10.26.10 — Politics As Unusual

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Puzzle by Chris Handman, edited by Will Shortz

RALLY TO RESTORE SANITY and STEWART, along with MARCH TO KEEP FEAR ALIVE and COLBERT, with PAPA/BEAR and EMMY, constitute the interrelated group of this topical Tuesday crossword.

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear is a demonstration planned for October 30, 2010, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to be led by Jon Stewart and an in-character Stephen Colbert. It is a merging of two previously, separately scheduled events: Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and Colbert's own satirical counterpart, the March to Keep Fear Alive.

Billed as "a rally for the people who've been too busy to go to rallies", its stated purpose is to provide a venue for attendees to be heard above what Stewart describes as the more vocal and extreme 15–20 percent of Americans who "control the conversation" of United States politics, such as the Tea Party movement and the anti-war movement that opposed the presidential administration of George W. Bush. News reports have cast the rally as a satirical response to Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally and the "Reclaim the Dream" counter-rally. More, HERE.

Other — AIRBALL (7D. Complete miss in basketball), ANATHEMA (48A. Object of loathing), LADY LUCK (28A. Gambler’s best friend?), TAG TEAM (46D. Wrestling duo).

Rehem, say… five letters?, ALTER — other mid size: AT STUD, AVOID and AVOIR, BRILLO, CHITA, ELAPSE, HOVER, IT’S ME, LASSO, LIES TO, LORRE, RETRO, ROARK, STORM, TAILS, TOO FAR, TRADES, TREMOR.

Short stuff… you got it today — AAR, AKIN, ALEG, ALTA, ALUM, ANNA, ANTE, AREA and ARIA, ARMY, ARTE, BANA, BET and BENT, BORN, CERA, EMB and OMB, EMMA and EMMY, ENID, FEM, HAZE, IHOP, KATY, LAW and LAY, NBA and NCAA, NEAT, OAF, PERK, POE, PROM, RATE and RATS and RAYS, RIOT, SEAR, SIRS, STAB, TORE, TWO, URAL, WARY, YDS.

————————

Look at the tyranny of party -- at what is called party allegiance, party loyalty -- a snare invented by designing men for selfish purposes -- and which turns voters into chattles, slaves, rabbits, and all the while their masters, and they themselves are shouting rubbish about liberty, independence, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, honestly unconscious of the fantastic contradiction; and forgetting or ignoring that their fathers and the churches shouted the same blasphemies a generation earlier when they were closing their doors against the hunted slave, beating his handful of humane defenders with Bible texts and billies, and pocketing the insults and licking the shoes of his Southern master.

~ "The Character of Man," Mark Twain's Autobiography 

————————

Click on image to enlarge. 
Click again after larger image appears to re-enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. With 17-Across, event of 10/30/10; 6. With 10-Across sobriquet for Bill O’Reilly used by 39-Across; 10. See 6-Across; 14. Duck, as a question; 15. Real comedian; 16. Tolstoy’s Karenina; 17. See 1-Across; 20. Knights; 21. White House fiscal grp.; 22. Deals in a fantasy league; 23. Fashionably old; 25. Reuniongoer; 27. Buffoon; 28. Gambler’s best friend?; 33. Wizards’ and Celtics’ org.; 36. Winner when heads loses; 38. Pi r squared, for a circle; 39. Organizer of the 54-/65-Across; 41. Organizer of the 1-/17-Across; 44. Uffizi display; 45. Tempest; 47. Troubadour’s song; 48. Object of loathing; 51. Envoy’s bldg.; 53. “Shake ___!”; 54. With 65-Across, event of 10/30/10; 57. Song part; 61. Duo; 63. Breakfast place that’s often open 24 hrs.; 65. See 54-Across; 68. “Caro nome,” e.g.; 69. Cook in a way, as tuna or beef tenderloin; 71. Not straight; 72. Award won for 39- and 41-Across’s programs; 73 “The Fountainhead” hero. DOWN: 1. “Darn it!”; 2. To have, to Henri; 3. Peter of Casablanca:; 4. Deceives; 5. They are 3 ft. long; 6. Annual coronation site; 8. “The Tell-Tale Heart” writer; 9. Offered for breeding; 10. Eric who played the Hulk in 2003; 11. An OK city; 12. Throw in a few chips, say; 13. Tampa Bay team; 18. How a practical joke or a subway train may be taken; 19. “Be All You Can Be group”; 24. 2.5%/year interest, e.g.; 26. Rodeo rope; 29. Supreme Court’s sphere; 30. ___ Mountains, Europe/Asia separator; 31. Michael of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”; 32. 1918 song girl whose name was sung with a stutter; 33. Final Four inits.; 34. Brought into the world; 35. Utah ski resort; 37. Informal reply to “Who’s there?”; 40. Wager; 42. 2 or 3 on the Richter scale, maybe; 43. Jane Austen meddler; 46. Wrestling duo; 49. Smog, e.g.; 50. Go by, as time; 52. S.O.S. alternative; 55. Tony-winning Rivera; 56. Act like an overly protective parent; 57. Pierce; 58. Ripped; 59. Comparable (to); 60. Tidy; 62. Cautious; 64. Employee discount, e.g.; 66. Opposite of masc.; 67. Swiss river.