11.06.08 -- Shuffle

The Red Queen by ‘Dianae of Deviant Art

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen, a representation of a Queen in chess, and Alice are constantly running but remaining in the same spot. "Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing." "A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Puzzle by Jeremy Newton, edited by Will Shortz

SUIT (1-Across -- What the 13 circled things in this puzzle constitute). “Things”, you see, not letters or the like…

O.K., those circles, cards -- Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace -- written. For the technocrats working the crossword on the applet, you can type in the numerals, but they won’t be accepted as a correct solution -- type in the first letter of the spelled-out number instead -- T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, T, J, Q, K, A. Plus one needs to bear in mind the circle is missing for the J, but the square functions properly.

Across: CA[NINE] (10A. Pound delivery); MP3 PLAYERS (16A. Devices for music lovers); BEST OF 5 (21A. A.L. or N.L. Division Series format); 8-MAN (25A. Like squads in arena football); 6-SHOOTER (32A. Something that may hold up a train?); WOR[KING] 24 7 (38A. Never idle); SURF[ACE]AREA (48A. Full coverage?); LATOYA[JACK]SON (60A. “Bad Girl” singer); MC[QUEEN] (66A. Actor known as the King of Cool); PA[TEN]T (68A. Barefaced).

Down: IN 3-D (3D. Having depth); 9 TO 5 (12D. Like many office jobs); SALE[SEVEN]T (22D. Bargain hunter’s lure); PAR[KING]SP[ACE] (24D. Spot); 86 IT (25D. “Scratch that!”); V4S (35D. Some engines); 2-YEAR OLD (39D. Juvenile, in horse racing); RED[QUEEN] (54D. “Through the Looking-Glass antagonist); ROT[TEN] (57D. No-good); [JACK]UP (62D. Hike).

Shuffling the remainder of the deck, other long entries include LAYSOVER (6D. Breaks up flights); SYSTEMIC (43A. Bodywide); UNPOPULAR (23A. Off the charts?) -- and less so, AFRAME (46D. Building with walls for a ceiling); AIRBUS (8D. Winged mammoth); INSANE (42D. Unbelievable); MOTRIN (15D. Advil alternative); OWNSUP (33d. Says “My bad!”) and SCRAPER (52A. Tool for a driver or painter).

The low cards include AHOYS (27D. Whoops at sea); AIDE (Gofer); ASIF (11D. “Keep dreaming!”); CHIC (53D. In); COLO (10D. Neighbor of N.M.); DERMA (30D. Body layer); EMILE (64A. Actor Hirsch of “Into the Wild”); GLEAM (5A. Light from a lantern, say); GNAT (58D. Airborne irritant); GRASP (5D. Reach); LIDS (29A. Eye liners); MOSEL (9D. Wine region where Riesling is made); MOST (15A. Max); MSDOS (26D. Old PC software); OLIO (18A. This and that); OSSA (56D. Greek summit); RATIO (14A. 20/20, e.g.); RELET (49D. Fill a flat again?); REYES (50D. Rulers like Juan Carlos); ROCK (36D. Big ring stone, slangily); the ungodly contrived entry of 1D. SAML Adams, signature on the Declaration of Independence; SEEIN (31D. Welcome); SSNS (45A. Dashed figs.); SWAM (52D. Skinny-dipped); TANK (47A. Fail, as a flick); TENDS (67A. Baby-sits); UNPC (2D. Like calling a woman a “chick,” say); WHEN (59A. Invitation info).

The Jokers are wild -- APE, ASS, ETA and ETE and/or EVA, IDO, LAN, LCD, ORG, REO and REV, TIN, TOG and TOP, UNO (23D. Game with a yelled name), and VAS as a near match for V4S -- when in a scribble!

Off I shuffle!

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