03.30.08 -- Mixed Feelings

Department of Psychology, HELP University

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Click here for abridged post in LARGE PRINT.

MIXED FEELINGS

Puzzle by Paula Gamache, edited by Will Shortz

Anagrams of the circled letters in the entries of TOENAILCLIPPERS (23A); CASEYSTENGEL (30A); TELEPHONE (52A); SLUTSKAYA (68A); THIRDGEAR (88A); POTATOMASHER (109A); SPORTS EQUIPMENT (118A); BEDROOMEYES (14D); PADDEDENVELOPE (16D); PINSTRIPEDSUIT (50D); and EMPTYHANDED (67D) provide ELATION, ECSTASY, HOPE, LUST, RAGE, SHAME, PIQUE, BOREDOM, LOVE, PRIDE, and EMPATHY.

Other mixed feelings-related entries in the puzzle include INSULTS, ATPLAY, PITY, ENRAPT, SADCASES, ILIED, FRIENDS, NODAT, GOTEM, ATHEIST, GAMUT, GUISE, EASE, SOPUP, EATOUT, ELOCUTES, and somehow SHLEPP.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Vices - Avarice -- reverse of original as a negative

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Interesting configurations of the crossword include EDEN crossing ADAM linked to EVE; ARIA linked to SOLO; YESNO crossing ISEE above SEA; AKEEM and KHAYYAM sharing a K; “YEE-haw!” alongside HIE; the crossing of ART and ARM; and the confusion of the circled T in THIRDGEAR, is it really RAGE or am I missing something?

Nonsense in the puzzle includes DOO and DAT, LAALAA, YEE, GOTEM, AAA, AABA and OGPU. The clue for EPEE, (125A. Blade of Grasse) was interesting enough. Stuff that gave me trouble was PHENOL, PURIM, AVIONIC, NITTI, and STRETTO -- all in the same area.

People in the puzzle for these mixed feelings include Casey Stengel, Toni Morrison, Fred, Little Nemo, Nia Vardalos, Irina Slutskaya, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nitti and Capone, Omar Khayyam, Erik Satie, et al.

I don’t particularly care for having to work anagrams separately from a puzzle after the solution -- none of the anagrams in the circled letters could possibly be of any help during the solve. So, when the puzzle is completed, unless one is obsessed or finds it necessary for some reason or other to perform such a function (say for amusement or writing a blog) it’s really a big afterthought. That aside, this is an orderly Sunday puzzle, but one of which I do have mixed feelings!

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch, 1504.

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

1. Lively, in mus.; 5. 101, in a course name; 10. “Little ___ in Slumberland” (pioneering comic strip); 14. One on two feet; 19. Literature Nobelist Morrison; 20. Word on a wanted poster; 21. He’s seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; 22. Serengeti grazer; 23. Pedicurist’s need; 26. Antics; 27. Zingers; 28. Toot one’s horn; 29. Scrooge’s nephew in “A Christmas Carol”; 30. Wearer of uniform #37, retired by both the Yankees and the Mets; 34. Entered pompously; 38. Clears; 39. Relating to flight technology; 41. Carnival site; 42. “Inka Dinka ___”; 43. Close overlapping of fugue voices; 45. Prince ___, Eddie Murphy film role; 47. Caboose, e.g.; 48. Frolicking; 52. Whispering party game; 54. Vardalos of the screen; 55. Diva’s delivery; 58. Holiday celebrating deliverance from Haman; 59. Narrow inlet; 60. Textile factory fixture; 62. ___ fide; 63. Lingo suffix; 64. Unfortunate development; 65. Bone-dry; 66. Divider of wedding guests; 68. Champion figure skater Irina; 72. Leaves for lunch?; 75. Author Janowitz; 77. Professor ‘iggins; 78. Picassos and Pissarros; 80. 55-Across, e.g.; 81. Bewitched; 83. Penlight battery size; 84. ___ radiation; 86. De-Mille output; 87. Early millennium year; 88. Manual transmission position; 91. French dome toppers; 93. Big shot after making a big shot, maybe: Abbr.; 94. Kind of question; 95. Peter Shaffer play based on the lives of Mozart and Salieri; 98. “___ -haw!”; 99. Make haste; 100. Like sugar vis-à-vis Equal; 102. H.S. subject; 106. Heartbreaking situations; 109. Kitchen implement used with a little muscle; 112. In the mail; 113. K.GT.B. predecessor; 115. Popular Toyota; 116. Users of 118-Across; 118. Bats, balls, gloves, etc.; 122. False appearance; 123. Capital of Italy; 124. Annie of “Ghostbusters”; 125. Blade of Grasse; 126. Lugged; 127. Zenith; 128. Company-owned building, e.g.; 129. Sch. Research papers. Down: 1. Place for a fan; 2. Writer Peggy known for the phrase “a kinder, gentler nation”; 3. Actually existing; 4. Stately dance with short steps; 5. Tempts; 6. Elite athlete; 7. Error indicator; 8. Suffix with adverb; 9. Hit TV show with the theme song “Who Are You”; 10. Port west of Monte Vesuvio; 11. Fall setting; 12. A, B and C; 13. Mantra syllables; 14. Come-hitcher look; 15. Coming-clean words; 16. Protective mailer; 17. Music producer Brian; 18. License to drill?: Abbr.; 24. Milano of “Who’s the Boss?”; 25. Carbolic acid; 29. Top-rated TV series of 2001-02; 31. Consort of 21-Across; 32. Capone henchman; 33. “They’re in my hot little hands!”; 35. BlackBerry rival; 38. Land of Ephesus; 37. Acknowledge tacitly; 40. Heads in the Pantheon?; 44. Variety; 46. Poet Omar ___; 48. Rhyme scheme of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”; 49. “Star Trek: T.N.G.” counselor Deanna; 50. Some business attire; 51. Yellow Teletubby; 53. Composer Satie; 57. Letters before many a state’s name; 58. Brush up on; 61. Whiteboard cleaner; 64. Subj. that deals with mixed feelings; 67. Bearing nothing; 69. Japanese eel and rice dish; 70. “King Lear” or “Hamlet”: Abbr.; 71. Boxer’s measurement; 73. Touched down; 74. Medics; 76. Nonbeliever; 79. Classic Dana fragrance for women; 81. Representations of a winged woman holding an atom; 82. Big name in skin care products; 84. Entire range; 85. Amazon parrot; 89. Opening for a crystal ball gazer; 90. Dine at a diner; 92. F equivalent; 96. Not dis; 97. Declaim; 101. Estimated: Abbr.; 103. Chemical cousin; 104. Lug: Var.; 105. Online protocol for remote log-in; 107. Discontinue; 108. Absorb; 110. Like lip-glossed lips; 111. Deserves; 114. Cause for an R, perhaps; 116. Badge holder: Abbr.; 117. Status ___; 118. Main; 119. Day ___; 120. Dawn goddess; 121. Divisions of gals.