10.21.12 — Vault


 
 
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Sunday, October 21, 2012
 
BYPASSING SECURITY, Puzzle by Caleb Rasmussen
Edited by Will Shortz
 
A note accompanies this crossword:
 
The Sunday, October 21, 2012 puzzle is a contest.
 
This puzzle's grid represents a sealed vault and its well-guarded surroundings. After completing the crossword, start in the upper-left corner and find a safe path to an important item. Then determine where to use this item to access the vault and its contents.
 
To enter the contest, identify the following 10 things: a) the name of the "important item," b) where to use it, c) seven hazards to avoid, and d) the contents of the vault. Each of these things is named by a single word.
 
When you have found the 10 words, send them in an e-mail to: crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers, chosen at random, whose entries are received by 6 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Oct. 23, will receive copies of "The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles 2013 Weekly Planner Calendar" (Andrews McMeel). Only one entry per person, please.

E-mail from Will Shortz of The New York Times:

Hi guys,

A heads-up: The NYT crossword of Sunday, Oct. 21, involves a contest. The deadline for entries (by email) is 6 pm ET on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
 
The puzzle is not particularly hard -- no harder than a typical Sunday. But it has a nice twist, and I think (hope) solvers will get a kick out of it.
 
I'm writing to ask that you not post the solution grid on your blog until after the deadline. I'd also appreciate it if you'd caution the commenters on your blog not to say things that will give away the answer. General discussion, of course, is fine.
 
BTW, as in previous NYT crossword contests, the prize this time is modest: 25 copies of the 2013 New York Times crossword engagement calendar. In the past some people have wondered why the prize isn't bigger. The reason is because of laws prohibiting lotteries. Since the 25 winners are selected at random from the correct entries, there is a large element of luck in winning, and it is illegal to charge people anything (even the cost of a newspaper) to enter a contest.
 
This is why the prize is small. No one is going to get too worked up by the chance to win a calendar. We're just trying to have fun and add a little fillip to solving.

~ Will

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Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
 
Puzzle available on the internet at


The clues — ACROSS: 1. Carne ___ (burrito filling); 6. Times when the French fry?; 10. Chess champion Mikhail; 13. Highland fling participants; 19. Gave props on Facebook; 20. Big drop; 21. Inveigle; 23. Husky relative; 24. Not entirely real, as a photo; 25. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” poet; 26. Footwear preserver; 28. Poetic basis for an N.F.L. team name; 30. It has a light bark; 31. Go back over; 33. Affix, as a patch; 34. Move, in real-estate lingo; 35. Soft scent; 38. Actress Davis of “The Matrix Reloaded”; 39. Warner who played Charlie Chan; 40. Oodles; 41. Bands seen at Japanese weddings; 42. Football figs.; 43. Carnivorous plant; 44. Christopher Robin’s last name; 45. Ripken with a 17-year consecutive game streak; 46. Org. with a wing and a globe in its logo; 49. ___ B; 51. BlackBerry features; 53. Secretary of labor who became a Supreme Court justice; 58. He wrot: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”; 62. Rom-___ (some film fare); 63. Clearheaded; 64. Franklin output; 65. One with a reduced term?; 68. Skipping syllables; 69. Scheduled; 70. ___ Palace; 71. Caper … or going around the wrong way, in Britain?; 72. Owlish; 73. Do a line of shots?; 74. Gabrielle of volleyball and modeling; 75. Kind of barometer; 79. Fossil-rich location; 81. ___ Pepper; 82. Kind of dye; 83. Warren site; 86. Jazzman Jones; 90. Fan noise; 93. Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity establishment; 94. Bodybuilder’s count; 96. Get ___ on; 96. Skirt; 99. Presumptuous, say; 100. Elephantlike walker in “The Empire Strikes Back”; 101. Former capital of 10+ million; 102. Historical figure in Isabel Allende’s novel “Inés of My Soul”; 104. Pet food container; 105. Digital problem; 107. Like a winning X Games trick, maybe; 111.”Harrumph!”; 113. Inopportune; 115. Island entertainer; 116. Persuasive Dr. Seuss character; 117. Pod; 118. Daughter of King Triton; 119. Retro light sources; 120. Boasts; 121. Predatory insect; 122. Pirate’s moniker. — DOWN: 1. Sighed line?; 2. Guru’s disciple, maybe; 3. Toyota exec ___ Toyoda; 4. Concludes; 5. “It’s ___!” (“You’re on!”); 6. Orson Scott Card’s “___ Game”; 7. Not a challenge at all; 8. F1 neighbor; 9. Sofas; 10. Gets bored with; 11. Diplomat W. ___ Harriman; 12. What a handcuffed person may be; 13. There’s one surrounding Atlantis; 14. Before long; 15. Jeanne d’Arc, e.g.: Abbr.; 16. Rest awhile; 17. Tier; 18. Reader’s direction; 21. “Stupid me!”; 27. Postal abbr.; 29. Musical family name; 32. “Cantar de Mio ___” (Spanish epic); 34. Runoff, perhaps; 35. Crop holder; 36. Basic rhyme scheme; 37. Crop holder; 44. New World monkey; 46. How a rocket launch is usually viewed; 47. Fan; 48. Stubborn ones; 50. Lying about; 52. Scores 100; 53 Reward for one who 52-Down?; 54. Lifted; 55. Cash back from an online purchase; 56. Museum holding; 57. Beginning of many a meal; 59. Tolkien’s Treebeard, e.g.; 60. Port from which Amelia Earhart left on her last flight; 61. TV type; 64. ___ expected (predictably); 65. Windows users; 66. Tattler; 67. Always, if the meter requires it; 76. Waikiki locale; 77. Brand associated with a crocodile logo; 78. Dummy; 80. Fictional Miss Jane; 83. Central European capital; 84. ___ detachment; 85. Rio de Janeiro neighborhood; 87. Gluttonous; 88. Setting of “Anne of Green Gables”; 89. University in Center Valley, Pa.; 90. The statue of David in Florence, e.g.; 91. Bird: Prefix; 92. Least defined; 93. Steel mill input; 95. Some cellphone settings; 97. Certain salad green; 98. Triage locales; for short; 103. Trooper’s tool; 105. Great deal; 106. “___ be a pleasure”; 108. “Idylls of the King” wife; 109. Mama grizzly; 110. Ordered; 112. Pep; 114. “Bambi” villain.

 

3 comments:

  1. Hate puzzles with whole words in the boxes. Absolutely detest them. Please include a warning, something like, "purists will hate this puzzle," so I can skip it.

    ReplyDelete