Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Puzzle by Ronald J. and Nancy J. Byron, edited by Will Shortz Four 15-letter across entries are the main feature of this Tuesday crossword -- DOUBLE PLAY COMBO (57A. What 17-, 25- and 43-Across were famously), TINKER SHORT STOP, EVERS SECOND BASE and CHANCE FIRST BASE, all with the same clue of 1908 Cubs player and position.
Along with third baseman Harry Steinfeldt, the trio of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman John Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance formed the legendary infield of the championship Chicago Cubs teams of the early 1900s. Their fielding and hitting led the Cubs to four National League penants (1906-8, 1910) and two World Series wins (1907-8). The Hall of Fame inducted all three simultaneously in 1946. In 1910, New York newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams immortalized the three ballplayers in a short verse entitled "Baseball's Sad Lexicon":
"These are the saddest of possible words: / "Tinker to Evers to Chance." / Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, / Tinker and Evers and Chance. / Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, / Making a Giant hit into a double -- / Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: / "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Mid-size entries include ABSORB (10D. Work like paper towels), AT A PRICE (20A. How fame comes, sometimes), BRAINIAC (52A. 2006 Ken Jennings book ... or the author himself) accompanied by SMART (5A. Like a 52-Across), MUSCLE (6D. Bodyguard's asset), 44D. "Sorry, Wrong NUMBER", RERATE (45D. Add a star to, say), SPRITS (5D. Mast extensions) and STAY IN (45D. Not leave the house).
Five letter -- ASPCA, CHILI, EATME, ENIAC, ERICA, ERASE, GOTTI, NERVE, OBAMA, OCTAL, OLSEN, PUSHY, ROAST, SICEM, SPIES, STOIC, TRADE, TRIMS, VETCH.
Short stuff -- ABLE and ABRA, ACC, ALAN, ALIT and ATL, APPT, ASHE, AURA, BEEP, BETA, BLTS, BOAT, CANA, COTS, DARE, EGO and ETO, EXES, HONE, IMAX, INNS, ITIS, LIAR, LOOM, MALT, NOME, ODDS, ONKP, OREL, POL, REFS, REOS and RHO, RVS, SPA, STAR, TACO and TATA, TREE, TYR, UTES. -----------------
For the Chicago Cubs Curse of the Goat, go HERE, or HERE.
Famous double-player combo of (from l.) Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance. The third baseman of Tinkers to Evers to Chance was Harry Steinfeldt.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
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Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Soft or crunchy snack; 10. Start of an incantation; 14. The "A" in Chester A. Arthur; 15. Rudely assertive; 16. When repeated, Road Runner's call; 21. Friars Club event; 22. The Braves, on the scoreboard; 23. "Pants on fire" person; 33. Chutzpah; 34. Put an edge on; 35. Hydrotherapy locale; 36. "How sweet ___!"; 39. Polish's partner; 40. U. of Miami's athletic org.; 41. Baseball analyst Hershiser; 42. Command to an attack dog; 47. Salt Lake City athletes; 48. Ike's W.W. II command; 49. "Yes we can" sloganeer; 60. Virginia ___ (noted 1587 birth); 61. The Dapper Don; 62. Fountain order; 63. Polaris or Sirious; 64. Jimmy of the Daily Planet; 65. They're splitsville. Down: 1. "Toodles"; 2. Touched down; 3. Water-to-wine site; 4. Peeling potatoes, stereotypically; 7. Only African-American male to win Wimbledon; 8. P, on a fraternity house; 9. Norse war god; 11. Software test version; 12. Vintage autos; 13. Date with an M.D..; 18. Clear, as a tape; 19. The "t" in Nafta; 23. Machine with a shuttle; 24. Rustic lodgings; 25. 1946 high-tech wonder; 25. Climbing plant with pealike flowers; 27. Novelist Jong; 28. Homes on wheels, in brief; 29. Hot dog topper; 30. Humane org. since 1866; 31. Black-clad and white-clad Mad adversaries; 32. Wonderland cake phrase; 37. Logic diagram; 38. Flag tossers, for short; 39. Bro or sis; 41. Of base 8; 42. Showing no emotion; 49. They may be stacked against you; 50. Dinghy, e.g.; 51. Surrounding glow; 52. Nonkisher diner offerings; 53. Iditarod terminus; 54. Huge-screen format; 55. Up to it; 56. Hotel room roll-ins; 58. Part of Freud's "psychic apparatus"; 59. Vote seeker, for short.
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