02.14.10 -- LOVE


The Birth of Cupid, 1645-47, Eustache Le Sueur, Musée du Louvre, Paris

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

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~William Shakespeare, Mid-Summer Night's Dream, 1595


THAT’S AMORE, Puzzle by Matt Ginsberg and Pete Muller, edited by Will Shortz

WHAT IS LOVE (23A. 1993 dance hit, and a question answered seven times in this puzzle) is this delightful Sunday crossword's all-important question, answered with the following:

  • BLIND (10A. 23-Across -- according to Shakespeare)
  • FRIENDSHIP SET TO MUSIC (32A. … according to Joseph Campbell)
  • THE BEAUTY OF THE SOUL (52A. … according to St. Augustine)
  • SHARING YOUR POPCORN (78A. … according to Charles Schulz)
  • A MANY SPLENDORED THING (102A. … according to Frank Sinatra)
  • ALL YOU NEED (114A. … according to the Beatles)
  • A ROSE (123A. … according to Neil Young)

For more of the same -- HERE.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau's "Psyche et L'Amour", 1889 

Eight letter -- GRINDERS (84D. Heros), HEAT RAYS (3D. Weapons in Wells’s “The War of the Worlds”), KEYSTONE (39A. Linchpin), MAIL ROOM (48D. Stereotypical starting job assignment at a corporation), SIGNORAS (92A. Milanese madames), WOOL SHOP (42D. Edinburgh tourist attraction).

Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else. ~George Bernard Shaw

Seven -- ALIASES (16D. Ayn Rand and Anne Rice, e.g.), ARSENIO (5D. Hall of “Coming to America”), CHANGES (66A. Fresh sets of clothes), EMANUEL (88D. Chief of staff under Obama), GENERAL (89D. Blanket), GET DONE (93D. Execute), HOOK-UPS (15D. Assignations, slangily), INTUITS (4D. Senses), JILLIAN (17D. Actress Ann), LEERING (101A. Un-PC behavior), MEAT PIE (36A. Secret dish in “Sweeney Todd”), ORIENTS (95D. Sets right), THEREIN (70A. Regarding that matter), VAMOOSE (87D. “Scram!”).

Love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image... otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. ~Author Unknown

Six -- AHCHOO, ANEMIC, ASTHMA, D MINOR (14D. The saddest key, supposedly), ETERNE, GRILLE, INSECT, NAVAHO, NO LOAD, NO MA’AM, OR ELSE, PANDAS, PUT OUT, REPEAT, TEA POT.

What the world really needs is more love and less paper work. ~Pearl Bailey

Five -- AETNA, ALIEN (120A. E.T., e.g.), AROSE, CHILD, DENEB (33D. Star in the Summer Triangle), EDITS, ELLIE, HIT IT, IDIOT, INEPT, ITALY (79D. Land of amore), LOCKE, LOTTO, LUNTS, MEADE and MEESE, MOTTS, NEHRU, NO FAT, NOT IT, PRIOR, REMUS, RERAN and ROWAN, SCI FI (25A. “E.T.” e.g.), SODOM, SOREN, SUGAR, TENOR and TONER, TROTS, U-TURN.

At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. ~Plato

Short stuff -- ALFA, ASEA, ASSN, BORE, BSS, DOT, DOUR, DRED, EEG and EEL, ELEM and ELMS, EMIL, EPH, FEED, GYM, HAJI, HUG, HYPE, KALE, KOAN, LAIC, LONE, MILE, MKT and MSG, NEHI, NONE, NOW, OCAT, OILS, OLIN, OOHS, OPAH and OPEN and OREL, ORZO, PCBS, RING, RUHR, SELL, SIDE, SPAR and SPAS, SSGT, SULU, TAMS, TARA, TDS and TSE, TOPO, TREO, TROD, TUNE, UHOH, UZIS, VEGA, YANG and...

 YES (115D. Hoped-for answer to “Will you be my Valentine?”).


Click on image to enlarge.

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.
Remaining clues -- ACROSS: 1. It was once advertised as “Your favorite drink in your favorite flavor”; 5. Cigna competitor; 15 Mecca trekker; 18. Nonexclusive; 20. Showed over; 21. Sin city; 22. Lena of “Chocolat”; 26. Some Da Vinci pieces; 27. It’s whistle able; 28. Kilt accompaniers; 31 Purple or green vegetable; 37. One ___ (baseball variant); 38. End of shampoo instructions, often; 41. Martin’s partner in 1960s-’70s TV; 45. A.A.A. part: Abbr.; 48. What some bombs lead to, for short; 47. Sherwood Forest sights; 50. Like some mutual funds; 60. Irritated; 63 It may be marked on a racetrack; 64. Not clerical; 65. Literally, “barley”; 68. Lynn Fontanne and her husband; 72. One who’s easier to pray for than to visit, according to C.S. Lewis; 73. German region occupied by France and Belgium from 1923-25; 75. Responses to pleasure or pain; 77. “And you’d better listen!”; 82. Where some leaves settle; 83. Sunfish or moonfish; 84. Rep center?; 90. Slain twin; 96. Pioneering 1740 novel subtitled “Virtue Rewarded”; 98. Telephone; 107. Nary a soul; 108. Put one’s foot down; 109. Actor Jannings, winner of the first Best Actor Oscar; 110. Great Scott?; 111. Sullen; 112. What is said before some numbers; 118. Having given a slip the slip?; 119. Apple juice brand; 121. Early smartphone; 122. What bears do; 124. Reagan attorney general; 125. U.S.A.F. noncom. DOWN: 1. “I said ___!”; 2. New Testament book called the “Queen of the Epistles”: Abbr.; 6. Unagi, in a sushi restaurant; 7. Brings(out); 8. Old cruise missile; 9. Lacking vitality; 10. M.I.T. degs.; 11. John who wrote “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, 12. Teller of a tale “full of sound and fury,” per Macbeth; 13 Jack Sprat’s requirement; 18. It may have an antenna; 24. Bungling; 29. Lock horns (with); 32. Audio ___; 34. Like poker faces; 35. Maryland fort name; 36. Nasdaq, e.g.: Abbr.; 40. B or C, but not A or D: Abbr.; 43. ___ Romeo; 44. Untagged; 49. “Star Trek” role; 51. Blessing preceder?; 52. Kind of cartridge; 53. Warm welcome; 54 Forever, to a bard; 55. Kind of sax; 56. Philosopher Kierkegaard; 57. Pitcher Herschiser; 58. Weapons with telescoping bolts; 59. Solo; 60. Chemicals barred by Congress in ‘76; 61. “This isn’t good!”; 62. Butler’s locale; 67. Honeybunch; 69. Hiker’s map, briefly; 71. Bungle; 74. Some hot air; 76. They may have jets; 80. One-eighty; 81. Kindergartner; 85. The bright side?; 88. Flavor-enhancing additive; 91. Hash browns, e.g., typically; 94. ___ jacket; 96. Animals with eye patches; 97. Cause of wheezing; 99. Frequent Sgt. Friday rejoinder; 100. Car part; 103. Record listing; 104. Jackpot producer; 105. Manuscript changes; 106. Carl’s lifelong companion in “Up”; 113 Lao-___; 116. Hosp. test; 117. Speck.

No comments: