12.15.11 — Location, Location...

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Puzzle by Jim Hilger / Edited by Will Shortz

This Thursday crossword is accompanied by the note, “Parts of 15 answers in this puzzle are missing, in a manner for you to discover.” The missing parts are four words describing location of answers in the crossword to be included as part of the those answers, e.g., “TOP”, ”MIDDLE“, BOTTOM“ and “SIDE”.

• TOP (Across):  1. Company’s numero uno, BANANA; 7. Bit of dance attire for Fred Astaire, HAT; 10. Elite, TIER.
• MIDDLE (Across):  38. Oil source, EAST; 39. Midnight to 4 a.m., at sea, WATCH; 41. In the 40s?, AGED.
• BOTTOM (Across): 67. Often-flooded locale, LAND; 68. Hit a low point, OUT; 69. Starfish or sea cucumber, e.g., FEEDER.
• SIDE (Down): 1. Writing in a box, BAR; 23. Drug drawback, EFFECT; 53. Tire part, WALL; 13. Way less traveled, ROAD; 33. One way to ride a horse, SADDLE; 63. Brandy cocktail, CAR.

Other — ALL-TIME (27D. Like the highest high), ENJOYED (21A. Reveled in), REPERTOIRE (17A. Arsenal, so to speak), SALT / TALKS (29A. With 30-Across, tey started in 1969), STARBOARD (35D. Port alternative), SUPERSONIC (59A. Boom-causing, perhaps), TACO SALAD (10D. Dish often served in a shell), WET ONES (53A. Trademarked sanitary wipes).

Mid-size — ABUSER, Following A LEAD, ARREST, AVALON, BIG RED, CODDLE, CREAMS, EPODE, EVADE, FEDORA, GEESE, GOSEE and GESSO, KNEELS, LEGREE, MR SULU, NORSE, OTTAWA, SELENA, TASTES, TERRE verte, TRENT, VOLARE.

Short stuff — ALMA, ASST, ASTO, CARA, DRED, ELIA, ELL, FLUS, Key FOB, HOI polloi IOU, IRE, JETE, LIAR, LOOP, MEIN, MMDI, NOD, ORR, OWL, POT, Feng SHUI, SLO-pitch, SOWS, TMAN.

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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: 14. Toyota sedan; 15. Recipient of three consecutive Hart Trophies; 16. About; 19. Opening word of many an Italian letter; 20. Kind of coach: Abbr.; 23. Bypass; 26. Bitter and sweet; 34. Some shot targets; 36. User of night vision; 37. One-named pop star; 38. Oil source; 39. Midnight to 4 a.m., at sea; 41. In the 40s?; 42. Whups; 44. Debt doc; 45. Harriet Beecher Stowe novel; 46. ___ verte (green earth pigment); 47. Early 26^th-century year; 48. Certain joint; 49. Wrigley product; 51. Certain gifts in “The 12 Days of Christmas”; 53. Trademarked sanitary wipes; 58. Word with belt or tape; 58. Michigan college; 64. Fabulist; 66. What Cowboy legend Tom Landry sported. — DOWN: 2. Many a Monopoly property: Abbr.; 3. Pile; 5. Like the origin of the names for some days of the week; 6. Pantry problem; 8. Check; 9. Nottingham’s river; 11. “My word!”; 12. To be, at the Louvre; 18. Capital whose name comes from an Algonquin word for “to trade”; 22. Jump on a stage; 24. 1958 hit that won the first-ever Grammy for Song of the Year; 25. Rehab candidate; 29. Disseminates; 31. Fictional plantation owner; 32. Kowtows, say; 40. Overindulge; 43. Words after count or let; 47. “Star Trek” helmsman; 50. Painter’s preparation; 51. “Check it out”; 52. Lyric poem; 54. “The South-Sea House” essayist; 55. No friend of the bootlegger; 57. “Carmina Burana” composer; 60. What a big hand often grabs?; 61. Make a little mistake; 62. Source of heat.