06.12.11 — Like a Circle in a Spiral



Mosaic of the Minerva of Peace (detail),
Elihu Vedder, 1896 (Library of Congress)

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

SPIRAL, Puzzle by Will Shortz

Even though it may be disconcerting to keep track of inward and outward, I absolutely love this type of word puzzle, which is essentially one long string of words in two directions rolled on itself like a sausage. This Sunday’s spiral is a delicious masterpiece!

Inward — 1-4 It might be needed to raise the bar. TOLL; 5-13 Summaries, ABSTRACTS; 14-17 Fissure, RIFT; 18-23 Away from home, AFIELD; 24-30 French philosopher Denis, DIDEROT; 31-34 Turkey seasoning, SAGE; 35-44 Modern data holder (2 wds.), MEMORY CARD; 45-52 Ovals, ELLIPSES; 53-56 French circle, ROND; 57-67 Singer with the #1 country hit “Out of My Head and Back in My Bed” (2 wds.), LORETTA LYNN; 68-73 Hard to understand, ARCANE; 74-80 Port on the English Channel (2 wds.), LE HAVRE; 81-86 Hunter, NIMROD; 87-93 Completely lacking in sophistication (hyph), NO-CLASS; 94-100 Warded off, AVERTED.



Outward — 100-96 Raison D'ETRE; 95-90 Servant, VASSAL; 89-84 Majestic bird, CONDOR; 83-77 Goddess said to have invented music, MINERVA; 76-71 State capital located in Lewis and Clark County, HELENA; 70-65 Narrow opening, CRANNY; 64-59 Second of two LATTER; 58-51 Ancestor of Icelandic (2 wds.), OLD NORSE; 50-44 Like milk and secrets, sometimes, SPILLED; 43-40 Off-color, RACY; 39-36 Where [Outward 83-77] was a goddess, ROME; 35-27 Typical Wal-Mart or Kmart, MEGASTORE; 26-21 Waste time, DIDDLE; 20-12 Start of a maxim about persistence (3 wds.), IF AT FIRST; 11-7 Farm vehicles, CARTS; 6-1 Vote, BALLOT.


Pieter Bruegel's The Tower of Babel
depicts a traditional Nimrod inspecting stonemasons.

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Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind



Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

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