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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Puzzle by Clive Probert, edited by Will Shortz
The online edition of this Wednesday crossword is prefaced with the note “This crossword is unusual in a certain way. Can you identify how? (answer in Notepad)”. Seeing the letter B pop up all over the place, I didn’t bother, but in the interest of reportage did so after solving — the note read “In this crossword, every answer and every clue contains at least one letter B.” Aha!, it’s both answer and clue! B as in brilliant!
Across — 1. Ali BABA of “The Arabian Nights”; 5. French bench, BANC; 9. Strikebreaker, SCAB; 13. Big blast maker, for short, A-BOMB; 15. “Able was I ere I saw ELBA”; 16. Letters on beach lotion, PABA; 17. Southern cousin of bouillabaisse, GUMBO; 18. Basics, ABCS; 19. Lb. or oz., e.g., ABBR; 20. Locale of Britain’s first Christian martyr, ST ALBANS; 22. Subsidiary route, BYROAD; 24. Flowers back, EBBS; 25. Helps in a bank heist, say, ABETS; 26. Bodega setting, BARRIO; 29. Not be able to stomach, ABHOR; 31. Former New York may Beame, ABE; 32. Uneven, as fabric, NUBBY; 34. The Beatles’ “Eleanor RIGBY”; 38. His NIBS (the boss); 40. Its beat may accompany a fife, TABOR; 42. Cowboy’s tie, BOLO; 43. Baseball’s Rusty STAUB; 45. Old stringed instrument with a narrow body, REBEC; 47. Buddy, BUB; 48. Bovine nickname, BOSSY; 50. Cribs hold them, BABIES; 52. Scrubber, BRUSH; 54. Neuwirth of Broadway, BEBE; 55. BEARER of bad news; 58. Research group associated with many Nobel Prizes in Physics, BELL LABS; 60. Kebab meat, LAMB; 61. Above, in Berline, UBER; 63. Bendable body part, ELBOW; 64. ALBA Longa, where Romulus and Remus were born; 65. Opposite of badly: Fr., BIEN; 66. Raymond’s wife on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, DEBRA; 67. “BE ON your best behavior”; 68. Juice brand, SOBE; 69. “Born from jets” sloganeer, SAAB.
Down — Pocketbooks, BAGS; 2. Border on, ABUT; 3. Capital of the former Belgian Congo, BOMA; 4. One walking comfortably, AMBLER; 5. Baked BEANS; 6. Priests’ robes, ALBS; 7. Brian Williams’s network, NBC; 8. Citadel, in Arabic, CASBAH; 9. Barbecue item, SPARE RIB; 10. Actor Sebastian CABOT; 11. P.L.O. bigwig Mahmoud, ABBAS; 12. Shakespeare or Browning, BARD; 14. Ribbon holder, maybe, BOBBIN; 21. Bring ABOUT (cause); 23. YBOR City (Tampa neighborhood); 26. Prohibitions, BANS; 27. Before long, after “in”, A BIT; 28. Sitcom with the character B.J., REBA; 29. Setting for Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”, ABBEY; 30. Part of an invitation to an imbiber, BYOB; 33. Beer places, BARS; 35. Expanse south of Ulan Bator, GOBI; 36. Bawdy, BLUE; 37. Rowdies, in British slang, YOBS, a yob is a boy backwards; 39. Beyond the city limits, SUBURBAN; 41. Disobedient sort, REBEL; 44. Big name in speakers, BOSE; 46. Sent a message before fax machines, say, CABLED; 49. Bougainvilles and others, SHRUBS; 51. Ball girls, BELLES; 52. Memphis street with many jazz clubs, BEALE; 53. “First Blood” protagonist, RAMBO; 54. Capital SSW of Basel, BERNE; 55. Babble, BLAB; 56. English broadcaster, with “the” BEEB; 57. “SOS” band, ABBA; 58. When doubled, a Polynesian island, BORA; 59. Shipboard mop, SWAB; 62. Life, briefly, BIO.
Check out the cartoon in Wordplay!
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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.
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