01.11.10 -- Open Wide!

Open Wide, image by Knottyboy

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Puzzle by Ron and Nancy Byron, edited by Will Shortz

If you’ve a dental appointment today, you're in luck -- this is an ideal crossword for the occasion, whether you’re getting a bridge, a filling, a crown or braces! Four interrelated entries will give you a perfect bite -- BRIDGE TO NOWHERE (17A. Alaska boondoggle in 2008 campaign news), FILLING STATION (27A. Place to get gas), CROWN VICTORIAS (48A. Full-size Fords) and BRACES FOR IMPACT (63A. Gets ready to crash). Oh the thrill of the drill!

HAVE A FIT (40D. Lose one’s temper) and MINISTER (8D. Reverend) are the only two eight-letter entries, followed by five of seven letters -- BOHEMIA (10D. Western part of the Czech Republic), ELDERLY (4D. Getting on in years), NOTICED (44D. Observed), SAHARAN (38A. Very hot and dry) and TRUMPET (47D. Dizzy Gillespie’s instrument). COERCE (50D. Force) and JET LAG (6D. Trans-Atlantic air traveler’s woe) are the sole six-letter entries.

Five -- AGGIE (54A. Texas A & M player); AETNA (68A. MetLife competitor); ATOMS (46A. Molecule parts); ECOLI (14A. Common cause of food poisoning); ETHER (71A. Bygone anesthetic); HEXED (22A. Put a spell on); IBM PC (28D. Old Renault); LE CAR (29D. Old Renault); 32. NORMA Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe), yes, that‘s a genuine New York Times spelling error -- it‘s Jeane!; OBEYS (33A. Minds); OTTO I (31D. 10th-century Holy Roman emperor); SWAMI (30D. Beturbaned seer); WAVER (1A. Go back and forth in deciding).

Short stuff -- ABBA, ABED, ACNE and ACRE, AMOI, ANNE, APEX, ATON, BALE, BASH and BATH, BEDE, DLII, EDEN, EMIR, ETTE, FOGS, GALE, GMC, GRAB, HISS, HOED, JAMS, MBAS, NAM, NAOH, crossword cousin of the more common NOAH, NESS, OAHU, OMOO, POST, RHEA, RIG, SORE, SPAN, SRO, STAR, STEM, TADA, TAXI, THEE, TRE, VOID, WEBB, WED, WHEE and WHET, WISC.

Open wide! 

Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games.

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Remaining clues -- ACROSS: 6. Traffic tie-ups; 10. Hit hard; 15. Qatari ruler; 16. Melville novel; 20. Eliot’s “Adam ___”; 21. Roman 552; 23. Relative of an ostrich; 25. Part of a mushroom; 34. Tue. Follower; 35. Having ___ of fun; 37. Yukon S.U.V. maker; 42. Uno + due; 43. Reach across; 45. ‘60s-’70s service site; 52. Quaker pronoun; 53. Where Obama was born; 57. Summit; 59. Degrees for corp. execs; 66. Cotton unit; 67. State north of Ill.; 69. Still sleeping; 70. Suffix with major. DOWN: 1. Jack who played Sgt. Friday; 2. Plot unit; 3. Null and ___; 5. Semi-tractor trailer; 7. Mine, in Marseille; 9. Sellout sign; 11. “Don’t leave home without it” card; 12. Achy; 13. Cleared weeds, say; 18. Genesis garden; 19. Hone; 24. Snake’s sound; 26. “Didn’t I do great?!”; 27. Clouds (up); 36. Eliot of “The Untouchables”; 39. “The Diary of ___ Frank”; 41. Sodium hydroxide, to a chemist; 49. Cry on a roller coaster; 51. Vehicle with a medallion; 54. “Dancing Queen” group; 55. Snatch; 56. Near-hurricane-force wind; 58. Part of P.O. or P.S.; 60. The Wife of ___ (Chaucer character); 61. Teen affliction; 62. One of seven in the Big Dipper; 64. Stockholm’s land: Abbr.; 65. Fannie ___.