04.10.09 -- Not a Chance!

Custer’s Last Stand, Edgar Paxon, 1899

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Puzzle by Manny Nosowsky, edited by Will Shortz

T.G.I.F.! Three 15-letter entries are the main feature of this not-a-chance-blank-at-first-sight Friday crossword -- ATE ONES HEART OUT (37A. Felt bitter anguish); GET MILEAGE OUT OF (36A. Obtain service from); NOT STAND A CHANCE (32A. Be doomed); followed by two of ten letters, MINE SWEEPER (22D. Popular computer logic/guessing game), TALENT AGENT (9D. Representative of Hollywood); three of nine letters, ALL FEMALE (6D. Like the pop group the Pussycat Dolls); CEASE FIRE (35D. Occasion to drop one’s arms); LEND A HAND (20D. Be of assistance); and finally two of eight, COMPARED (44A. Like rivals, often); LESS SALT (20A. Food label for the health-conscious).

Mid-size entries -- APISHLY (15A. In an unoriginal way); AREA MAP (53A. Tourist guide); ARTISTE (16A. Circus performer, e.g.); BRONZED (56A. Nicely tan); CENTERS and JESTERS (41A and 58A. Court figures); COMICAL (1A. Laugh-a-minute); ELEMENT (21A. Electric device with terminals); ENGULF (19A. Swallow); FAT LOT (49A. Not much, with “a”); LIMEADE (54A. Vitamin C source); LIONELS (18A. Toys trains); REGLAZE (55A. Make like new, as a bathtub); TENSILE (17A. Kind of strength); TOASTER (57A. Kitchen device first patented in 1921); TWO PAIR (8A. So-so poker holding).

Five-letter -- SHISH (27A. Spit for a kebab); CHILL (5D. Flu symptom); CRAZE (41D. Slinkys or Magic 8 Balls, once); HEFTY (31D. Substantial); INGAS (23D. “Young Frankenstein” woman and others); IN TOW (29D. Following obediently); ISSUE (4D. Give out); POETE (24D. French versifier); 25D. Burrow : rabbit :: holt : OTTER; 41D. RAMOS gin fizz; SCOUR (30D. Scrub); SERGE (38A. Maestro Koussevitzky); STENT (43D. Surgical tube); WRIST (9D. Where to wear an armilla).

Short stuff -- AMAT, ASEA, CART and CATE, HAUT, IPO, ITLL, LAZE, LBJ, LYE, MEGA, MING and MINT, ODER and OPEN, OREO, OTOS, PALS and PINS, REST (14D. Doctor’s prescription); SHOR and SMOG, TEDS, TINE, WANS (39A. Grows pale) and WRY (Twisted).

Have a good weekend!

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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

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Remaining clues -- Across: 23. News on the bus. Page; 26. Ingredient in many toothpastes. Down: 1. Wife in “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter”; 2. Ready to do business; 3. Chinese dynasty during which trade with Portugal began; 7. Burning substance; 10. Platte River tribe; 11. Immobilizes; 12. Where gobs go; 13. “One day ___ all make sense”; 27. Subject of “Toots” by Bob Considine, 1969; 28. High in the French Alps; 33. Gray blanket; 34. Pitchfork part; 44. Trolley; 45. Round sandwich; 46. Prefix with dose; 47. Buds; 48. Part of a Latin 101 conjugation; 50. Not do one darn thing; 51. ____-Neisse Line; 52. Dries, as hay; 54. ___ Ranch (former Western White House).