06.16.11 — Code

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Puzzle by David Steinberg / Edited by Will Shortz

HLMFFWVDMRV (39A. Title for this puzzle … which the answers to the eight starred clues will help explain); HISS (20A. *Let off some steam?); 28A. *MISO soup; LISP (30A. *Not get some Z’s?); WISH (33A. *Birthday secret); VISE (46A. *Workshop sight, perhaps); DISC (48A. *CD part); RISD (50A. *Providence campus for aspiring artists, for short), FIST (59A. *It may be pumped or bumped) constitutes the interrelated group of this after-thought Thursday crossword puzzle, e.g. — H is S, M is O, L is P, W is H, V is E, D is C, R is D and F is T, decoding HLMF FWV DMRV as SPOT THE CODE.

Other — ANTI-WAR, BON JOVI, CLEANER, DOMINOS, ERODENT (67A. Causing to wear away), I’D SAY SO, IQ TESTS, MY GAL SAL (4D. 1942 musical starring Rita Hayworth), ONE YEAR, REINED IN (41D. Checked), SALERNO (62A. Port on the Tyrrhenian Sea), SANGRIA, SEEGERS, SINCERE.

Mid-size — ANADEM (2D. Wreath for the head), BANANA, CASED, CASED, DANNON, EFFACE, I LEFT, JIGSAW, MIDWEST, J. Carrol NAISH, NTEST (9D. Big blowout), RAOUL, SENSEI (3D. Martial arts instructor), SERENA, TAKES, TASMAN (1A. Explorer Abel who discovered New Zealand), TAKES, TINES, TO SIR.

Short stuff — AERY and AIRE, AMER, AZO, BASH (7D. Big blowout), CSI, DOHA, ENT, ESA and ESS, FRI, HOSE, HUM, IRS, KIEV, LIQ, LOMA, NEAL, OF ID, OIL, ONE I, OWE, OZMA, PHDS, SEE, SERT, SHA, SOV, TAC, TRES, VAR, XOO, VXI.

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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: 7. Band with the 1994 platinum record “Always”; 14. Lease period, often; 18. Pacific; 17. Purplish drink; 18. “Pete ___ Greatest Hits” (1967 release); 19. “It looks that way to me!”; 21. Casting need; 22. Accompany musically, maybe; 24. Walks off with; 34. Kind of dye; 36. Capital whose name means “big tree” in Arabic; 38. Hockey’s Tikkanen; 42. Tic-tac-toe loser; 44. Suffix with concession; 45. Make out; 53. “___ My Sugar Standing in the Rain” (1920s hit); 55. Sea-___ Airport; 57. “Hud” Oscar winner Patricia; 64. Fantastik, e.g.; 68. Not false; 69. Big name in pizza; 70. Noodle strainers?; 71. Smoothie flavor. — DOWN: 1. Words sung “with love”?; ; 5. Ethereal; 6. Two-time Oscar nominee J. Carrol ___; 8. “The ___ Love” (1987 hit); 10. Puzzle type; 11 Be shy; 12. Alternative spelling: Abbr.; 13. Collection agcy.; 15. French Fauvist Dufy; 23 Athletic conference for Grinnell, Ripon and Beloit; 25. Chicken ___; 26. Suffix with heir or host; 27. Doo-wop syllable; 29. Baum princess; 31. The first “S” in S.S.R.: Abbr.; 32. Pursuits of some candidates, for short; 35. “The Wizard ___”; 39. Water bearer?; 40. Night that “Dallas” aired for most of its run: Abbr.; 41. Checked; 42. Benedict ___ (pope beginning in 2005); 43. Salad topping; 47. Rub away; 49. Checked out; 51. Sister of Venus; 5. Yogurt brand; 54. Points at the table?; 56. Fake chocolate; 58. Mucho; 60. Spanish muralist; 61. Uno y dos; 63. ___ Linda; 64. TV show with Dr. Ray Langston; 65. Kind of license: Abbr.; 66. One who’s often looking down in the mouth, for short?