12.20.10 — Monday Menagerie

Dingo, Perth Zoo, Perth, Western Australia

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Puzzle by Donna Hoke, edited by Will Shortz

CAT’S CRADLE (17A. Game played with strings looped over the fingers), MONKEY’S UNCLE (22A. Self-description of someone who’s surprised), DOG’S AGE (36A. Long time), ELEPHANT’S EAR (50A. Taro) and LION’S SHARE (60A. What a greedy person may grab) are the interrelated group of this Monday crossword.

Other — AIR SHOW (45D. Event for stunt pilots), HUSTLING (20A. Shaking a leg), MR HANEY (25A. Farmer-turned-con man in a 1960s sitcom), OSPREYS (42D. Fish-eating birds), POSTMAN (4D. One who “always rings twice,“ in an old movie), REASSIGN (55A. Move to another job, say), ROTUNDA (10D. Capitol feature), UMPIRED (48A. Called balls and strikes).

Mid-size — ARAIL and ARIEL, BEENE, CADGE, CLONED, CRANKY, EARLS, EPSOM, ETHIC, EZ PASS, LEONE, MARINE, MCCOO (5A. 1960s-’70s R&B singer Marilyn), MEASLY, PASTY, PEARS, STALL, TOILE, TROIS, USENET, ZAIRE.

Short stuff — ACE and ACRE, ADA and AMA, AFAR, ALTS, ASP, ATAD, EHS, ESAU, FAIR, GAIN, GROW, HEAL, IAGO, IRA, LAP and LEAP, LOCH, MBAS, MESS, NEDS, OIL and OLE, OGOD, ONLY, OSLO, OTTO, OZMA (37D. Princess in L. Frank Baum books), QUA, REED, REMO, REST, SEMI, SOLO, SORE, STAG, THAI, WOWS, YADA, ZAP.

Solstice Lunar Eclipse, read NASA article HERE.

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Jump; 10. Observe the Sabbath; 14. Norway’s capital; 15. Thin as ___; 16. “Beetle Bailey” bulldog; 19. Spicy Asian cuisine; 21. Feather pen; 28. Not much; 29. Designer Geoffrey; 30. Oklahoma city named for the daughter of its first 4-Down; 31. Many miles off; 35. Docs’ org.; 36. Long time; 40. Hole in one; 41. Song for one; 43. Electrocute, in slang; 44. Former name for Congo; 46. Big hauler; 54. Bosc and Bartlett; 59. Smarting; 62. The “O” in CD-ROM; 63. Disney mermaid; 64. Prayer starter; 65. Meal on a military base; 66. Ashen, as a complexion; 67. Blows away. DOWN: 1. ___ Ness monster; 2. Biblical twin who sold his birthright; 3. Cockpit readings: Abbr.; 5. Jarhead; 6. Ill-tempered; 7. Bum, as a cigarette; 8. OPEC supply; 9. Cheer for a toreador; 11. Body of values; 12. Suddenly stop, as an engine; 13. French fabric; 18. Like Dolly the sheep; 21. Sine ___ non; 23. When said three times, “and so on”, 24. Fawn’s father; 25. Many corp. hirees; 26. San ___, Italian resort on the Mediterranean; 27. “Physician, ___ thyself”; 30. Ile snake; 32. Place to buy cotton candy; 33. Farming unit; 34. Wetlands plant; 38. Loss’s opposite; 39. Modern toll-paying convenience; 47. Quizzical utterances; 48. Early computer forum; 49. Pathetically small; 50. ___ salts; 51. Africa’s Sierra ___; 52. Some English nobles; 53. Un + deux; 56. Othello’s betrayer; 57. “Oh, ___ up!”; 58. Nancy Drew’s beau and others; 60. Napkin’s place; 61. Savings for one’s later years, for short.