WEB MASTER, Puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski, edited by Will Shortz
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII[SPIDER] (25-Down -- Visual presentation of what gave 115-Across special powers) and THE AMAZING [SPIDER]MAN (115-Across), along with PHOTOGRAPHER (12D. 115-Across’s day job), TOBY MAGUIRE (64D. Film star who played 115-Across); OTTO OCTAVIUS (26D. Tentacled enemy of 115-Across), ALFRED MOLINA (47D. Film star who played 26-Down), GREEN GOBLIN (38A. Pumpkin bomb-throwing enemy of 115-Across, with “the”), WILLEM DAFOE (100A. Film star who played 38-Across) and COMIC BOOK COVER (24A. Where you might see 115-Across), are the interrelated entries of this Sunday crossword. Wow! All those I’s forming a strand from which to dangle a glyph of a spider? Cool!!!
If the way to a man’s heart were not through his stomach, it would be through the boy he hides in himself along with his heroes, those secret idols scrawled upon pages splashed with color and fantastic adventures, valiant rescuers with other-worldly powers and incredible magnetism for the opposite sex, all in the spare time of an everyday everyman possessing an undisclosed identity. Ah, that’s the life!
Today’s crossword covers much more, however, and the few following links may reveal where this brilliant crossword and its author would have us travel, providing a secondary clue or an outright answer in a puzzle that’s a bit like a diversion in study hall, you know, a comic book read between the pages of Dostoevsky or Proust!
Across: 1. Precipitate; 7. Amplifier jack letters; 10. Liveliness; 16. “Sort of” ending; 19. Full assembly; 20. Nabokov heroine; 21. Falafel sandwich sauce; 22. Never, in Nürnberg; 23. They work on Steinways; 24. Where you might see 115-Across; 27. They’re hidden in a Hirschfeld sketch; 28. Others, in Latin; 29. The followers, briefly; 30. Rubber that meets the road; 31. Coffee order; 34. Deceive; 36. Consumers; 40. Scottish cattle breed; 42. “Show me!”; 43. Gibson’s “Ransom” co-star; 44. Prominent stars in constellations; 49. What’s more; 50. Food writer Rombauer and others; 52. Related to base eight; 56. Royals abroad, maybe; 58. "SOI see”; 60. Go (for); 61. Bandleader Puente; 62. Scratch cause; 65. Leaves behind; 68. “London Fields” author; 69. Taliban leader; 70. Way overseas; 71. French goose; 72. Mess up; 73. Plant with tendrils; 74. Selfish cry before and after “all”; 75. Sight from the Bering Sea; 77. Astrologers’ work; 79. Geraint’s beloved; 80. Vintage wheels; 81. System of beliefs; 83. Baby carrier brand; 84. Dress lines; 86. Singer Lauper; 88. Legal org.; 91. Plus; 92. Loathing; 94. Shoelace ends: Var.; 97. Handel opera based on Greek myth; 105. Resemble; 106. Wish granters; 108. The planet Venus; 110. Memo starter; 111. Lux. Locale; 112. “IMNO fool …”; 114. Identify from memory; 119. Lighthearted; 120. Suffix with puppet; 121. Extremely; 122. Pupil’s spot; 123. It’s covered by a sleeve; 124. Hosp. staff; 125. Learn easily; 126. Beam; 127. Firewood measures.
Down: 1. 10-G, e.g.: Abbr.; 2. Laundry whitener; 3. Actor Jeremy of “North Country”; 4. Nervousness; 5. Run down; 6. Some intellectual property: Abbr.; 7. Chewy cookie; 8. Immunity IDOL on “Survivor”; 9. Monet painting also known as “:The Woman in the Green Dress”; 10. And more: Abbr.; 11. Wooden shoe; 13. They run through South America; 14. Publicity; 15. Peculiarity; 16. Visible; 17. California’s High SIERRA; 18. Joan of Arc’s crime; 32. Economics fig.; 33. Indian fort locale; 35. ENTR’ acte; 36. High ways?; 37. To boot; 39. Drawers in a laundry room; 41. Hardly luxurious; 44. Looks good on; 45. Assay; 46. Largest moon of Uranus; 48. Quattro + due; 51. Comfy shoe; 53. Stopwatch info; 54. All excited; 55. Goes ballistic; 57. Company leaders: Abbr.; 59. Bouquet; 63. Mohawk, for one; 66. White-glove affairs; 67. Sp. Matrons; 76. Big time?; 78. Modern test subj.; 82. “Scenes From a MALL” (Woody Allen film); 86. Home of Rapid City: Abbr.; 87. Setting of the painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware”; 89. Natural sweetener; 90. “Don’t look ATME that way!”; 93. Suffix with glass; 95. Dim perception; 96. Old campus grp.; 97. Let up; 98. Stake attachment, maybe; 99. Takes in, say; 101. Small program; 102. Girl’s name meaning “happy”; 103. Person with a public address; 104. Swindle; 107. Young business partner?; 109. Beginnings; 111. Book before Daniel: Abbr.; 113. Water brand; 116. Intersected; 117. Glamorous Gardner; 118. Sticky stuff; 119. Abbr. in a real estate ad.
If crosswords were webs and their authors were spiders, Elizabeth C. Gorski is herself, a web master!
Excuse me, I hear a damsel in distress!
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Gothic-Man, as usual, your color values are awesome. Spider-man looks fantastic against the black background. My uniform would look great here too (hint, hint) . . . hello, puzzlemakers -- I wear a TIARA! Thanks for your great write-up, Donald!
ReplyDeleteCelebrate your favorite word game by opening a fine bottle and pulling the cork 03.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened with the diagramless puzzle? The location of the first square was not with last week's answers!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDelete1-Across in this week’s diagramless puzzle begins in the first square of the top row.