The New York Times Crossword in Gothic: 03.25.11

Friday, March 25, 2011

Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel, edited by Will Shortz

JOUSTS (8A. Renaissance fair sights) — also, costumed entertainers, musical and theatrical acts, art and handicrafts, food, wizards, elves, pasteboard main streets, beer and bosoms, animal rides, falconry, parades, concerts, vendors, artisans, guilds, culture, accents, lances, pillories, stocks, stunts, combat, troupes, swordplay… Renaissance fair sights?

Remaining across, equally vague — 1. Hurriedly, IN HASTE; 14. Remove forcibly, TEAR AWAY; 16. Best in calculating?, OUTWIT; 17. Start of a breaking news story, WE’RE LIVE; 18. R-rated, maybe, STEAMY; 19. Make thing, say, ADD WATER; 20. Digs for peanuts?, HOSTEL, clever!; 21. Animal used in 8-Across, STEED; 22. Not allowed on certain diets, TREF; 24. What starts off light?, TWI; 25. ION drive (engine in “Star Wars”); 26. Wrapped up, FURLED; 29. Green Giant bagful, PEAS; 30. She “espied their tails side by side, / All hung on a tree to dry”, BO PEEP; 31. Rush drummer/lyricist Neil, PEART; 32. No-name, GENERIC; 35. Merging locations, ON RAMPS; 37. Hoover rival, ORECK; 38. It gets a new position upon graduation TASSEL; 40. Scratch, NICK; 41. Haw, GO LEFT; 42. Pier grp., ILA; 45. Opponent of Luther during the Protestant Reformation, ECK; 46. “Sommersby” star, 1993, GERE; 47. Group with the 1963 #1 hit “So Much in Love,” with “the”, TYMES; 49. Coal miner, PITMAN; 51. Didn’t take seriously, PLAYED AT; 54. Francois’s farewells, ADIEUX; 55. Onetime General Motors spokesman, PAT BOONE; 56. Schlock, SLEAZE; 57. Used-car ad phrase, ONE OWNER; 58. Perfumery employee, TESTER; 59. Where some jets originate, GEYSERS.

Down — 1. Dramatic confession, IT WAS I; 2. Must, NEED TO; 3. Set, HARDEN; 4. “ARE WE ready?”; 5. It’s used during an introductory course, SALAD FORK; 6. Nincompoop, TWIT; 7. Builder’s projected expense?, EAVE; 9. Lacking, OUT OF; 10. Uintah and Ouray Reservation tribe, UTES; 11. Help in a dangerous situation, SWAT TEAM; 12. Dance in which “you bring you knees in tight”, TIME WARP; 13. Those involved in cutting class at school?, STYLISTS; 15. Blue-backed Dr. Seuss character, YERTLE; 23. Sleep, REPOSE; 27. News inits., UPI; 238. One paid for services rendered?, RECTOR; 29. Ring tone?, PEAL; 30. One-named rock star of the 1990s-2000s, BECK; 31. Handsome Dan, PRETTY BOY; 32. Overtaken, GONE PAST; 33. “And Now for Something Completely Different” costar, ERIC IDLE; 34. Haberdashery section, NECKTIES; 36. Univ. research grantor, NSF; 39. Largest city in Syria, ALEPPO; 41. Millennial’s parent, GENXER; 42. “All finished!”, I’M DONE; 43. “Almost” in horseshoes, LEANER; 44. “Wild” flowers in a Sara Teasdale poem, ASTERS; 46. Wrapping material, GAUZE; 48. Cries of pain, YEOWS; 50. Crux, MEAT; 52. Filmmaker Fritz LANG; 53. Exactly, after “to”, A TEE.