07.26.08 -- Dream

“The Bride” -- Jan Thorn-Prikker

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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Puzzle by Barry C. Silk, edited by Will Shortz

In the course of solving a crossword, it can be frustrating to encounter multiple and oddly-juxtaposed consonants and vowels, but that's the stuff of which puzzles are made. Today's sports a heavy dose. An in-progress solving may leave one with consecutive-square partial entries of illogical-looking fragments, e.g. EAEA, MRW, STK, XNA, OUE, RSK, QS, QT, QW with a couple of RH's, coyly embellished with an assortment of slippery clues. That, however, is just fine, for crosswords are often a SURREAL (45. Fantastic) wedding of a nightmare and a dream.

The solitary business of solving is well-represented here with the two long entries of the crossword, ROLLING STONE (7D. Drifter), which can be either a person who drifts from place to place or a rock or ground drill, and ELEANORRIGBY (21D. Title woman of song who “lives in a dream”). Comfort for the frustrated comes in the form of IGNOREIT (62A. “Nothing to get upset about”) and THERENOW (15A. Words of solace); while for the maven, there is MRWIZARD (1A. Conductor of many TV experiments) and IQTEST (9A. Many people get 100 on it); and for everyone there is STUMBLE (13D. Err); DWELLON (8D. Refuse to let go of) and EATITUP (12D. Fall for something hook, line and sinker) or just 42. “Let ITGO”!

Other long entries include BMOVIE (39D. They may have just one or two stars); BONANZA (40D. Ore galore); EBERHART (65A. 1966 Pulitzer-winning poet Richard); GOALIES (43D. Players with saving accounts?); INSPIRE (46D. Motivate); MTSINAI (1D. High point of the O.T.); 41D. San QUENTIN (Western pen); RHEBOKS (2D. Cousins of oribis and dik-diks); SEAEAGLE (17A. Hunter of fish); STKITTS (47D. Columbus discovery of 1493); SYSTOLES (67A. Heartbeat halves); TYPESET (14D. Ready to be put to bed); WEANERS (3D. Stockbreeding devices).

Five- and six-letter entries -- AKRON (28A. Home of minor-league baseball’s Aeros); ANGIO (6D. Hospital procedure, for short); BLUNT (50A. Direct); DANES (53D. About 5.5 million Europeans); 57A. Mount Saint ELIAS (Alaskan/Canadian peak); EZINES (64A. Periodicals with unturnable pages); HEATUP (18A. Get intense); INTOTO (60A. Completely); ISSUE (32A. Children); LILLE (20A. Where Charles de Gaulle was born); LOUISE (24D. New York congresswoman Slaughter); MAHALO (31D. Oahu “thank you”); OILLIT (25A. Like some old lamps); OASIS (44A. Haven); OATES (52D. She won the 1970 National Book Award for Fiction); OXNARD (52A. Ventura County’s most populous city); QWEST (10D. Big telecom company); SANEST (66A. Touched the least); SLIME (22A. Goo); SWEATY (16A. Like some palms); VANNA (55A. The Guinness book once dubbed her “television’s most frequent clapper”).

Three- and four-letter -- APET (34A. Miffed, after “in”); BBQS (39A. Things associated with pits and spits, briefly); GNAT (33A. Snack for a dragonfly); IBMS (35A. Many servers); 19A. Scottish : Mac :: Arabic : IBN; IRE (4D. Cause of an explosion); ISTO (26D. What a colon may mean); MINX (36D. Coquette); MOUE (48A. Unhappy face); MULE (31A. Obstinate type); NOEL (23A. Advent number); NOES (30A. They don’t respond favorably); NONE (66A. Touched the least); NOOR (49A. U.S.-born Jordanian queen); NOSH (37A. Bite); ONE (51A. Small note); ORSK (54A. Second biggest city in Russia’s Orenburg region); RHO (63D. P); RPI (59A. The Engineers of N.Y.’s Liberty League); SORT (58D. Stripe); TBS (27A. “Frank TV” airer); TEAL (11D. Pond denizen) and ZEAL (5D. Antithesis of apathy).

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been/ Lives in a dream/ Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door/ Who is it for?/ All the lonely people/ Where do they all come from ?/ All the lonely people/ Where do they all belong ? -- lyrics, Eleanor Rigby, The Beatles

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