02.18.10 -- Escapology

Harry Houdini, a famous escapologist and magician, 1899

-----------------

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Puzzle by Caleb Madison, edited by Will Shortz

KEYS (56D. PC things, which can be found at the starts of 14-, 22-, 37-, 46- and 61-Across), SHIFT GEARS (14A. Go into a new mode), ESCAPE ARTIST (22A. One in chains, maybe), RETURN OF THE JEDI (37A. 1983’s highest-grossing film), CONTROL FREAK (46A. Bossy sort) and OPTION PLAY (61A. Gridiron ploy) constitute the interrelated group of this hunt-and-peck Thursday escapism.

What else? -- DON’T TELL ME (58A. “Shh! I know this”), PAT BENATAR (27D. Singer with the second video ever played on MTV), PG THIRTEEN (11D. Like the movies “10,000 B.C.” and “2012”) and SENIORITIS (17A. Almost-grad’s “disease”), a colloquial term used in the United States to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers.

AMORAL (30A. Unconcerned with scruples) brazenly heads a six-letter quartet including E-ZPASS (41A. Northeastern toll road convenience), SO AS TO (10D. Such that one might) and ST JOHN (44D. Bond girl Jill) . Separate couple -- TOPSY and TIM (15D. Title twin sister in a series of children’s books by Jean and Gareth Adamson, 34A. Title twin brother of 15-Down).

Five-letter -- AGRIC, ALIAS, ARETE, AMAHS, ANZIO, CASES and CENSE, DOEST, EAT UP, EMPTY (25A. Like some promises), ESTOS, FONTS, L-DOPA, NET WT, OATEN, OMAHA, OR NOT, PIN-UP, REINA, RETIE, TRIPE (8D. Rubbish).

Fill-in-the-blanks material -- 18A. Have AT IT; 19A. “Table for TWO?”; 1D. ASST prof.; 4D. Elvis Presley’s “IF I Can Dream”; 32D. U.S. OF A; 35D. “I’D NO idea!”; 54D. “ALL I Have” (#1 Jennifer Lopez hit); 55D. OMAR Little, “The Wire” antihero.

Short stuff -- ACTI, AOK, CHEW, BEAT, DOC (58A. “Recipient” of a Bugs Bunny question), EARNS, EBRO, EENS, EMAJ, ESAI (43A. Morales in Hollywood), ESS, ETTU, JERK, MEET, MIST, MOOR, MOP, NATO, OGLE, OTB, REAR (38D. Full moon view?), ROLE, RTS, SHAH and SHAW (21A. Who wrote “Hell is full of musical amateurs“), SIRS, SPAN, TINO.

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.” -- Edgar Allan Poe 

Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.

Remaining clues -- ACROSS: 1. Start in literature; 5. Alpine feature; 10. Stretch; 16. Leer at; 20. Bunny photo; 28. Cornwall feature; 29. Bushed; 40. Alternative to a day at the races?: Abbr.; 42 Poetic times; 45. Second-guessers’ words; 52. What Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 is written in: Abbr.; 53. Execute, archaically; 54. Swell; 57. Intl. group whose initials in English and French are reversed; 60. Onetime Asian autocrat; 62. Net; 63. Social worker’s workload; 64. Formal letter opening. DOWN: 2. Consider, with “on”; 3. Ex-Yankee Martinez; 5. U.S.D.A. part: Abr.; 6. Isabel, por ejemplo; 7. Avidly accept; 9. Quaint occupational suffix; 12. Handle; 13. Food box abbr.; 22. Words from the betrayed; 23. Asian nannies; 24. King Henry V, e.g.; 25. River through Logroño and Aragon; 26. Have an engagement (with); 30. W.W. II battleground; 31. Challenge for a hairstylist; 33. Some linemen: Abbr.; 36. Spray setting; 39. Steve Martin comedy, with “The”; 45. Like some straw; 46. Perfume; 47. Nebraska tribe; 48. Treatment for Parkinson’s; 49. Times and others; 50. Fix, as a knot; 51. These to Julio; 59. Wax Things, for short.