09.22.13 — Light of Heart II

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834

J. M. W. Turner, exhibited 1835 -- Turner witnessed the burning of  Parliament from a boat on the River Thames.

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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Letterboxes, Puzzle by Mike Selinker / Edited by Will Shortz

A note accompanies this crossword:  In this special prize crossword, the completed solution conceals a familiar three word phrase related to the puzzle’s theme. 70 Across provides a hint on how to find it.

The New York Times requested that crossword blogs do not publish the solution until after the competition deadline, 6:00 pm Eastern on Tuesday, September 24.

READ THIS GRID IN BRAILLE (70A. How to get a message out of the boxes), along with FEEL THE LOVE in Braille constitutes the main feature of this bright Sunday crossword.  The solver is to imagine the letter O within the eleven boxes.

The four longest answers begin with HANDLE, PRESS, TOUCH and CONTACT appearing to be related to the Braille activity:  HANDLE WITH CARE (23A. Words on a fragile package), PRESS SECRETARY (31A. Mouthpiece for the head?), TOUCH TONE PHONE (107A. Rotary alternative) and CONTACT POISONS (118A. DDT and others).

Other — AETHER (51A. Material beyond the terrestrial plane, in medieval science), AVATAR (59D. Film set on Pandora), CONNECT / THE DOTS (1D. With 97-Down classic puzzle type), DEMONIAC (44D. Frenzied as if possessed), Cartoonist GAHAN Wilson, HARARE (14D. African capital), ISOGONS (48D. Shapes like squares), ORBISON (76A. “Only the Lonely” singer), OPORTO (16A. Italian wine city), SHLEMIEL (20D. Oaf), STACIE and STASI (40A. Strawberry blond sister of Barbie; 45d. East German secret police), SWEDES (117A. Anders Celsius and Greta Garbo, for two), THEM! (9A. Classic sci-fi film billed as “a horror horde of crawl-and-crush giants”), TURNER (101D. English landscapist famous for “The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons“).

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or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".

Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.