09.23.12 — A Lesson in Elision

 

George Bernard Shaw, Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and

Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" by Al Hirschfeld 

 

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Sunday, September 23, 2012

 

BREATH-TAKING, Puzzle by Matt Ginsberg / Edited by Will Shortz

 

Whether from “Pygmalion” or "My Fair Lady”, ELIZA / DOOLITTLE (28A. With 78-Down, character commemorated in the answers to this puzzle’s starred clues), along with ten common phrases being redefined to account for the Cockney elision of the H sound constitutes the interrelated group of this agreeable Sunday crossword:

 

• AIRLINE TRAVEL (24A. *Male pattern baldness?), e.g., hairline travel
• NIGHT OWLS (32A. *Baying?), night howls
• STATE OF THE ART (51A. *Cardiologist’s concern?), state of the heart
• ARM TO THE TEETH (67A. *Caries?), harm to the teeth
• SEVEN-YEAR ITCH (83A. *Marriage in 2004, divorce in 2011?), seven-year hitch
• OLD SCHOOL (102A. *Conduct classes?), hold school
• FOREST OF ARDEN (113A. *Petrified wood?), forest of harden
• LONG ISLAND SOUND (3D. *Endless bagpipe tune?), long highland sound
• ALTAR BOYS (14D. *Stable hands?), halter boys
• EYEBROW TWEEZERS (48D. *Gold-plated forceps?), high-brow tweezers

 

Other — ALIENEE (22A. Heir, usually), AYE AYES (54A. Bridge responses), BADDEST, BON SOIR, CHIRRUP, ENOUNCE, ESCARPS, MADE SURE, MENTION, POETESS, RAILS AT, TRAITORS (75A. Occupants of the lowest circle of Dante‘s hell), WOLFISH, Comedian YAKOV Smirnoff and ODESSAN ((40D 87-Down, e.g., by birth)

 

Saint Benedict.  Detail from a fresco by Fra Angelico
 

Six-letter — ADDLED, DEALER, DEAR ME, GENOME (26A. Content of a 2003 decryption), HERMIT (7A. St. Benedict, e.g.), JUNEAU, MIASMA, REMITS, RUNWAY, SALADS, SOAPER, WATUSI (99A. Twist spinoff), U S NEWS, VALDEZ.

 

Five — ADORN, AMBLE, ASLAN, A SLEW (11D. Heaps), “There is A TIDE in the affairs of men …”, ATONE, BLUSH, CABLE, DERBY, DINED, EGRET (27D. Snowy Floridian?), ENVOI (17D. Poetic ending), I PASS (57A. Bridge response), JULEP, I PASS, IT’S SO, Mario Vargas LLOSA, LSATS, MESAS, MORSE, NISAN, NISEI, OBESE and OBIES, Bel PAESE cheese, PEAKS, RILES, SATIE (39D. French composer of “Vexations”), SCION (6D. Heir, often), SEE IT, SHILL, SNOOK and SPOOF, SOEUR, ST PAT, STRAW, SYNOD, TAINA, TATAR, T-BONE, TELLS, “God helps THOSE …“, TORTS, TRAIN, WAFER.

 

Short stuff — ABA, ADD, Work without A NET, Rat-A-TAT, A TON (107A. Heaps), BEAN, CASE, DECI, DIR, DON, EDU, EER, ELEC, ELI, ELKE Sommer, Brian ENO, ERSE, ET AL, ETON, ETRE, FIRM, FUSE, HAI, HATH, HISS and HOSS, HYER, IDS, ILYA Ehrenburg, IMUS, IN ON a secret, IN RE, MBA, MOAS, NED Flanders, NYAH, ONE A, ONO, RET and REW, ROIL, SHE, SIM card, SLUE, SPA, SST, SUR, WEB, VIPS.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Lascivious; 8. They have flat tops; 13. Most excellent, in modern slang; 20. Set forth; 21. Kind of wine; 23. French farewell; 29. Muddy; 30. Japanese consent; 36. Transfers, as funds; 38. Title words before “Easy” for Linda Ronstadt and “Hard” for John Lennon; 41. Coach; 42. Walk in the park, say; 44. Menu heading; 46. French 101 verb; 47. Thumbing of the nose; 48. E-mail address ending; 56. Sen. Daniel Inouye, for one; 59. Hit on the noggin; 60. Saw to it; 63. The Lion, not the Witch or the Wardrobe; 65. Discovery medium; 66. Fingers; 71. VCR button; 72. Pretty up; 74. Tony’s relatives; 77. Zig or zag; 78. Had haddock, say; 80. Dispenser item; 81. Citation; 90. Mix (in); 91. Inventor after whom a Yale residential college is named; 93. Soviet author Ehrenburg; 94. View from a control tower; 95. Sweet drink; 96. They have pointed tops; 106. “What ___ thou art, act well thy part”; 107. Heaps; 110. Pitcher of coffee?; 118. Any of the Brontë sisters; 121. Necessitates; 122. Prime cut; 123. Steep slopes; 124 Application enclosures, often; 125. Ecclesiastical council; 126. Vituperates. — DOWN: 1. It’s a trap; 2. Singer whose name sounds like a cry; 4. Item in a box in the basement; 8. Kellogg offering, briefly; 9. Clint : the Good :: ___ : the Ugly; 10. South of Mexico; 12. Con man’s plant; 13. “We Shall Overcome” singer; 15. Broadway bigwig: Abbr.; 16. “This isn’t going well at all!“; 18. Catch on; 19. Squeals; 25. Passover month; 30. Audible reproof; 33. Owns, in the Bible; 34. It an be blanced and biased simultaneously; 35. Fit to serve; 37. Actress Sommer; 43. Extinct emu-like birds; 45. Frère;s sibling; 47. Parade figure, informally; 49. Man of the house?; 50. Onetime Time competitor, briefly; 52. Tighten (up); 53. Works (up); 60. Corrupting atmosphere; 61. Like many a ditz; 62. Prime Minister David Cameron’s alma mater; 64. 1965 title role for Ursula Andress; 65. Birdsong; 68. Supersized; 69. Language from which “clan” comes; 70. Dweller along the Volga; 73. Abbr. after many an officer’s name; 76. 2001-02 Nickelodeon sitcom; 79. Dictator’s first words?; 82. “Morning” person; 84. Bigwigs; 85. A.C. or D.C.; 86. When repeated, a child’s taunt; 88. Job for the Hardy Boys; 89. Actress Martha who played Sinatra’s love interest in “Some Came Running”; 92. “S.N.L.” specialty; 95. Gold prospector Joe with a state capital named after him; 97. “Days,” for one; 99. Nabisco offering; 100. Agreeing (with); 101. They may produce suits; 103. Early hurdles for 55-Down members: Abbr.; 104. Annual May event; 105. 2010 Nobelist Mario Vargas ___: 109. “Bonanza” role; 111. Prefix with bel; 112. Name dropper’s notation?; 115. Slip on; 116. Musician Brian; 119. Steamboat Springs, Colo., for one; 120. European streaker, once, in brief.