02.18.09 -- Transmission

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Puzzle by Susan Gelfand, edited by Will Shortz

SHIFT (8A. With 61-Across, a possible title for this puzzle) GEARS (61A. See 8-Across), along with PARK CITY UTAH (19A. Home of the Sundance Film Festival), REVERSE SPLIT (28A. Corporate action that increases the par value of its stock), NEUTRAL SHADE (41A. Bone, for one) and DRIVE ME CRAZY (50A. 1999 Melissa Joan Hart movie) are the interrelated entries of this Wednesday crossword.

Once the transmission is running smoothly, there are two eight-letter entries, BOLIVIAN (36D. From Sucre, say) and TECUMSEH (7D. Shawnee chief at the Battle of Tippecanoe). Six letter entries include COOTIE (5D. Bug-building game); GRIEVE (14D. Show sorrow); HAMLET (43D. Shakespearean soliloquist); PALEST (40D. Most likely to sunburn); RERUNS (42D. Off-season offerings); SMEARS (8D. Artists’ boo-boos).

Five-letter entries include ADIEU (53A. Parting word); ADLAI (2D. First name in 1950s politics); ALACK (25D. Word of woe); AZURE (48D. Like a clear sky); BYNOW (49D. At this point); CAGER (47D. Hoops player); CRETE (20D. Minos’s land); DINKY (26D. Awfully small); ESSEX (18A. English county on the North Sea); LUNGE (35A. Fencing move); MANIA (15A. The Beatles produced it); MEDIC (37D. Battlefield shout); MOCKS (37A. Makes fun of, in a way); 3D. PEARL onion; PESKY (40A. Like gnats); PROSE (30D. Plain English); QUIET (31D. Library sign), 31. “And I QUOTE …”; ROAMS (29D. Gads about); ROGET (28D. Physician/synonymist); UNDUE (32D. Excessive, as force); ZIPPO (1D. Nada).

Three- and four-letter -- ABET, ADO, AGUN, AIDE, ALG, ALI and ELI, ARTY, ATE, BAH, CAB and CAT, DALI, DEER, DIE and FIE, DOM, ELBE, GORE and GREW, HASH, IDEA, ILLS, INA and INS, LANA, MER, NERO, NET, OED, OIL, OTIS, PLAN, RANG and RANI, REI, ROTC, SANK, TAX, TEED, ZAPS.

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Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Hits with bug spray; 5. Jaguar, e.g.; 13. It may be bright; 14. Ex-politico with a Nobel and an Emmy; 16. New entrepreneur’s need; 17. Cadets’ org.; 22. Dipstick coating; 23. King, in Portugal; 24. Debussy subject; 25. Foofaraw; 33. Wordsmith’s ref.; 34. Sari-clad royal; 36. Dickensian cry; 38. Right hand; 39. Monk’s title; 44. Grazed, e.g.; 45. One of the Manning brothers; 46. Noted convert to Islam in 1964; 47. Semi part; 56. Poverty, pollution and such; 57. Have ___ to one’s head; 59. Look out for? 60. “Quo Vadis” role; 62. Mosquito protection; 63. Mushroomed. Down: 4. Brought to ruin; 6. Pseudo-cultured; 9. Beanery fare; 10. Favored bunch; 11. “For shame!”; 12. Cigarettes have it; 21. Ticked (off); 27. Porter’s regretful “Miss”; 35. Clark’s crush on “Smallville”; 39. “The Persistence of Memory” painter; 50. Animal on XING signs; 51. Hamburg’s river; 52. Summoned, in a way; 53. Subj. with unknowns; 54. Go kaput; 55. “___ pig’s eye!”.