboy's look 97. sloops' headsails 98. Sported 99. poker game with four hole cards 102. see26-down 104. ring stats 106. guest beds, often 107. sign outside a church lavatory?113. stately trees 114. work units 115. satirical paper, with "the"116. they may be scattered 117. short-hop plane 119. potential hangar buildup 120. on the safe side 121. music with jazzlike riffs 124. ruby _ 125. where a monkee changes after a game? 130. "_ poetica" 131. handily defeated 132. church support 133. 1964 Quinn role 134. Still 135. tasty bit 136. pc key 137. Beginning Down: 1. barnyard calls2. _-Romeo 3. Laredo or Nuevo Laredo 4. "now it's clear!" 5. cereal topping 6. Torts 7. responses to punches 8. Crackpot 9. religious retreats 10. 1976 horror film whose score won an Oscar 11. talks from a rev. 12. toll hwy. 13. sports legend whose #4 was retired 14. day spa accessories 15. Unfold 16. "finding _,"2003 film17. eccentric friend on "designing women"18. seldom-used golf club 19. Over 22. 1969 Oscar-nominated film role 25. little job for a body shop 26. with 102-across, dashboard warning light 32. loud hits34. exert, as influence 35. _ 1, Yuri gagarin's spacecraft 36. jaguar alternatives 37. seventh-brightest star in a constellation 39. offer to buy at auction 40. meteorological effect 41. steam shovel inventor William 42. Guthrie’s follower at Woodstock 43. TV host Kelly 48. diva's effect 49. host of public radio's "this American life" 50. cubs' protector 51. survey info 52. increase, in away 54. Poland spring competitor 55. Owen _, john Irving character 56. "a maid with hair of gold," in an old song57. goes it alone 58. attempt to trick 59. "beetle bailey" soldier 60. analogy part61. u.s. possession since 1898 65. kind of hall 66. Schmo 67. rap enthusiast, in slang 68. rob of’ Melrose place" 70. damager of the ozone layer 71. pouting person's action 72. bygone leader 73. fabled race loser 74. reason for an office visit 75. "_ my fault!" 76. Impulse 77. paper purchases 83. turnaround, slangily 84. bauxite, e.g. 85. "right place wrong time" singer, 1973 87. seminar leaders 88. expensive strings 89. diet, listings 91. Brothers 92. beginning, as of an idea 93. seine tributary 94. stirred up, as memories 95. blanket holder 96. golden triangle country 99. prescription phrase 100. "le misanthrope" playwright 101. place for an elbow 102. one pulling in 103. road bend 104. Italian province or its capital 105. singer with the #1 country album "80's ladies" 106. playful movement 108. company with a star logo 109. Source 110. "this one's _!" 111. physical therapy equipment 112. "now it's clear!" 118. the first prophet of god, in Islam 119. Awful 120. feel compassion 122. kind of beef 123. part of a Latin 101 conjugation 126. gridiron units: abbr. 127. Java 128. giant born in Louisiana 129. 1989 gold glove winner darling
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