02.22.08 -- Half & Half

From “Digital Expressionism”

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Friday, February 22, 2008

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Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel and David Quarfoot, edited by Will Shortz

SADBUTTRUE (1A. Awfully accurate?) opens and SLIPNSLIDE (61A. Outdoor toy that attaches to a garden hose) closes this co-authored puzzle -- I’ll bet a quarter or nothing that Nothnagel’s is the former and Quarfoot’s is the latter. As a matter of fact, it appears that this crossword puzzle is divided in half, with the left constructed by Nothnagel and the right by Quarfoot.

With but two open squares, one containing a G and the other a W, the two gentlemen need not even speak to each other -- as long as they agree on the G and the W. If one works enough of these crosswords, the entries and clues of individual constructors becomes familiar, even with the estimable Mr. Shortz as referee.

The left half of the puzzle contains five question-mark (?) clues including 1A. Awfully accurate? (SADBUTTRUE); 17A. Providers of exceptional service? (TENNISACES); 24A. What’s DOING?; 34A. Where to find pop art? (SODACAN); and 58A. Incomplete picture? (CLIP); 6D. Shortening in the kitchen? (TBSP) -- the right side, none.

The right side includes ten puzzle people: LESLEYGORE (56A. Singer of the 1967 hit “California Nights”); ALVINAILEY (59A. Subject of the 2004 book “Dancing Revelations“); KNOX (21A. Presidential middle name); MAC (26A. Pal); JONAH (39A. One who brings bad luck); NOAH (31D. See 29-Down); CONN (33D. Smythe of hockey); JAMESVI (39D. Ruler of Scotland, 1567-1625); LOVELL (41D. Hanks’s “Apollo 13” role); and HALAS (47D. Papa Bear of the N.F.L.). The left side, three -- ALETA (22A. Queen in a long-running comic strip); BENET (4D. Poet who won a Pulitzer for “The Dust Which is God”); and MAAS (31D. “Underboss” author Peter) .

Left side, food: GREENBEANS (15A. Salade niçoise ingredients); TBONE (28A. Strip alternative); along with TBSP and SODACAN, a hungry cat that MEOWS (32A. They might indicate hunger); and the metaphorical ATECROW (23D. Suffered a blow to one’s pride). The right side, none -- but there is an OVENMITT (12D. Bit of kitchen wear).

On the right, the remaining clues across: 11. California wine center; 16. “The company for women” sloganeer”; 30. Change from two to one; 33. “Centuries”; 37. Turns up; 41. Some are manicured; 42. NATO member: Abbr.; 46. Response of feigned innocence; 48. Lose successfully (EVADE); 52. Parry (AVERT); 54. Holder of many tracks. Down: 11. Caper; 13. Execute exactly; 14. Over, with “of”; 25. Magazine holder; 42. “That’s Amore” setting; 43. Scented; 44. Photo flaw; 53. Home of Davy Crockett: Abbr.; and 57. Title syllables in a 1961 Lee Dorsey hit (YAS).

On the left, the remaining clues across: 19. With 50-Across, surmount; 20. Turn out to be; 27. Disconcert; 38. Start of some how-to titles; 40. Childish comeback; 45. Boulogne-sur-MER, France; 50. See 19-Across; 55. ALKA-Mints (Rolaids rival); 60. Jarrow’s river). Down: 1. Mil. V.I.P.; 2. Eye component; 3. Where I-25 and I-70 meet; 5. Prefix with directional; 7. Level; 8. Kinkajou’s kin: Var.; 9.1883 Maupassant novel; 10. Dine, in Dusseldorf; 29. Creation of 31-Down (arbitrarily a BOAT); 34D. Cause of colonial unrest; 356. “You don’t say!”; 36. Hide in the woods; and 51D. What some people get caught on.

Mr. Joslin, my high school algebra teacher took great pride in tossing the chalk from one hand to the other, continuing to write that stuff I never learned upon the blackboard -- perhaps it was my fascination with his ambidexterity that distracted me from the higher mathematics, for his substitute punched me square in the face and into a world of words --

"There was a young man from Trinity, who took the square root of infinity. The number of digits gave him the fidgets; he forsook math and took up divinity!"

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