10.20.11 — Zebra Crossings

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Puzzle by Patrick Berry / Edited by Will Shortz

Black + white crisscross in eight squares of this Thursday crossword.

• [BLACK] BART + [WHITE]NER (8A. Toothpaste ingredient; 8D. Famously polite Old West stagecoach robber)
• LAMP [BLACK + WHITE] SALES (12A. Some soot; 13D. January department store events)
• [BLACK] ADDER + [WHITE] WASH (25A. 1980s Rowan Atkinson sitcom; 25D. Cover-up
• [WHITE] MATTER + [BLACK + WHITE] AND [BLACK + WHITE] (36A. Like zebra crossings), + BACK IN [BLACK] (15D. Iconic AC?DC album with the song “You Shook Me All Night Long”) + [WHITE] MATTER (36D. Some nerve tissue)
• KAREN + LILY [BLACK + WHITE] (43A. Best Supporting Actress nominee for “Five Easy Pieces”; 31D. Untainted by corruption)
• VANNA [WHITE] + [BLACK] ANTS (40D. Woman of letters?; 58A. Nest-building pests)
• JACK [BLACK + WHITE] EGG (44D. Star of 2010’s “Gulliver’s Travels; 59A. It’s whipped to make mousse)

Other — ASLANT (46A. Biased), BANANA OIL (18A. Insincere flattery, in slang), BEAN TREE (49A. Pod-bearing plant), BE SEATED (20A. Request to an interviewee), CARNEY (22A. “Harry and Tonto” star), CLOCKED IN (53A. Started one’s shift), FIRE TRAP (37D. It‘s worthy of condemnation), SPREADER (4D. Butter knife, e.g.).

Five-letter — AIMEE Mann, ALONE, ALORS, AROMA, BABES, DENSE, DROWN, LE ANN Rimes, NAILS, SEEDS, Jimmy SMITS, SPUNK, TAILS, TEENS, VENTS.

Short stuff — ACHE, ALL, AMOR and AMOS, ARAB, BBC, BEDE, BEE, BITE, BRAD, CAN, DAB, DINE, EAST, EDIE (10D. Sedgwick in Warhol films), EMTS, FOAL (37A. Livery delivery), HEN, HUNK, JUTS, KIA, LEI, LONG, NEON, PALE and PALS, PAST, SEW, SLAB, SLUG, SPAS, RATS, RELY, RONA Jaffe, TAR.

X, cross, cross, + … hmmm. No comment.

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"CROSS" WORDS CONTEST — All the puzzles this week, from Monday to Saturday, have been created by one person, Patrick Berry. Have your solutions handy, because the Saturday puzzle conceals a meta-challenge involving the solution grids of all six. When you have the answer to the meta-challenge, mail it to: crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers, chosen at random, whose entries are received by 6:00 p.m. E.T. Sunday, Oct. 23, will receive copies of "Will Shortz Picks His Favorite Puzzles: 101 of the Top Crosswords From The New York Times." Only one entry per person, please. The answer and winners' names will appear on Friday, Oct. 28, at http://www.nytimes.com/wordplay.

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.ENDEND

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Steamy places; 5. “EastEnders” network; 14. Fellah or fedayee; 16. The Venerable ___ (old English historian); 17. Then, to Thierry; 23. “___, ‘tis true I have gone here and there”: Shak.; 24. Burlesque bit; 28. Material you might look through; 29. Every last bit; 32. Items wrapped in friction tape; 33. Many arcade-goers; 34. Gift upon arrival, maybe; 35. Winged god; 38. Follow a pattern, say; 39. Jimmy of “The West Wing”; 40. Title role for Joe Pesci; 41. House sitter?; 42. Mates; 44. Sticks out; 45. Eat in style; 55. Hunger enhancer, sometimes; 56. Typical romance novel love interest; 57. “What rotten luck!”; 60. Bud drinker?; 61. Former life. — DOWN: 1. Sarcophagus lid; 2. Like Death’s horse; 3. One of the Minor Prophets; 5. Nurslings; 6. Fastener in a punched hole; 7. Pink-slip; 9. Unreactive element; 11. Bank; 19. Filed things; 21. Organic sealant; 24. Bird feeder tidbits; 25. Cover-up; 26. Mann of rock; 27. Go under; 28. Volcano features; 29. Unlucky in love, say; 30. Country singer Rimes; 33. Call option?; 39. Gumption; 43. Sorento manufacturer; 45. Packed with ideas, as an essay; 46. Soreness; 47. Shot of liquor; 48. Protracted; 49. Snack; 50. Novelist Jaffe; 51. First-aid experts, briefly; 52. Defender in a bridge column; 54. Lightly apply.