05.09.11 — Monday's Hand

Monday, May 9, 2011

Puzzle by Nina Rulon-Miller / Edited by Will Shortz

The four suits of a deck of playing cards, along with that card-of-any-suit Joker, appear at the ends of five phrases in this Monday crossword — MICKEY MOUSE CLUB (17A. Daily kids’ TV show that debuted in 1955, with “The”), PEG ‘O MY HEART (21A. Classic song about an Irish lass that was a #1 hit in 1913 and 1947), QUITE THE JOKER (35A. A real wag), GARDEN SPADE (50A. Tool for turning up soil) and BASEBALL DIAMOND (57A. Setting for the Cardinals or Orioles).

Other — ALOFT, ALLUDE, APEMAN, ASIANS, AWACS, BILLOWY (54A. Bulging, as a cloud), CABBIE, DARTH Vader, DRY LAW, EDBERG, EGGHEAD, FT KNOX, IN ANY CASE, KNEES, LAUREN, LECTURE, NADER, OCULAR, POSER, SALAD, SALSAS, SWANK, TACO SALAD, THERM.

Short stuff — ADM and ATM, AGR, ARNO, ATOP, ASA, BERG, BTU, CASK, CRUX, DAS and DER, DEM, DENG, DIK, DRS, EASE and EAST, EEN and NEE, ERIQ, ESSO, EZRA, GOBY, GURU, HART, HOT, INK, LAI, LSU, NOI, NRA, NUN, ODE and OWE, ORC, PACT, PALE, PCS and PJS, PHI, RIND, SECT, SIR, SWUM, TAO and TOE, YAY, ZIT.

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Click on image to enlarge.

Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Up high; 6. On; 10. Seriously susceptible to sunburn; 15. Tex-Mex dish with lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc., in a hard tortilla “bowl”; 19. Gun owners’ org.; 20. Talk that might put one to sleep; 26. German magazine ___ Spiegel; 27. Central point, as of an argument; 28. Farm-related: Abbr.; 29. China’s ___ Xiaoping; 30. Knight’s title; 31. Floating ice mass; 33. ___ Beta Kappa; 40. Convent resident; 41. “___ of Eden”; 42. Clearasil target, informally; 44. Wine barrel; 47. Govt. prosecutors; 48. Florence’s river; 49. Smart ___ whip; 56. Be in debt; 63. No matter what happens; 64. Independent candidate Ralph; 65. Old “Put a tiger in your tank” brand; 66. Like the English Channel for the first time in 1875; 67. The bee’s ___ (the height of excellence). — DOWN: 1. Navy V.I.P.; 2. China’s Chou En-___; 3. Tolkien creature; 4. U.S. army post in Kentucky; 5. Heat unit; 6. $$$ convenience; 7. “___ Te Ching” (old Chinese text); 8. Eye-related; 9. Tricky puzzle; 10. Treaty; 11. Refer (to); 12. Designer Ralph; 13. Tennis’s Stefan; 16. Splinter group; 18. “Yippee!”; 21. Compaq products; 22. Actor La Salle; 23. Teacher sitting cross-legged, maybe; 24. Male deer; 25. Brainiac; 29. Cartoonist Browne; 31. A/C meas.; 32. After-dusk time, to a poet; 33. Attire that might have images of jumping sheep, informally; 34. Like the tropics; 36. Hard-to-erase stuff; 37. Leisure; 38. Book before Nehemiah; 39. Melon’s cover; 43. Tip of a sock; 44. One hailed on city streets; 45. Tibetans and Thais; 46. Tex-Mex sauces; 47. Prohibition of alcohol sales; 48. Tarzan, for one; 50. Elapse; 51. Military plane acronym; 52. “___ do not!”; 53. Actress Hilary; 55. Funnyman Jay; 58. Baton Rouge sch.; 59. Rep.’s rival; 60. “___ on a Grecian Urn”; 61 Michelle Obama (___ Robinson); 62. A.M.A. members.