06.13.10 — Flag Day




Sunday, June 13, 2010

FLAG DAY, Puzzle by Francis Heaney, edited by Will Shortz

Six countries and their flags of various three solid colors are the main feature of this Sunday crossword, commemorating Flag Day. In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14th.

FRANCE (90A. Country with a blue, white and red flag)
[FRANCE]S BEAN COBAIN (22A. Daughter of rocker Kurt and Courtney Love)
MR [BLUE] (1D. 1959 #1 hit for the Fleetwoods)
E B [WHITE] (2D. “The Trumpet of the Swan” author)
TI[RED] (3D. Bushed)

GUINEA (75D. Country with a red, yellow and green flag)
SAN[GUINE A]BOUT (80A. Not troubled by)
WHIR[RED] (57D. Sounded like a fan)
LESS [YELLOW] (58D. Braver)
WAL[GREEN] (63D. Drugstore eponym)

IRELAND (49A. Country with a green, white and orange flag)
ACQU[IRELAND] (36A. Buy real estate)
LIME [GREEN] (15D. Shade lighter than emerald)
ALAN [WHITE] (16D. Longtime Yes drummer)
WEST [ORANGE] (17D. New Jersey community next to Montclair)

ITALY (66A. Country with a green, white and red flag)
DIG[ITAL Y]EAR BOOKS (110A. Modern school keepsakes)
[GREEN]ER (112D. Not as experienced)
[WHITE]NS (113D. Bleaches)
D[RED]GE (107D. Bring up from the past)

MALI (69D. Country with a green, yellow and red flag)
MINI[MALI]STS (51A. Composer Philip Glass and others)
[GREEN] TEA (53D. Drink with dim sum)
[YELLOW] ROSE (54D. Texas has one, in slang)
[RED]UCER (55D. One on a diet)

ROMANIA (19A. Country with a blue, yellow and red flag)
PY[ROMANIA]CS (98A. Lighting enthusiasts?)
[BLUE]S MEN (100D. Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon and others)
BIG [YELLOW] TAXI (83D. 1975 Joni Mitchell hit)
SNO[RED] (84D. Had an unquiet sleep)

Other — ABACUSES (14D. You can count on them), ARS LONGA (73A. Half of an old Latin aphorism), CALAMITOUS (39A. Devastating), GO ON STRIKE (95A. Stage a walkout), ELECTRUM (60A. Alloy of gold and silver), MESTIZOS (29a. Mixed-ancestry Latin Americans), SNARLS AT (102A. Responds to angrily).

Seven-letter — ENCODES, FERENGI (119A. Greedy race in the “Star Trek” universe), HEWABLE, IN A TRAP, INCITES, LAB SITE, MALTASE (69A. Digestive enzyme), PARASOL (35D. Sunshade), REBUILT, SCRIBER (93D. Wood-marking tool), SISTINE Chapel, SNEEZES, STALEST (42A. Most old-hat), THE BARD (67D. Shakespeare sobriquet).

Mid-size — AERIAL, AGAMAS (24A. Brilliantly colored lizards), A LOST, AT A RUN, ATTEST, DENTI, DOCKET, DORSET, ENTAIL, ERASE, ERE NOW, ERNES, HATES, IN KIND, INSERT, LA LAW, LOEBS, MASCOT, METALS, MISS ME (29D. Lover’s question on a long-distance call), MOBILE, MUNCHY, NO EXIT, NO KIDS, RBI MAN, PRESTO, PSHAW, SCARNE (31D. Card game expert John), SCOWL, SEE IT, SELES, SENNA, SICKO (80D. Michael Moore documentary), SONIA, TIES TO.

Short stuff — ALEE, AMS, ANT and ANY, ARFS, ATOB, AVE and AVON, CART (39D. It rolls in the aisles), CENT, DAL (61. Lentil dish at an Indian restaurant), DOH, DSO, EAST, EEOC, ELAL, ELI, EMO, GIA, GRO, GYMS, HEP, INDO, ISAT, ISM, KAPP, KAT and KIT, LEEK, LOG, MAT, NAB, NHL, NSA, OIS, ONA, ORE, OWIE, PDF, PIED, QUIP, ROCS, SAR, SHEB (45D. Wooley with the 1958 #1 hit “The Purple People Eater“), SLO, TALL, TIL and TOL, UNIS, WIIG.





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. What the majority of elements are; 7. Before this moment; 13. Show whose title was seen on a license plate; 18. One specializing in slugging; 21. Not fixed; 25. Tennis’s Monica; 26. Reps’ places?; 28. Rap’s 50 ___; 33. Lead-in for cat; 38. Provokes; 43. Galloping; 44. Connects with; 48. Isl. Near Corsica; 50. “It is to laugh!”; 58. Knit one’s brow; 59. Horror director Roth; 61. Cry from Homer; 62. Within a lumberjack’s ability to cut down; 65. Fair-hiring org.; 68. “Our quest ___ an end!”; 72. Penguins’ org.; 77. One of 17 on a Monopoly board: Abbr.; 78. Take off the board; 82. Singer Lisa and newspaper publisher William; 85. Put back up; 87. With 116-Down, club in “Cabaret”; 88. One way to be repaid; 97. Keeps from prying eyes, in a way; 101. British mil. Award; 103. Toward the dawn; 104. British science fiction author Colin; 107. Tooth: Prefix; 108. Amount of electrical resistance; 118. Sartre play; 120. Like some Google Maps views; 121. Actress Braga; 122. County on the English Channel; 123. Rapidly. DOWN: 4. They include the wee hrs.; 5. Experiment place; 6. They cause you eyes to close; 7. Maritime birds; 8. Mythical birds; 9. All-rock genre; 10. Snag; 11. Hog dog ___ stick; 12. Actress Kristen of “S.N.L.”; 13. Journal; 20. Whatever; 21. Costumed animal, maybe; 23. “It’s ___ cause”; 27. Place for a hammerlock; 32. Fox TV’s “___ Death”; 33. Can’t abide; 34. Mideast carrier; 37. Bon mot; 40. Good for snacking; 41. ___-European; 45. Like a difficult order; 47. Boo-boo; 49. Belief: Suffix;52. Rapper on “Law & Order: SVU”; 64. First volume of an encyclopedia, perhaps; 66. Magazine extra; 70. Company calling?; 71. Garlic relative; 73. Fire ___; 74. Dating service specification; 76. Swear; 79. Basset sounds; 81. Not windward; 86. Les Etats-___; 89. Courtroom schedule; 91. Medicinal plant; 92. Snared; 94. “My mama done ___ me …”; 96. Cryptologist’s org.; 98. Lowly workers; 99. “Gulliver’s Travels” creature; 102. “___ Now” (Murrow series); 105. Sharable PC file; 106. Motley-colored; 109. Actress ___ Scala; 111. Miracle-___; 114. Mine find; 115. Sue Grafton’s “___ for Outlaw”; 116. See 67-Across; 117. ___ mo.

2 comments:

Charlemagne38 in Las Vegas said...

I must protest. Yes, I solved it, but a crossword should not require colored pencils (or whatever) to fill in. Does this mean anything is fair game? Will I need scissors and paste next Sunday, perhaps?

daslavin said...

This has got to be one of the most imaginative crossword puzzles of all time.

Kudos to the author.

This might be a good puzzle to pass by the artificial intelligence community: Is there any hope that this could be solved by a computer program?