08.19.10 — Head First

Buster Keaton in "The General", 1927

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Puzzle by Kristian House, edited by Will Shortz

HEAD FIRST (33A. Impetuously … or what can go on each part of the answer to each starred clue?), GAME HUNTER (16A. *One on safari), SET PIECE (20A. *Part of stage scenery), PHONE LINE (26A. *What a cell doesn’t need), STONE COLD (43A. *Absolutely), LAND LOCK (49A. *Cut off from water) and BAND MASTER (54A. *Person with a baton) are the interrelated group of this Thursday crossword.

A dozen seven-letter entries — 2A. “ANARCHY is the only slight glimmer of hope” : Mick Jagger; A TRAINS (36D. Carriers from northern Manhattan to Far Rockaway); CAMERON (3D. Best Director of 1997, and Best Director nominee of 2009; EMINENT (15D. Renowned), HANGDOG (33D. Abject); JEANNES (37D. Actresses Crain and Tripplehorn); NET LOSS (48A. Figure in red); OIL CANS (11D. Garage refuse); ROOFTOP (39D. Like the last Beatles concert, 1969); SCRAPED (22A. Just got by); TREE TAG (10D. Arboreal marker); ULSTERS (40D. Heavy overcoats).

Six — CLASS A (45D. Topnotch); DIODES (24D. Circuit components); 28D. “EDISON, the Man,” 1940 biopic starring Spencer Tracy; ERAGON (46A. 2003 Christopher Paolini fantasy best seller); IQ TEST (12D. Measure of brainpower); ONE MAN (4D. Kind of army or show); SANTAS (25A. Staples of holiday displays); SELDOM (42D. Scarcely).

Five — ENEMY (59A. The Joker, to Batman); EXTOL (34D. Laud); LEANT (29A. Inclined); LEEZA (62A. Host Gibbons of “Hollywood Confidential”); NOBEL (47D. Prize won by Einstein and Yeats); NO FAT (27D. Words of some diet food labels); PALES (21D. Hardly measures up); STENT (42A. Surgical tube); STRAW (5A. Item sometimes having an elbow); VIOLA (14A. Lover of Orsino in “Twelfth Night”); WARTS (9D. Targets of Salicylic acid).

Short stuff — ALEE, AJAX, APSE, AYN, CANE, DINO, DMZ, EASY, EDS, ELMA, ENGS, ERIQ, ETTA, HYPE, KNEE, MELT, MOOD, MSS, MYA, ONAN, ONEG, REMY, ROTS, RTE, RUE, RYNE, SORT, SPA, SVU, TACO, TAFT, TIN, TOG and TOI.

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

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Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Dish that might come with mole sauce; 1. “L’Amour avec ___” (French love song); 13. ___ open road; 15. Actor La Salle; 18. Alternative to a B.L.T.; 19. Rat in “Ratatouille”; 30. Objectivist Rand; 31. Kind of lighting; 32. Some R.P.I. grads; 36. Popular cleanser; 38. “Calm down, big fella”; 39. Want to take back, say; 52. Chief justice before Hughes; 53. Rat Pack nickname; 58. Force felt on earth, for short; 60. Common computer instruction; 61. Things read by 41-Down; 63. Recess. DOWN: 1. Dress (up); 5. “Law & Order: ___”; 6. Part of bronze; 7. Spoils; 8. How the helm might be put; 17. Ballyhoo; 35. Hall-of-Famer Sandberg; 41. Those who read 61-Across; 44. “At Last” singer James; 50. Prop for Winston Churchill; 51. Banjo site?; 55. No man’s land, briefly; 56. One-named singer of the 1998 hit “It’s All About Me”; 57. Hwy.