Thursday, July 3, 2008
Puzzle by Keith Talon, edited by Will Shortz
PROOFREADINNG (20A. What this answer could use?), TYPOGRPAHICAL (37A. Like this answer’s error) and MISPELLEDWORD (53A. This answer contains one) give the solver a little more irritation than needed on this Thursday get-away-for-the-Fourth-of-July weekend. This past April 27th crossword included ten commonly misspelled words -- accommodate, embarrassment, harasses, inoculate, millennium, minuscule, noticeable, perseverance, occurrence and supersede -- hopelessly confusing the spell-check function when proofreading for a misspelled word or a typographical error.
Which brings up the clue for YOSEMITE (38D. Home of the 1,612 foot Ribbon Falls) -- is it Fall or Falls? -- World Waterfall Database, the fairly reliable Wikipedia and the empiric Encylopaedia Britannica all say Fall. Hmmm... Three other eight-letter entries are STERLING (5D. First-rate), HEDGEROW (39D. Property divider) and VIRGINIA (11D. Atlantic Coast Conference team), all of which pass muster.
Hopefully, an era where crossword puzzles can slap the solver with any old word in whatever condition will not materialize -- especially if it’s MARRED (46D. Defective) and OLD (24A. With 19-Across, language from which “steak” and “eggs” come) NORSE (19A. See 24-Across). Yesterday it was “ham” and “eggs”, green.
AMOEBA (45D. Tiny blob), sometimes presented as “ameba”, leads off the six-letter entries -- CUPPED (1D. Like beggars’ hands); DENALI (28A. Alaska vacation destination); 44A. “Sweet DREAMS”; ESTEEM (41A. Prize); ETERNE (2D. Timeless, to Shakespeare); FOLIOS (21D. Page numbers); MINTER (33A. Coiner); SALOON (3D. Watering hole); SEDATE (47D. Calm); SEEING (25A. On intimate social terms with); STEREO (48A. Sound choice?);TIEROD (35D. Steering system part).
Heads or TAILS (35A. Coin toss call) sends one immediately on to the other five-letter words -- ALIST, ALOHA, ALONE, CROSS, ESTEE, ELIOT, LATKE, LIVED, PAVES, PENNE, PEPSI, RISKS, and then THESE four-letter entries, ABET, AMPS, ARAT, CEST, ENOS, EVEN, HERA, IKEA, LOCH, MADE, MIND, NELL, NOOR, OCHO, PELE, SHAW, SLIM, THEO, TIKI, TREK, TROT, UTAH, WHAM, and those ever-present little three-letter fillers AGO, ALT, CDS, DOS, ENO, EOS, GAS, ISM, LAH, MAE, NEA, PAM, SOP, SKI, STE -- how’s my alphabet!
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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
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Search information: Across: 1. “___ Si Bon” (1950s Eartha Kitt hit); 5. Post-diet, ideally; 9. Surfaces; 14. Dinosaur National Monument locale; 15. ___ bar; 16. “Scenes of Clerical Life” author, 1858; 17. 1958 World Cup hero; 18. 50/50; 23. Record producer Brian; 30. Spray on a pan; 32. Federally funded program since ‘65; 42. Un cuarto of 62-Across; 43. Compete in a biathlon, in part; 51. “Years ___ …”; 52. ___ Jennison, first black woman in space; 57. Top celebs; 59. Jordanian queen; 60. Queen of the heavens; 61. Hanukkah staple; 62. Cuartro times 42-Across; 63. Help with a prank; 64. “___ Eyes” (1969 hit); 65. Irwin who wrote “Rich Man, Poor Man”; 66. Took in. Down: 4. One of the “Cosby Show” kids; 6. Long-___; 7. Company founded by Ingvar Kamprad; 8. Take exception to; 9. Pasta choice; 10. Isolated; 12. Mother of the stars and the winds; 13. ___-Julie, Que.; 22. Tour’s end?; 26. Dudley Do-Right’s girlfriend; 27. Ozone, for one; 29. Concert hall equipment; 30. It “hit’s the spot” per an old jingle; 31. “Was it ___ I saw?” (classic palindrome); 34. Migration, maybe; 36. Pinnacle; 37. Instruction at a horse show; 40. Music sources; 43. Saturate; 49. Takes a chance on; 50. First name in beauty products; 51. “Hawaii ___ “ (island song); 54. “The Dukes of Hazzard” spinoff; 55. Scotland’s ___ Awe; 56. Pow!; 57. PC key; 58. ___ di-dah.
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