Sunday, October 10, 2010
DRIVERS’ TRANSLATIONS, Puzzle by Patrick Merrell, edited by Will Shortz
Ha! Ha! An hilarious set of drivers’ translations constitutes the interrelated group of this dangerously irreverent Sunday crossword, perhaps a paean to the Sunday driver! If I may interject with a personal note, I have been driving on Long Island, New York, for the past ten years, and every one of the following are brilliantly and gruesomely true!:
23A. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK … PORK BARREL PROJECT
33A. MERGING TRAFFIC … PREPARE TO BE CUT OFF
45A. STOP … COAST ON THROUGH
61A. CONGESTION NEXT 10 MILES … ROAD RAGE ZONE
72A. NO THRU TRAFFIC … GOOD SHORT CUT
58A. STAY IN LANE … IGNORE THIS SIGN
103A. NO STOPPING OR STANDING … LEAVE IF YOU SEE A COP
112A. SPEED LIMIT 65 M.P.H. … KEEP IT UNDER EIGHTY
Other — BASE TWO (95A. Number system with only 0’s and 1’s), DETOURED (15D. Took an alternate route), HIS AND HER (81D. Like some matching pairs), HORSEPLAY (3D. Roughhousing), MAE WEST (13D. Queen of double entendres), MAHARAJAS (65A. Wearers of jeweled turbans), POTEMKIN (86D. Famed Russian battleship), SEROTONIN (71A. Neurotransmitter associated with sleep), SHRINES (41A. Places to pray), SOFTEST (92D. Toilet tissue superlative), STAND-UP (78A. Open mike night format, perhaps), YES MAA’AM (57A. Reply from a polite young’un).
Six-letter — AENEAS, BLIGHT, DAYTON, EDSELS, HUMANS (101A. Earthlings), IRONED, ISOPOD, ISSUER, O’KEEFE, PHILLY, POLITY, POP UPS, RIPKIN, ROARER, SARTRE, SCARFS, SERAPH, TURTLE, UPSIDE, WEB APP (5D. Online program).
Five — AGENT, AIOLI, ALEVE, ALONE, APACE, ARCHY (35D. Don Marquis’s six-legged poet), ARTIE , ASSAD, CARNY, COLOR, DREAD, EARNS, ERWIN, ETHOS, GNASH, GOTTI, I‘M MAD and I’M SET, IN REM, KAPOW, LOOSE, MCJOB, NUTSY (124A. Cockeyed), OPRAH, OSTER, PAPER, PAREE, PEALE, PSHAW, RAINY, SCARE, SHAPE and SHARE, STEER, STIRS, TILTS, TOURS,YIPES (104D. “Criminy!”).
Short stuff — AGRA, AHA, AIR, AKC, ALLS, ANKH, AONE, APRS, ARE, ASEA, ATO, CHEE, CNN, DOS, DWI (115D. Breathalyzer determination, for short), EIN, ELL, EMU, ERY, ETON, FAD, FUR, GADS, GET, HAG and HAR, HOAR, HOSE, HOWI, HUTT, INS, INCA, JOS, LONI, MAR, MGRS, NRA, NTH, OPS OSO, PAP, PINT, POE, RATE, RNA, SAM, SEEN, SLO, STAG, TAN, TARA, TDS, THO, TOE, TRYA, TSE, UDO, UMA, YEA, ZOO…
Zoom, zoom!
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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. “Applesauce!”; 6. The pulp in pulp fiction; 11. “That ticked me off!”; 16. Bob and pageboy; 19. 1987 #1 Heart song that stars “I hear the ticking of the clock”; 20. Sauce made with garlic and olive oil; 21. Adrenaline producer; 22. Dog show org.; 26. Call of support; 27. Some run to get in it; 28. “Batman” fight scene sound; 29. Blender brand; 31. Hold ‘em bullet; 38. Flies that don’t go far from home; 40. Removed fold marks; 42. Know-it-___ (cocky types); 43. Cuzco native; 44. Range rover; 51. Some ’50s Fords; 55. Suffix with hatch; 56. Special ___; 59. It’s often pointed in gymnastics; 60. Ermine, e.g.; 76. However, briefly; 77. Genetic material; 80. From ___ Z; 81. Wizened woman; 84. Winged celestial being; 91. Kind of translation; 93. Setting for the biggest movie of 1939; 94. Sailing; 96. Cheesesteak capital; 106. Ultimate degree; 107. Like some legal proceedings; 108. Has an angle; 109. Syrian president; 111. Comprehend; 119. Guffaw syllable; 120. “None for me, thanks”; 121. Field Marshal Rommel;122. Feeling when called to the principal’s office; 123. Literary monogram; 126. Requiring an umbrella; 126. Brings in. — DOWN: 1. Unchallenging reading material; 2. ___-mo; 4. Egyptian symbol of life; 6. City in a “Can-Can” song; 7. Common inhalant; 8. Creative of the detective C. Auguste Dupin; 9. Architectural addition; 10. Oriole who played in a record 2,632 straight games; 11. Small crustacean; 12. Low-level position; 16. The Wright brothers’ Ohio home; 17. Michael of “Caddyshack”; 18. Gobbles (down); 24. Mortgage figs.; 25. Part of 24-Down; 30. Awakens; 31. Swiftly; 32. Kind of commentator; 34. Pub order; 36. Lion or tiger or bear; 37. Tony Hillerman detective Jim; 39. ___ Intrepid; 43. Connections; 44. Investment unit; 46. Roadies work on them; 47. First name in TV talk; 48. Spanish bear; 49. Actress Thurman; 50. Gallivants; 52. School for Prince Harry; 53. Anderson of “WKRP in Cincinnati”; 54. Spotted; 58. Harm; 60. Troll dolls or Silly Bandz; 62. Gambino boss after Castellano; 63. Group values; 64. Place with feeding times; 65. Supermarket V.I.P’s: Abbr.; 66. Best-of-the-best; 67. Frozen dew; 68. Betty, Bobbie and Billie followers on “Petticoat Junction”; 69. Bandleader Shaw; 70. Woodlands male; 73. “The Situation Room” airer; 74. Japanese vegetable; 76. Slowpoke; 79. “The Power of Positive Thinking” author; 80. “I get it now”; 81. Like some matching pairs; 82. Representative; 83. Grind together; 85. Anacin alternative; 87. “That’s just ___ FEEL”; 89. “___ Little Tenderness”; 90. Houston after whom the Texas city is named; 95. Worry for a farmer; 96. Leader whom Virgil called “the virtuous”; 97. Jean-Paul who wrote “Words are loaded pistols”; 98. Particular form of government; 99. Jabba the ___, “Star Wars” villain; 100. Bond offered, e.g.; 101. It may wind up at the side of the house; 102. All the pluses; 105. Sideshow worker; 110. Taj Mahal site; 113. Bird in New South Wales; 114. New Deal inits.; 116. One, for Fritz; 117. It’s often picked up at the beach; 118. QB’s stat.
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