10.07.08 -- Shaping Up!

The Table, Juan Gris, 1914, Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Puzzle by Kevin G. Der, edited by Will Shortz

Four interrelated entries are the main feature of this crossword -- WAFFLECONE (17A. Ice cream holder); FOODPYRAMID (32A. Diagram of nutritional needs); BLOGOSPHERE (48A. Community of Web journals); RUBIKSCUBE (65A. Six-colored puzzle) -- by merit of their second halves' reference to three-dimensional geometric shapes.

AHAMOMENTS (11D. Occasions to cry "Eureka!"), surely a solver's thought, and DOTCOMBOOM (31D. Short-lived economic expansion of the late 1990s) bring the total of ten-letter to six with the aforementioned four interrelated by geometry. AVOCADO (7D. Guacamole base); LEARNOF (42A. Hear about); OCTANTS (40A. Many pizza slices, geometrically) and SHOWBIZ (46D. Movies, TV, Broadway, etc.) complete the list of long entries.

Mid-size entries -- ABOMB (29D. Focus of the Manhattan Project, briefly); BOBSUP (26D. Rises suddenly, as a buoy); DEFAT (35D. Trim, as meat); DOZEN (Baker's 13); DWARF(5A. Companion of Snow White); ERIKA (69A. Actress Christensen of "Traffic"); FLEWBY (9D. Passed quickly); ICONS (34D. Desktop images); 22D. LORNA Doone cookies; MACRO (44A. Large in scale); NAGAT (59A. Bother persistently); NIECE (39A. Actress Emma Roberts to Julia Roberts); NOCAL (30D. For dieters); NOOIL (41D. Cause of a blown engine, maybe); ORNOT (53A. End of an iffy statement); PELTER (33D. Snowball hurler); RAVEL (15A. "Bolero" composer); SARGE (37D. Looie's underling); SIMBA (24A. Lion in "The Lion King"); SMOTE (20A. Whacked, in the Bible); SNORED (49D. Sawed logs, so to speak); TACET (54D. "Be silent," in music); TUFTS (4D. Massachusetts university); ZAIRE (28D. Where Ali dethroned Foreman).

Short stuff -- ABIT, AND, ATOZ, ATTA, BAWL, BMWS, BOOS, BOY, BOZO, BRIT, COWL, DRE, EARN, EONS, ERIN, ETNA, EURO, GURU, IKE, INFO, ITOO, JAB, JAIL, KAN, LAME, LEIF, LOEW, LOKI, MEIN, MENU, MOI, MOOT, OBOE, OHIO, REAM, RENO, SST, TENS, TUTS, USTA, WAC, WINO, YANK, ZOE.

Now, about that BLOGOSPHERE -- over the past year, I’ve taken to solving the crossword from the Times internet site, which puzzle is available at 10:00 pm the day before the newspaper hits the stands. However, I notice from reading three other crossword blogs that I have a two-week disadvantage for publication, as the individuals running those crossword blogs are test solvers for The New York Times and receive the crossword puzzle a week or two prior to the puzzle appearing on the internet or in the newspaper. Which makes me wonder how one particular blogger posts a time at “Play Against the Clock” of only 3 minutes when the solution was completed two weeks prior (!!!!!!!)-- if that time posted is meant to indicate the speed at which the solver can type, well… not bad! I have nothing but awe and wonder at someone who can write or type into the squares of the crossword the letters necessary even from two-week old copy, without reading the clues or read them without thinking, just divining what letters those blanks require and spitting them out like alphabet soup to perfection, all in the blink of an eye! Think about it!

So I slog along like the proverbial tortoise -- long ago locked out of the “Play Against the Clock” for whatever reason, and today locked out of the crossword site altogether. This means I get the thing finally at 1:00 a.m.! Solve, print, scan, write, acquire links and graphics, a cartoon, type, proofread, blog, update sidebar -- and slowly turn into a night creature. If I cut a bit short on some days, there's a reason, but I'll not stoop to brandishing my daily travails electronically for self-promotion or egomania. I just need something to do! That's all I have to say on the subject; but, just for the record, this is the longest-running crossword blog published by one author continuously (accept no substitutes) in the blogosphere!

I'm just saying!

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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Click on image to enlarge.

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.

Xword info -- Across: 1. Telly watcher; 10. Cry out loud; 14. PC pop-up; 16. One of Pittsburgh's three rivers; 19. Pull hard; 21. Monk's hood; 23. "You can't mean me!?"; 27. Classic clown; 29. "Then what happened?"; 36. Responses to bad calls; 38. Cousin of a bassoon; 45. Ashe Stadium org.; 47. Volcano in Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth"; 51. Old J.F.K. lander; 52. Chow ___; 55. Ring hit; 57. Theater mogul Marcus; 63. The works; 68. Langston Hughes poem; 70. Isle of poetry; 71. Weak; 73. Sounds of disapproval. Down: 1. Upscale autos; 2. Photocopier tray capacity, maybe; 3. Google users seek it; 5. Rap's Dr. ___; 6. W.W. II-era female in uniform; 8. Gambling mecca; 10. Part of EGBDF; 12. "Brown bagger"; 13. Mischievous Norse god; 18. Explorer Ericson; 25. ___ court (law school exercise); 43. Get through hard work; 50. How long it takes canyons to form; 55. One corner on a Monopoly board; 56. Lead-in to a congratulatory cry; 58. 100 cents; 60. Wise one; 61. Kind of; 62. Sawbucks; 64. Playwright Akins; 66. Former White House moniker; 67. Bob Dole's state: Abbr.