03.01.12 — Portmanteaux

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Puzzle by Steven E. Atwood / Edited by Will Shortz

AFFIX (1A. Add-on to the start or end of a word stem [as in 17-, 25-, 35-, 49- and 57-Across]) indicates the interrelated group of five portmanteau words in this clever Thursday crossword:

PROVERBIAGE (17A. Unnecessary words cluttering wise sayings?)

DISASTEROID (25A. Threat in “Armageddon”?)

REPASTURE (35A. Good place for a picnic?)

PERSISTERLY (49A. Like a tenacious sibling?)

CONQUESTION (57A. “We’ve taken the city, but can we defend it?”?)

Other — APPEASE, ASPHALT, CHEDDAR, DETROIT (11A. City named after the French for “strait“), END NOTE, ERASERS, FOOTING, FT RILEY, GERMIER, HEROINE (12D. Princess Leia, e.g.), HORIZON, MORAINE (30A. Pile of glacial debris), PHOEBES (46A. Fly-catching birds), SLENDER, STAINED, TERSEST.

Mid-size — ABBAS, ABSENT, AHEAD, ALEUT, ARETE, BASIE, BISCAY, DEEPER, EDITS, ESQUE, GORED, HAIFA, LENTIL, PERON, ROUTS, SMOTE, STORK Club, TYGER, URGES, WAIST, YATES.

Short stuff — ACHS, ADZ, AIG, ALI Shuffle, ALPE, DHS, DIRE, EEL, ERN, ESA, HITS, IRVS, NET, OAF (21A. Dropper?), OLA, OMNI, OSS, OTRO, PRES, RDA, RISE, ROIL, RUBY, SAG and SAO, SOP, STER, Rai TRE, TOFU, WOOF, XKE.

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 6. Forward; 11. Players who spend most of their time on the bench, briefly; 14. ___ Club, 1930s-’60s New York hot spot; 15. Peer of Ellington; 16. Fish of the genus Moringua; 19. Rai ___ (Italian TV channel); 20. Google results; 22. See 36-Down; 24. ___ Shuffle (boxing move); 28. Salad bar tidbit; 31. When repeated, words before “burning bright” to start a William Blake poem; 32. Bark; 34. Nap finish?; 38. German interjections; 41. Honor His Honor, say; 42. Pushes for; 48. Out; 52. Nutritional fig.; 53. Additions and deletions, say; 54. Soak; 55. Old Dodge; 56. Sharp-edged tool; 61. Festa de ___ João; 62. Native parka wearer; 63. Sharp-crested ridge; 64. Directional ending; 65. Peter who directed “The Dresser”; 66. Like an unlucky encierro participant. — DOWN: Urban playground surface; 2. Kansas mil. Post built in 1853; 3. Support; 4. Sportscaster Cross and others; 5. Classic Jaguar; 6. Arafat successor; 7. Israel’s third-largest city; 8. That: Sp.; 9. Insurance giant on the N.Y.S.E.; 10. Further in; 13. Not Rubens’s type; 18. Agitate; 23. They can be felt in a classroom; 25. Extreme; 26. Belted, in the Bible; 27. It’s sold in tubs; 29. Least windy; 32. Top of a bottom; 33. Former intelligence agcy.; 36. Three-term title for 2-Across: Abbr.; 37. Like some lips; 38. Quiet, in a way; 39. Cheeseburger cheese; 40. A ship may appear on it; 43. More likely to make you sick, say; 44. Postscript; 45. Like some glass or wood; 47. Europe’s Bay of ___; 48. L’Eiger, e.g.; 50. -like; 51. Runaways; 55. Spanish alternative?; 58. Brazilian greeting; 59. Take home; 60. Not stay all the way up.