06.13.11 — Ping-Pong®

Monday, June 13, 2011

Puzzle by Alex Vratsanos / Edited by Will Shortz 

PING / PONG (23A. With 57-Across, game that includes the starts of 17-, 29, 48- and 64-Across), TABLE LINEN (17A. Laundry that’s often food-stained), NET INCOME (29A. How much you really earned), BALL STATE (48A. Hoosier university) and PADDLE BOAT (64A. Lakeshore rental, perhaps) are the interrelated group of this lively Monday crossword. Oh, by the way, the game is table tennis — the equipment is Ping-Pong®.

Other — ANECDOTE (11D. Brief story that might open a speech), ATHEISTS (43A. Ones in disbelief?), CHLORIDE (38D. Salt, e.g.), ELAPSES (44D. Passes, as time), IONIZER (7D. Air purifier, of sorts), MOSAICS (10D. Artworks made of many pieces, ROCK STAR (35A. Sting or Prince), SKELETON (8D. Common Halloween costume), STACCATO (40D. Disconnected, musically), STOOD ON (45D. Used as a platform).

Mid-size — AIOLI, ANKARA, ARAMIS, ASCII, CABINS, COCOON, ELUDES, ERASE, ESSES, I GET IT, INHALE (52A. Get some air), MONET, RACED, RETAPE and RETILE, SCOUTS, SEXIST, WAIT ON.

Short stuff — ACME, AID, AMI, AOKI, ATL, AXED and AXIS, BIO, CEDE, CHE Guevara, Pepsi-COLA, DEER, ERE and EYE, ESL, GUAM (12D. Where America‘s Day Begins), ICBM, ISLE of Man, ISP, “Give IT A whirl“, LED, MAGI, MAY, MRI, NBA, NEZ, OAT, ODES, ONUS, OTOE, PINE, SEAL and SEAM, SPOT (60D. Good name for a Dalmatian), TAB, TIC-tac-toe, TONS, WACO, WARP, WISP, XES, ZEST.

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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. Sped; 6. Bit of smoke; 10. Biblical wise men; 14. Remove, as pencil marks; 15. P.G.A.’s Isao; 16. Burden; 19. Animal balancing a beach ball on its nose; 20. French friend; 21. Fix, as a bathroom floor; 22. Pinnacle; 25. Catch some Z’s; 26. Assist; 27. Twisty highway curves; 33. ___ Pence (Indian tribe); 39. Ballot marks; 41. Org. with the Wizards and Warriors; 42. Hurricane’s center; 48. Hosp. scan; 50. Computer acronym; 54. Grain in Cheerios; 63. X or y line on a graph; 66. Surrender; 67. Tribe allied with the Missouri, once; 68. Garlicky sauce; 59. Lyric poems; 70. Truckloads; 71. French Impressionist Claude. — DOWN: 1. Record again; 2. “The Man in the Iron Mask” role for Jeremy Irons; 3. Airplane sections; 4. Course for some immigrants: Abbr.; 5. Bucks and does; 6. Serve, as at a restaurant; 9. Tree with needles; 18. Trailblazed; 24. Patton or Petraeus: Abbr.; 28. Turkey’s capital; 28. Putting women down, e.g.; 39. Warhead weapon, for short; 31. Month of the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500; 32. Before, to a poet; 34. Gusto; 36. Key above Caps Lock; 38. Salt, e.g.; 47. AOL, for one; 49. Escapes; 51. Butterfly protector; 53. “Aha!”; 56. The “A” in NATO: Abbr.; 58. City midway between Austin and Dallas; 59. Chopped down; 61. Line in an A-line; 65. Book that might be subtitled “A Life”.