Sunday, August 12, 2012
THE MEANING OF IT, Puzzle by Patrick Berry
Edited by Will Shortz
Eleven common phrases containing the word IT, given humorous double-meaning clues, constitute the interrelated group of this tidy Sunday crossword:
- PUT A CORK IN IT (22A. “Talking isn’t going to reseal that wine bottle!”)
- CUT IT OUT (25A. “Quit trying to make a paper doll by ripping the paper!”)
- IT’S NO WONDER (28A. “I can see why shoppers avoid this off-brand white bread!”)
- DON’T RUB IT IN (36A. “I already know my homemade cold cream is useless!”)
- IT’S ABOUT TIME (38A. “So you finally got the gist of that Stephen Hawking book!”)
- IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING (63A. “Of course this car isn’t voice-controlled!”)
- I CAN’T STAND IT (88A. “This tippy Christmas tree is driving me crazy!”)
- GET ON WITH IT (91A. “Stop dilly-dallying and use your boarding pass!”)
- THAT TEARS IT (104A. “How dare you climb a barbed wire fence wearing my sweater!”)
- STEP ON IT (106A. “I’m in a hurry to see that bug squashed!”)
- WHAT’S IT TO YOU (110A. “Yeah, I’m asking for people’s impression of this inkblot - so?!”)
Other — AERONAUT, AMULETS, ANDANTE, ANTES UP, ASCETICS (83D. Hedonists‘ opposites) , GOT LOST, Geordi LAFORGE, LOOTERS (115A. They take stock during an emergency), LOUVERS, NEGATES, NOMINEES, SILLIES, SNIDEST, SONATINA, SPARE ME, TWEENER.
Six-letter — ALLEGE, Shirley BASSEY, BEAVER, ELAPSE, ISSUED, METTLE, OLD MEN, OMELET, OVIEDO (52D. Besieged city during the Spanish Civil War), PAWS AT, SIMIAN, STORES.
Five — ASPIC, AS YET, BITES, CHINA, COCOA, BELLY, DOVER, DRYAD (75A. Wood nymph), ELIAS Howe, “A Rose for EMILY“, GOTTI, ISLET, ITEMS, KNEAD, KNELT, LIMBO, MAMET, MOUTH (2D. Conversation opener?), NO END, O’HARA, OMAHA, PIETY, PLUTO (74D. Demotion victim of 2006), RIOTS, SALEM, SAMBA, SAT BY, SCOTT, SCRIM, SERFS, SPARS, STINT, STUCK, TARTS, TILTS, TOMEI, TONES, TONES, TORAH, TUTSI (3D. Rwandan people), USAGE.
Short stuff — ACT, ADE, AMT, ANN Sothern, BEAR, BOER, BONE, BOY, CAB, CPA, DIN, Run-DMC, EACH, EAT, ELON and ETON, EMIR, EMO, ESPY, Coup d’ ETAT, ETC, FAIR, FRAT, GNU, HAY, HERE, IGER, MILK, MIRA, MOON (70A. Hold up one’s end?), NEED, NOME, NTH degree, NYET, ORE and OGRE, OTT, PDA, PIT, POL, PRO and PROW, RENE, RHO, RIIS, RIO, ROSE, SALS, SNL, SOS and SOU, STEW, STY, THEE, TOO, TSK, UMP, WET, WHY, YEAS.
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Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Tsp. or tbsp.; 4. Tax expert, briefly; 7. Slow-cooked dish; 11. “Star-Trek: T.N.G.” character Geordi ___; 18. Coin of little value; 19. Mine layer; 20. Iditarod endpoint; 21. Short, light musical piece; 27. One of England’s Cinque Ports; 28. Dinette set; 29. Cry for; 30. Zookeeper’s injuries, maybe; 31. Beverage that’s graded; 35. “Do the Right Thing” pizzeria; 44. Response to feeble excuses; 45. Scrammed; 46. Semitransparent curtain; 49. Carnival dance; 50. Faulkner’s “A Rose for ___”; 51. Seat seeker; 53. Hard workers; 56. Lawn starter; 57. Actress Russo; 58. Furry feller?; 61. Spree stops; 658. Go by; 69. IHOP order; 72. Field authority; 76. Drink name suffix; 77. Saintly quality; 78. Peabody Essex Museum city; 80. Old Testament section; 83. Slow and steady; 85. Lucky charms; 94. Apiece; 95. Old school; 96. Mechanical engineer Howe; 97. Grotesque giant; 98. Practices wearing gloves; 103. Underside of a ship; 111. Annual Academy list; 112. “Catch!”; 113. U-Haul driver’s place; 114. Abbr. for an unlimited number?; 116. Senatorial agreements; 117. Rooting area; 118. [ow shameful!!]. — DOWN: 1. Gelatin made from consommé; 4. Truffle coating; 5. Boat tip; 6. Pilot who makes vertical takeoffs; 7. Most snaky; 8. In good shape; 9. Kuwaiti ruler; 10. Ready to go through the wringer; 11. Slatted windows; 12. Kicks in one’s share; 13. Barometer reading; 14. 1951 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee; 15. Kia subcompact; 16. Bearded beast; 17. Partake of; 21. “Great” guy; 23. “Maisie” star Sothern; 24. Honored a king, perhaps; 27. Peace disrupter; 30. It means “farmer” in Afrikaans; 31. Binary star in Cetus; 32. Bullet points; 33. First circle of hell in Dante’s “Inferno”; 34. Work in a bakery; 35. Castaway’s message; 36. Hip-hop’s Run-___; 37. Shirley who sang “Goldfinger”; 38. Eisner’s successor as Disney chief; 39. Marisa of “The Wrestler”; 40. Really economize; 41. Claim; 42. Approximately one out of every two deliveries; 43. Sea gull nesting site, maybe; 47. Gave out; 48. Fighting spirit; 51. Handles badly?; 54. Pinkish red; 55. Single-sex house, usually; 56. Symbol on California’s flag; 59. Spot; 60. 55-Down letter; 62. Like Tarzan’s mannerisms; 64. Whitebeards; 65. D-Day code name; 66. Incessantly; 67. The Teflon Don; 71. Opposite of “da”; 72. Employment; 73. “Speed-the-Plow” playwright; 77. Palmtop, e.g., in brief; 79. North Carolina college town; 81.Muckraker Jacob; 82. Vegas attraction; 83. Hedonists’ opposites; 86. Kid aged 10-12; 87. Goofballs; 89. Renders invalid; 90. Dainty desserts; 92. Inclines; 93. Stable supply; 97. John who wrote “Appointment in Samarra”; 98. Didn’t get involved; 99. Skilled hand; 100. Up until now; 101. Joins the mob; 102. Unable to leave; 103. Paleontological find; 104. Quaker pronoun; 106. NBC offering, briefly; 107. Besides; 108. Alt-rock genre; 109. Animal trap; 110. It’s asked for a reason.
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