06.14.08 -- Truth

La Vérité --1870, Jules Joseph Lefebvre
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, edited by Will Shortz
TRUTHINESS (1A. Modern coinage meaning intuition without regard to facts) is 'What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.' It's not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality. It’s a word I’ve not heard in day-to-day conversation by anyone I know and if anyone I know used the word, I’d doubt they’d know what they were saying.
Other opinionating includes HASASHOTAT (15A. Can still get), BULLDOGGED (12D. Attacked with fierceness and anger), SHOWCASING (44A. Displaying), INONESENSE (55A. By a certain measure) -- along with the political, DASKAPITAL (19A. 1867 book subtitled “Kritik der politischen Okonomie”),
KITERUNNER (53A. Best-selling 2003 Khaled Hosseini novel with “The”), BRIBERIES (13D. Boodlers’ acts), ASPERSED (14D. Smeared), AMELIORATE (17A. Better), FEDERATE (29A Form a league), ETATIST (8D. Proponent of strong governmental control), how else to ACCENTUATE (11D. Underline) IDEOLOGIES (24D. What schools have) -- take your pick, RISKIT (39D. Live dangerously, maybe).
PERTAINING (23D. Connected [to]), INLANDER (21A. Kansan or Coloradan), CAREERS (32A. Life choices), AVIONICS (41A. Flight field) and ADAMITES (36A. Nudists) are a nice group, along with GARAGED (33A. Like many a parked vehicle) DESOTOS (37D. Diplomat and Adventurer) and that CARALARM
(32D. Thing that’ll deter someone from taking a ride).
SATAN (9D. Character in Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger”) and STELLA Maris (title of the Virgin Mary) (10D) abut. PIKERS (23A. Cautious gamblers) and ACTORS (28A. Movie set?) share a line. FACEVALUE (29D. It might not indicate true worth) and REALER (38A. Less of an illusion) cross.
Not something to do, but somewhere to go is ACTON (35A. City near Boston) and not somewhere to go, but something to hold is CHINA (42D. Kind of doll). Fritz gets a rest and LANG (43A.“The King and I” film director) is Walter, not to be confused with yesterday’s LANTZ of Woody Woodpecker, he too a Walter.
AUGIE (31A. Saul Bellow’s March) and KEENEN (25D. One of the Wayans brothers), ACARID (22D. Tick, e.g.) and ELIDED (40A. Left out) round out the more or less intended entries.
Falling into place among the four corners of four-deep ten-letter words are the happenstance fill -- ABBA, ALII, AMI, AUST, CLIP, CREE, CURS, EGAL, ELBE, ERR, GRES, HSIA, IHOP, INNS, MEGS, NEST, NORI, RAMA, RASA, RUNE, SNEE, TALK, THAD, USES, WENT.
Solved this one hanging from the ceiling like a bat with a mirror and a chisel and still managed to come in under three minutes -- oops, wrong blog!
Ain’t it the truth?
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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

Across: 11. Pop group that inspired a 2001 Broadway Musical; 16. Some strays; 18. You-Tube offering; 20. River forming the eastern border of Charlemagne’s empire; 52. Others, to Octavian; 54. Old character; 56. Modern storage units, briefly. Down: 1. “A Child is Born” trumpeter Jones; 2. Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous With ___”; 3. Runs through; 4. Cheap commodity?; 5. Dynasty before the Shang; 6. Co. that bought Applebee’s in 2007; 7. Seaweed wrapped around sushi; ; 26. Trip; 27. Literally, “scraped”; 30. It’s the same in Paris; 32. “___ right?”; 45. Took a turn; 46. Micmac relative; 47. Where to find the Wienerwald: Abbr.; 48. N.F.L. offensive guard Chris; 49. Cozy retreats; 50. Cozy retreat; 51. Hurdles for some srs.

2 comments:

Linda G said...

I gave up on the southwest quadrant and declared this one finished...came here for the answers. No blog for me today...tomorrow for sure ; )

DONALD said...

We're looking forward to your return -- sounds like the your recent activities are far more productive and important than crosswords! Congratulations on all that great work!