Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Puzzle by Adam G. Perl, edited by Will Shortz
The Superman comic newspaper, DAILYPLANET (57A. Publication that is the key to this puzzle’s theme), along with Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Perry White, whose last names are included in the entries of LANECHANGES (21A. They require signals);, KENTSTATE (28A. Ohio university whose team is the Golden Flashes), and WHITELIES (47A. Fibs), are today’s inter-related entries.
Thin as that may seem (where’s Jimmy Olsen?), there are a few more possibilities to throw into this office-worker oriented puzzle -- LOGIN (16A. Go online); OBIT (17A. Final notice?); DATA (42A. Facts and figures); RETYPED (44D. Entered again), MEMO (65A. Exec’s note); LATE (21D. After the buzzer); and PEONS (56D. Doers of drudgery). When I set pen to paper to write this, I thought, “well, it can’t be that weak, so in trying to make this puzzle coalesce a bit more than it’s thin DAILYPLANET premise, I googled “Superman characters” to see if the entries ELIZABETHI (3D. 1998 role for Cate Blanchett) or ADAMANDEVE (31D. Genesis duo) contained parts of the comic book’s newspaper staff but no -- it’s just a very thin staff!
HORNET (10D Big buzzer) was part of a comic book character’s moniker, but where’s SUPERMAN when you need him? Other characters in the puzzle include WIZ (20A. Diana Ross musical, with “The”); EUBIE (2D. Blake of jazz); ONEAL (5D. N.B.A.’s Shaquille); ALEC (8D. Guinness of stage and screen); ELISE (29D. Beethoven dedicatee); EBAN (33D. Israel’s Abba); 42. Rap’s Dr. DRE; the SENATE (49D. Hundred on the Hill), and LADS (60D. Little shavers).There are many look-alike entries -- RASH and DASH, TULANE and LANE, LINE and LATE, LODE and DOTE, RATA and DATA, ERA and REA, HULA, ALA and ALAS, EPA, PAT and NAP, etc.
After a few more longer entries, KARNAK, CLEANSE, CREPES, GERMAN, HOTDOG and SCHLEP, the puzzle nestles into a pit of crosswordese with such fill (or is it?) as NAIL, ONE, SEA, BET, DAB, ASH, RHOS, UTE, DIE, STET, AGOG, ALOT, SIDE, ENES, TATA, ASTO, HOI, ERAT, WEDS, MOW, ICON and NON and on and on -- along the way we get the variety of longer standards, e.g., CHASE, ERODE, OKLA, CHINO, ASCAP, STONE, OVEN, HONED, STET, SHOWS, RESET, all AIMED, for the shredder!
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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 subscription.
Across: 1. Ooze; 5. Neighbor of Kan.; 9. Go after; 14. Island dance; 15. Do perfectly; 18. Coastal flier; 19. Take away little by little; 23. Neptune’s domain; 24. ___ carte; 25. Number of operas composed by Beethoven; 26. Play the slots, e.g.; 34. Fancy flapjacks; 37. Comstock ___; 38. Touch with hanky, say; 39. Pro ___ (proportionately); 40. Slacks material; 42. Facts and figures; 43. Baseball bat wood; 44. P P P, in Greek; 45. Liechtenstein’s language; 50. Stephen of “The Crying Game”; 51. Beehive State native; 52. Timeline division; 54. Carpet fuzz; 62. Conk out; 63. Tunesmith’s org.; 64. “That’s a shame”; 66. Peach pit; 67. Treat with grandmotherly love, with “on”; 68. Kitchen dial site; 69. Sharpened; 70. Proofer’s mark; 71. Takes as one’s spouse. Down: 1. Exhibits; 4. Butter slice; 6. Egyptian temple site; 7. Airport delay?; 9. Make spotless; 11. Bug-eyed; 12. Slaw, e.g.; 13. Hydrocarbon suffixes; 21. After the buzzer; 22. “Oh, goody!”; 27. Air quality grp.; 30. “Smoking or ___?”; 32. “Ciao!”; 34. Sticking point?; 35. Too hasty; 36. Haul, slangily; 41. ___ polloi, 44. Entered again; 46. Part of Q.E.D.; 48. New Orleans school; 53. Bowling alley button; 55. Pointed; 57. Track meet event; 58. Regarding; 59. Revered one; 61. Jillions; 65. Use a Lawn-Boy, e.g.
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