10.18.11 — The Missing Link

Love Snakes by Cliff Fraser

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Puzzle by Patrick Berry / Edited by Will Shortz

Four common-word answers where the first letter and last letters of each phrase make up each clue’s common word constitutes the interrelated group of this fragmented but friendly Tuesday crossword. The missing material is indicated by a cross between ...  hmmm! … yesterday, a substituting X …  is it too early to guess?!

17A. Starch: a cross between STARSKY AND HUTCH?
25A. Pimple: a cross between PURE AND SIMPLE?
44A. Hisses: a cross between HUGS AND KISSES?
57A. Beetles: a cross between BEER AND SKITTLES?

Other — AMSCRAY (5D. “Take a hike!”), BED TIMES (9D. Parents set them for kids), Charles DARNAY, hero of “A Tale of Two Cities”, DISBANDS (37D. Breaks up), IMPALA (49A. Classic Chevy model), KIRSTIE (42D. Alley seen on TV), LAURELS (10D. Prizes in early Olympics), LIMPED (24D. Walked with one foot asleep, say), SUBARUS (40D. Outbacks and Foresters), TARZAN (22A. Swinger who loves Jane).

Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan the Ape Man,

directed by W. S. Van Dyke, 1932.

Et cetera — ACME, AGAR and AGUE, ANNA, ANTI and ANTZ, ARK, ASEA, ARK and ASK, ASTI, AWLS, BAAS, BABY, BEG, BRA and BRR, CAHN and KHAN (13D. “Come Fly With Me” lyricist Sammy; 18D. Title that’s a homophone of 13-Down), CHER, DEER, Mountain DEW, DROPS, EARNS, ELEGY, ENNUI, ESAU, EYES, FAYE, GALA, GARB, GAYE, GLEN, GPA, HARP, IBET, INCA, INERT, INRE, JABBA, JUST, KALI, KANYE, LAIC, LIRE, MACS, MESA, PEAR, PERM and PERU, RAY, REACH, Messenger RNA, RUN, SAFE, SCORN, SWAP, TARS, TIS, TNN, ULNA, UNARM, WKRP.

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"CROSS" WORDS CONTEST — All the puzzles this week, from Monday to Saturday, have been created by one person, Patrick Berry. Have your solutions handy, because the Saturday puzzle conceals a meta-challenge involving the solution grids of all six. When you have the answer to the meta-challenge, mail it to: crossword@nytimes.com. Twenty-five correct solvers, chosen at random, whose entries are received by 6:00 p.m. E.T. Sunday, Oct. 23, will receive copies of "Will Shortz Picks His Favorite Puzzles: 101 of the Top Crosswords From The New York Times." Only one entry per person, please. The answer and winners' names will appear on Friday, Oct. 28, at http://www.nytimes.com/wordplay.

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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. ___ the Hutt (“Return of the Jedi” villain); 6. Stuff to wear; 10. Not of the clergy; 14. Take a weapon from; 15. Flue symptom; 16. “The King and I” governess; 20. “___ the season …”; 21. Oscar winner for “Moonstruck”; 23. Underwire garment; 24. Pre-euro Italian currency; 31. Sad poem; 32. Pinnacle; 33. Call at first base, maybe; 37. What Visine is dispensed in; 38. Sunbeam; 39. Apple Store offerings; 41. Concerning; 42. “Love Lockdown” singer West; 47. Word before “Boy,” “Love” and “Come Back” in titles to #1 songs; 48. Construction project in Genesis; 52. Leatherworking tools; 54. No. on a college transcript; 60. Isaac’s eldest; 61. Rural road sign; 62. Like helium; 63. Deck hands; 64. Cashless transaction; 65. Seen-it-all feeling. — DOWN: 1. Merely; 2. Not a fan of; 3. Sounds in “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”; 4. Reaction to a cold snap; 6. “Let’s Get It On” singer; 7. Petri dish gel; 8. Choose flight instead of fight; 11. 1998 animated film loosely based on “Brave New World”; 12. Machu Picchu resident; 19. Instrument on Ireland’s coat of arms; 23. Panhandle; 25. Salon treatment; 26. Forearm bone; 27. Get through to; 29. Contempt; 30. Makes at work; 34. Dunaway of “Chinatown”; 35. They may be lazy or wandering; 43. Pump; 46. Malevolent Hindu goddess; 49. “That doesn’t surprise me!”; 50. Mountain with a flat top; 51. Distinctively shaped fruit; 52. On the ocean; 53. Les Nessman’s station in a 1978-82 sitcom; 54. Isolated valley; 55. Home of former U.N. Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar; 56. Italian wine region; 59. Spike TV, once.