06.09.07 -- OCEANUS ANGST

Saturday, June 9, 2007
Puzzle by Karen M. Tracey, edited by Will Shortz
OCEANUS (39D Brother and husband of Tethys), OPENSEAS (14D Pirates' domain), AHAB (43A Captain of Stubb and Flask), BATEAU (11D River craft), FORDS (48D Wades through), TWINGE (41D Qualm) and PERIL (49D Precipice, say) give a seaworthy feel to this crossword puzzle otherwise filled with oceans of anxiety and depression such as NEUROSIS (54A Complex component), SUFFERS (35A Withstands), BEARUP (16A Manage adversity), FEARSOME (36D Ogrelike), GETSORE (32A Overdo it at the gym), FLED (48A Split), LONE (6D Set apart), SLIPSHOD (21D Loose), HISSAT (44D Greet cattily), HATERS (58A Bigots) and SKELETAL (59A Not fleshed out) JEZEBELS (23D Shameless hussies).
Elijah Confronts Jezebel, Ahab
Oceanic angst also manifests itself in flesh and blood with DUVALIER (13D President who claimed to be a voodoo priest), ERICIDLE (12D Author of "The Greedy Bastard: A Comic Tour of America"), AUDIE (27A Murphy of "To Hell and Back"), NOLTE (40A Best Actor nominee for "Affliction," 1998) and LEAR (10D He wrote "There was an old man of Thermopylae / Who never did anything properly...") and EGGHEADS (4D Einsteins) all in need of a little DIAZEPAM (28A Valium, generically), or maybe a little AMRITA (45D Hindu drink of immortality) for what AILS (24A Is peaked) them -- could it be EGOMANIA (33D Extreme bovarism)? Now there's a word! [after Madame Bovary] (domination by) a romantic or unreal conception of oneself: conceit; hence, bovaristic - conceited. ISURECAN (20A Confident affirmation) relate to that archaic but ORIGINAL (17A Fresh) definition, which I BELIEVE (8D Hold) EXISTS (3D Has substance) worse than an ULTIMATE (57A Paramount) GFORCE (1D Jet pilot's concern) -- could this be INANER (53A Less likely to fly?)...
...uh...not to mention GLEECLUB (1A Extracurricular activity traditionally for men), ALBEDO (9A Measure of reflected light), FOXGLOVE (15A Digitalis source), CATES (22A "Princess Caraboo" star, 1994), UGO (37A Tognazzi of "La Cage aux Folles"), LABOHEME (38A Opera that opens on Christmas Eve), MARIPOSA (50A County holding part of Yosemite National Park), CLIOS (5A Awards for some campaigns), BESSEL (46D German astronomer who was the first to measure the distance to a star), and GUNSMITH (32D Colt handler)...and...
...52D Remote option -- MUTE!
-------------------
For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscriptions.
Posted by DONALD 2 comments

06.08.07 -- The Wizard of Rorschach

Friday, June 8, 2007
Puzzle by Randolph Ross, edited by Will Shortz
Commentary upon a crossword puzzle, especially one of this great variety, can be similar to the results of a Rorschach test -- what “you” see is what “you” get!
Definitions of a Rorschach test (after Hermann Rorschach [1884-1922], Swiss psychiatrist) include “a psychological test in which a subject's interpretations of a series of standard inkblots are analyzed as an indication of personality traits, preoccupations, and conflicts” and “a test for the analysis of personality, in which the person being tested tells what is suggested to him by a standard series of inkblot designs: his responses are then analyzed and interpreted.”
Certainly, a crossword puzzle with the wild and imaginative variety of today’s by Randolph Ross is fair game to be interpreted any which way one wants -- more so, but no less than the controversial and constantly misnamed genre of crossword puzzles which provide a central focus for the solver in the form of a quotation, graphics, letter-play, grid-work design or the such within the context of the standard variety of crossword puzzle (and are consequently misnamed grossly for the “gimmick” included in the puzzle even though the “gimmick” compromises a minuscule amount of entry in the puzzle). Even those crossword puzzles (if one forgets the effort of the crossword constructor to thwart the solver from the remainder of the puzzle, relegating it to “fill”) can be a Rorschach test.
Bloggers of crossword puzzles reveal a considerable amount of themselves in writing about the puzzles. Ego and id get equal time with pomposity, hubris and mendacity emanating from the commentator in an effort, it would seem, to conceal and yet reveal his or her personal life and abilities in a form most desirable for presentation to the world of crossword aficionados and beyond -- some claim speed, others incredible vast knowledge, some speak of colleagues and hobnob with the puzzle constructors themselves at an annual meeting and tournament and adopt a revolting air of superiority. To get in the spirit, I hereby egotistically pronounce myself Emperor of Etymology
You see there, I’ve done it too!
The 'Barberini Faun' (or Sleeping Satyr), carved 200BC, found in Hadrian's Mausoleum (d. 138AD)
Six eleven-letter entries in two groups open and close this amazing crossword puzzle top and bottom, and six ten-letter entries in two groups bracket the crossword left and right:
MRBOJANGLES (1A 1971 hit with the lyric “He danced for those at minstrel shows”)
AIRFORCEONE (15A Film in which Ford was president)
PLAYSAROUND (17A Clowns)
NICHOLASCAGE (56A Oscar winner between Tom Hanks and Geoffrey Rush)
DNAMOLECULE (61A Subject of “The Double Helix”)
SAFETYZONES (63A Protected areas)
PARAMOUNTS (28D Supreme rulers)
EVILINTENT (29A Malice aforethought)
BROKERSTIP (13D “Buy now,” e.g.)
STRETCHERS (14D Emergency equipment)
Eight-letter entries include LIEAWAKE (20A Have insomnia), SPEEDBAG (27A Boxer’s training equipment), WINESAPS (44A McIntosh cousins), and OUTDATES (49A Makes obsolete). Seven-letter entries include GEOLOGY (8D Topic in oil exploration), EMANATE (37A Issue). ARIDEST (35A Least interesting), and AWESOME (41D Skater dude’s exclamation).
Six letters, OFYORE (4D In the distant past) and STUCCO (45D Wall treatment), RAMBOS (22A Tough guys), and DESERT (48a Most of Mauritania).
Five letters, LOUIS (9D Tiffany who made Tiffany lamps), SEDAN (11D Body type), ADMEN (23D Some pitchers), BARTH (25D Author of the “The Sot-Weed Factor”),WOMAN (21D Creation of Genesis 2:22), HATER (34D Misanthrope), JEDIS (33D Film knights), DOLED (36D Given [out]), DECAF (48D After-dinner request), NONET (26A Group on Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool,” e.g.), MARYJ (32A Grammy winner Blige), HARSH (34A Like Arctic winters), TALON (39A Curved nail), HADIT (40A Seen enough), HONES (46A Improves).
The above entries fill the entire grid without resorting to four and three-letter entries which exist (in actuality do not exit) upon the happenstance of the longer entries, e.g.: MAPS, RILE, BRAG, ENNE, MBAS, SEGO, MARC, EMIL (43A Title boy in a 1964 Disney film), MINE, TINA (50D Brown with a blue pencil), FAUN (52 Pan, for one), OGLE, SEES, UFOS (51A “The X-Files” fodder), JOS, ARA, NCR, BBS, ART, NOR, MIR, TAV, UNE, STN, EST, LOT, ALY, and SEZ, all there because they must be there in order for the longer entries to mesh.
Quite an achievement! -- Randolph Ross is the Royal Wizard of Rorschach!!!
Louis Comfort Tiffany American (United States), 1848–1933 -- Peacock Mosaic from entrance hall of the Henry O. Havemeyer House, New York1890–1891-- Iridescent cabochon glass, pottery, plaster -- University of Michigan School of Art & Design and College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
-----------------
For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.
Posted by DONALD 3 comments

06.07.07 -- On the LAM

The New York Times Crossword In Gothic
"The Return of the Prodigal Son" -- Sir Edward Pynter, 1869
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Click here for LARGE PRINT.

Puzzle by Nancy Salomon, edited by Will Shortz
MYLITTLERUNAWAY (38A 1961 Del Shannon lyric [and title of this puzzle]) runs the fifteen squares across in the center of the grid and is a clue for seven three-letter single-square entries of the word LAM, forming fourteen down-and-across entries containing the single-square word of LAM. Cleverly placed asymmetrically and randomly in the grid the single-square LAMs give a chaotic simulation of running away -- even the grid has a look of motion with its agitated look of swirling squares. Nearly all of the entries utilizing LAM have a relation to being on the lam and the pairings are wonderful:
B E D LAM (1D Total chaos) with C LAM M I N G U P (19A Not giving the police any more information)
C A LAM I T Y J A N E (9D Frontier sharpshooter) with D O N T B LAM E M E (17A "It's not my fault!")
A LAM EDA (10D Tree-lined promenade) with A LAM O S (15A Southwestern trees)
F L I M F LAM M E R Y (28D Con games) with A F LAM E (47A Fiery)
LAM E D (33D Hobbled) with C LAM O R (32A Hubbub)
LAM E N T (55D "Ah, for the good old days," e.g.) with P I E A LAM O D E (54A Double dessert)
LAM A S (60D Eastern priests) with S T R E E T LAM P S (59A Some crime deterrents)
Other entries without the single-word entry of LAM that relate to being on the lam include ELOPE (6D Get together without fanfare?) which hangs dead-center at the top of the puzzle like a clue in itself to the rest of the puzzle; IDING (16A Job at a lineup); ASKFOR (25A Seek); SIGNPOST (4D Help provider); AWRY (35D Out of kilter); EYED (Got a load of); FUROR (48D Prelude to a revolution); and if on the lam ASEA (12D Between shores, maybe), a BOSN (18D Cap'n's underling) to tell a whale of a TALE (63A Something that's spun) or a pirate STORY (23D Level) to whatever AIMS (25D Ends).
HERA (5A Goddess whose bird was a peacock), CANA (9A Water-to-wine town), LEROI (13A Enemy of la Revolution francaise), POPES (22A Long line in Rome) give heft, while KAYE (36D "The Court Jester" star, 1956) brings levity, and ANITA (64A Soul singer Baker) and ETTA (67A "Tell Mama" singer James) do a duet all the way down in the right corner at the end of the puzzle.
NORMARAE (40D Field part), CLOTH (32D Cleric's attire), GOR (20A Brit's oath), JAKE (34A Hunky-dory), KALE (27D Long green), APPLE (50D Jobs creation), HADUP (5D Hosted at one's penthouse, say), and RISER (51D Alarm heeder) are deviously, but cleverly clued entries.
Nancy Salomon puzzles are always a class act -- I think she could scribble in the dark hanging upside down and the result would be a superior crossword!
-----------------
Incidentally, I ran across the following today, prior to the puzzle: Train Surfing in Soweto.
-----------------
For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

Posted by DONALD 1 comments

06.06.07 -- An I for a Y

The New York Times Crossword In Gothic
"Self Portrait as Dali," Weegee, c. 1978

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Click here for LARGE PRINT.
Puzzle by Richard Silvestri, edited by Will Shortz
SLIVERS (38A Narrow pieces) sits smack-dab in the middle of this pleasant puzzle bringing to mind it's author Richard Silvestri, a by-line that is always pleasant to see any day of the week. This Wednesday special features four substitutions of the letter "Y" for what is usually the letter "I", or if one wants to return to original phrase or word, an "I" for a "Y":
TAKINGABYTE (20A Stealing some computer memory?)
TURNSTYLES (11D Ways to make lefts and rights?)
PACKOFLYES (29D Assorted hydroxites?)
NEVERSAYDYE (54A Always use the term "coloring agent"?)
DIME (34D Makeshift screwdriver) also brings to mind silver as it crosses the anagram of silvers just left of center, RIVER (30D Don or Lena) rhymes with sliver, and DIME and DIVE (34A Jackknife, for one) all collide in the center with EVEN (31D Square) an AMEN (44A Word of agreement) for punctuation.
Upper left, LAME (14 Formal fabric) usually gold or silver abuts upon DELIVER (4D Come through) repeating the "liver" of SLIVERS in center. TORO (15A Corrida creature) upstage center does a deed in upper right with GORED (19A Like unfortunate bullfighters), that of course with a TAPER (22D Get to the point?) to bring an ALAS (25A "Too bad!") neatly returning the solver to center.
The lower half of the puzzle starts off with a blast with SOUSA (40D "El Capitan" composer) marching to lower right for a session of PRAYING (46D Saying grace), where the maze ends with the bottom center entry EXIT (56D Take off). Left over to be foil is the center-to-lower left of the puzzle with decoys for the lost, including RAYED (60A Sent out beams) not "shone", and an obscurely clued SANDAL (48D Huarache) in an otherwise calm corner adorned by the beautiful LARA (53D 1965 Julie Christie role) but falling flat with NASAL (67A Twangy).
Odd little moments include cluing for LIMA (65A Bean town?), COASTER (Beermat, e.g.), WIPERS (27A Squeegee's kin) somehow causing a remembrance of Ouija and Weegee. Or Weegee and Ouija!

That's all folks!

-----------------

For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed.

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

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription. promptly upon verification.
Posted by DONALD 2 comments

06.05.07 -- Shoughle Off to Boughalo

The New York Times Crossword In Gothic
'To die, to sleep ... To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause...' - Hamlet's soliloquy upon contemplating suicide.
-----------------
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Puzzle by Barry C. Silk, edited by Will Shortz
SLUFFED (26D Discarded: Var.) is an odious corruption scrawled asymmetrically across the face of this puzzle. A corruption from shuffled to sloughed to sluffed -- and when does sluffed get corrupted to shuffled? No matter, in the light of the rabid corruption of the English language throughout the continent, especially on the internet, rap lyrics of deceased musicians (TUPAC [9D Rapper Shakur]), and crossword puzzle jargon, I am sure William Shakespeare would not only understand, but acquiesce in this age of the HOTKEY (46D Computer user’s shortcut). The rat race is leaving the English language behind in a MIRE (30d Muddy area).
A central fifteen-letter entry, LEADER OF THE PACK (38A 1964 #1 hit by the Shangri-Las...) is presented as a clue to 18A ACE OF SPACES, 28A ALPHAMALE, 45A DENMOTHER, and 59A MARLBOROMAN, all given the same clue -- 38-Across, in a sense.

SNARL (4A Traffic tie-up), UVULA (16A Throat dangler) are the ugly step-sisters in this puzzle; TEA (22A Afternoon social) and SEA (19D Pirate’s domain) cross each other, as do LAO (60D Southeast Asian language) and ENLAI (64A Zhou _____); commercial entries RCCOLA (1D Soft drink since 1905) and REEBOK (48D Adidas competitor) bracket the grid which also includes NODOZ (68A All-night trucker‘s aid), MOBIL (50D It merged with Exxon), AOL (40D Gmail alternative) and Marlboro. ERITU (35A Verdi aria) and FIORI (43A Italian flowers) float across left and right of center with HOSPITAL (27D Setting for TV’s “House”) and SCHEDULE (21D Plan) juxtaposed down just right and left of center, while WHOM (36D Often-misused pronoun) gets a finger-wag even as "sluffed" is sloughed off.

DOGRUN (45D Area connected to a kennel), ENIGMA (47D Conundrum), PIXIE (15A Playful sprite), and OLDPAL (2D Friend since high school, say) are the least abrasive entries. A wealth of three-letter entries including ROC, CLU, CDE, AXE, RIO EVA, UTA, SEC, TSK, LAW, ERA, AOL, AKA, LAO, OTO, MID, KGB, EMO, YAK take up their standard positions.

Human beings, living or dead, referred to include Zhou Enlai, Uta Hagen, Emo Philips, Clu Gulager, J. S. Bach, the Shangri-Las, Milton Berle, Vladimir Putin, Eva of the Velvet Underground, Duran Duran, Tupac Shakur, Alex Rodriguez, Arlo Guthrie and Inez Foxx.

Shuffle off to Buffalo!
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.
Posted by DONALD 8 comments

06.03.07 -- Accidents

The New York Times Crossword In Gothic
Monday, June 4, 2007
Puzzle by Steve Kahn, edited by Will Shortz
ACCIDENTS (10D Mishaps) BOTTOMSUP (31D Exhortation at a pub) and ORANGE (45D Like pumpkins and traffic cones) are the interesting entries in this Monday puzzle -- the remainder including ROTOROOTER, ROLLSROYCE, ROMPERROOM, ROUNDROBIN are standard alliterative fare linked by RANDR in the center and followed by RRS tucked in a cul-de-sac.
Yanks beat Red Sox, Win Series -- Alex Rodriguez — bad boy of the tabloids, violator of baseball etiquette, object of ridicule and scorn at Fenway Park -- ended a tumultuous weekend with a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning against the Yankees' biggest rival. Rodriguez's solo shot on an 0-2 pitch from star closer Jonathan Papelbon gave New York a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night and a 2-1 edge in the series. Rodriguez was mocked by Red Sox fans during all three games. On Friday night, many of them held masks picturing a blonde-haired woman in front of their faces — a reference to photos published last week of the married Rodriguez with a blonde woman in Toronto.
Alex Rodriguez, singling in two runs in the fifth, homered to center field on an 0-2 pitch from Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth to break a 5-5 tie. With the score tied, Alex Rodriguez punished a 95-mile-an-hour fastball from Jonathan Papelbon on a line, into the Boston Red Sox’ bullpen, for his 20th home run and the win.
For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.
Posted by DONALD 3 comments

06.03.07 -- JOB

Sunday, June 3, 2007
Click here for LARGE PRINT.
JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Puzzle by Kelsey Blakley, edited by Will Shortz
BOOHOO (14A Sarcastic comment of sympathy), and how Job suffered, oy! Wrong Job! Though many suffer at their "jobs", many do so because they are confused as to exactly what it might be that they are supposed to be doing. So, unfortunately, this puzzle is not about Job or descriptions of Job, but a crossword containing eight slightly amusing entries on a different topic, clued by the title given to the puzzle, JOB DESCRIPTIONS.
STOCKCHARACTER (23A Charles Schwab?)
SHOOTINGSTAR (31A Annie Oakley?)
MASTEROFARTS (50A Leonardo da Vinci?)
WIZARDOFID (64A Sigmund Freud?)
ACEOFCLUBS (69A Tiger Woods?)
LIGHTNINGBUG (84A Benjamin Franklin?)
COMPUTERICON (97A Bill Gates?)
BALLPARKFIGURE (114A Babe Ruth?)

The remainder of the puzzle (a considerable amount) is eclectic, but it is peppered with a few other occupations by clue or entry -- composer, mathematician, singer, author, President, Vice President, journalist, actor, animator, tennis player, ice skater, lama, poet, nutritionist, director, actress, football player, comic and Prime Minister, etc. -- but, alas, no crossword professional! Nominal slights to two of them -- ILICH (104D Tchaikovsky's middle name) could use a "var." notation, and STAN (7D Smith who won the 1972 Wimbledon) is an unused familiar.
Lots of O's and O-beginning words -- ORMOLU (51D Faux gold), OSSIAN (45D Legendary Gaelic poet), ORIANA (82A Author/journalist Fallaci), OTOOLE (92A "Lord Jim" star, 1965), ORION (98D Rigel's constellation), OBOE (79D Radio letter between Nan and Peter), ORE (79A It needs refining), ONSETS (120A Initial stages), ORALS (16D Grad school grillings), OTTER (19D Ursine: bear :: lutrine: _____), OPERA (18D "Idomeneo," e.g.), ONEGGS (15D Where hens sit), OTRAS (40A Others, to Pedro), and O-laden words (outside of BOOHOO), TAPROOT (21A Parsnip, e.g.), TOELOOP (12D Skater's leap), SOTTO (37A ____voce [quetly]), but only two K's, no Q's or J's and only one X and one Z -- which is sure to disappoint the Scrabble freaks!
GOLLYGEE (86D "Leave it to Beaver" catchphrase), pleasant puzzle -- not much else to say, except that blogging puzzles is just plain crazy!
-----------------
For today's cartoons go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

Illustrations: From above, Modlící se Job (Job Praying), Marc Chagall, 1960: :: Center: 50A, 114A, 31A, 84A: :: Below, 50A

If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription
Posted by DONALD 0 comments

06.02.07 -- Planting the Seed

Saturday, June 2, 2007
Click here for LARGE PRINT.

Puzzle by Byron Walden, edited by Will Shortz

PLANTINGTHESEED (7D Groundwork?) runs down the center and PIERCES (5D Runs through) this FIERCE (55A Cutthroat) but TIGHT (39A Like best buds) delightful POSTCARD (7A Deltiologist's purchase) of a puzzle as slick as through a ROTTED (22A Broke down) BIGARADE (50A Sour orange, in French cuisine).
This is what I like to refer to as a variety crossword puzzle, even though there are "professional folks" on the internet who insist on giving it a label indicating that something is missing. Would you call an OMELET (45A Western _____) a unborn scrambled chicken? Too much GRIT (33A Nerve)? -- ICANTLIE (54A Intro to an unvarnished opinion), even though I may have temporarily EVADED (17A Got around) an OMERTA (41D Gag rule, of a sort) the SPREES (57A Benders) of DRAGONFIRE (28A It might singe a knight, in legend) from those who hold themselves in EMINENCE (43A Distinction) are an anathema to any possible CIVILUNION (2D Coupling device?) especially when exuded by those who want to WINITALL (35D Sweep the competition). I take it with a grain of SALT (48A A pinch, maybe)!

I GRIN (33D :D, in an e-mail) at the thought of a real STEPCHANGE (1D Marked difference) by jumping in a REANIMATED (3A Jump-started) SMARTCAR (9D European two-seater) and driving past the STATETREES (30D Candlenut and buckeye) or even a TANOAK (10D Pacific Coast evergreen), with AHAT (12D "____ Full of Sky" [2004 Terry Pratchett novel]) and RIDE (13D Coaster, e.g.) with a SANDALED (56A Like centurions, typically) ALANLADD (18A "Two Years Before the Mast" star, 1946) look-alike to LIMAOHIO (16A U.S. city whose name is pronounced differently from its foreign namesake) for an EIGHTOUNCE (29D Sizable, as a hamburger patty) fast-foot presentation.

Weaving past an INDIANAN (21D Many an 11-Down fan), listening to ANGELINA (25A "Farewell, _______,", 1965 top 10 Joan Baez album) "o'er" the NITE (34A "Saturday ____", 1976 Earth, Wind & Fire hit), or CANTATAS (24A Part of Bach's oeuvre) replete with GCLEFS (42D Scoring leaders?), I'm sure I'd enjoy THETRIP (39D 1967 Peter Fonda film written by Jack Nicholson). Yes I know, I haven't TIEDIN (15A Connected) some entries of this variety puzzle, but they still ENDEAR (6D Charm)!

I'll WAGER (35A Something often laid at a window) that one cannot SCRAPE (1A Fix... or damage) up hotter clues for any variety puzzle than those for PIN (19A Green marker?), REIN (20A Silver holder), ANAIS (31A Literary name with a dieresis) (DIESES was an entry last week), or better entries than HUMPERDINCK (26A "Hansel und Gretel" composer), balanced in the grid with ONAHIGHNOTE (41A See 40-Across) (yes, 40A is clued as With 41-Across, go out nicely) and you know the answer!

-----------------

Illustrations (from above down): 50A and 7A, ("Bigarade" by Julian Merrow-Smith, a Postcard from Provence),then 7D, 28D, 9D, 39D (Planting seed, Chinese dragon, Smart Car, and The Trip).
-----------------
For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

Posted by DONALD 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)