02.20.12 — Presidents Day

Monday, February 20, 2012 — Presidents Day

Puzzle by Samuel A. Donaldson / Edited by Will Shortz

PRESIDENTS DAY (52A. February occasion, some of whose honorees can be found in the answers to the five starred clues), SALMON ROE (18A. *Some reddish-orange caviar), TRAFFIC ARTERY (23A. *Major road), MADAM SPEAKER (31A. *Nancy Pelosi was the first person ever to have this title in Congress), RULES OF ORDER (40A. *Parliamentary procedure) and LUST AFTER (60A. *Really hunger for) constitute the interrelated group of this pleasant-enough Presidents Day crossword puzzle, even though Presidents Day was not established with Monroe, Carter, Adams, Ford or Taft in foremost thought... but this is the world of crosswords!

Other — CARELL, ETC ETC, I DUNNO, INMATE, KROGER, HANGAR, LAREDO, LYNDON, SEE PAST, SLOPES UP, SLOVENE (10D. Ljubljana dweller), TERIYAKI (11D. Dish marinated in sweetened soy sauce), TIARA and TIERRA del Fuego, TIP / O’NEILL (26D. With 48-Across, leader of the House of Representatives, 1977-87).

Five-letter — ARIAL, BASIC, BOMBS, CENTS, DEEPS, EGRET, ETHAN, Keep one’s EAR TO the ground, MILER, MONDO, NORMA, ORAMA, OWNED, SLEPT, SWEEP, SWOON, TIARA (14A. Pageant headgear), TORSO, VOIDS.

Short stuff — ARF and ART, BAM, DON’T, ENT, EON, ERG and ERS, ESP, FEM, FLA and FLO, FUR, IDS and IFS, IRK, MILD, MIME, MOO, NAS, NEAT, OMS, ONES, ORGS, OSU, RES, ROI, SIR, SLOE gin fizz, TED, TWO, URN, WOOD, WOW, WUSS.

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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. Patriot Allen with the Green Mountain Boys; 6. Things “bursting in air”; 11. With 17-Across, value of some opinions; 14. Pageant headgear; 15. Sans-serif typeface; 16. Many, many years; 17. See 11-Across; 20. Work unit; 21. Silent performer; 22. Renders null; 27. Steve of “The Office”; 28. Prisoner; 35. Hypothetical cases; 38. French king; 39. Driver’s licenses and such, in brief; 47. Big supermarket chain; 48. See 26-Down; 56. Four straight wins to start the World Series, e.g.; 58. Tidy; 59. Ash holder; 62. Had title to; 64. Buckeyes’ sch.; 65. Snoozed; 66. World, in Italian; 67. Mind-reading skill, for short; 68. Part of the body above the waist; 69. Show of overwhelming love. — DOWN: 1. “And so on, and so on”; 3. Where airplanes are repaired; 4. “A work of ___ is a confession”: Camus; 5. “If I Ruled the World” rapper; 6. Fundamental; 7. Commercial suffix akin to “à go-go”; 8. Distance runner; 9. Blast sound; 12. Lumber; 13. Low bills; 19. “__ Rae” (Sally Field film); 21. Not very spicy; 24. Not masc.; 25. State south of Ga.; 29. Turner who founded CNN; 30. Hesitant sounds; 32. Dog sound; 33. Cow sound; 34. Francis Drake, Isaac Newton or Mix-a-Lot; 35. Needle; 36. PETA target; 37. What a rap does; 41. White-feathered wader; 42. Purposely ignore; 43. Surgery sites, for short; 44. Word before know and care; 45. Suffix with differ; 46. Hi-___ monitor; 49. “No idea”; 50. Teas city on the Rio Grande; 51. The “L” of L.B.J.; 53. Bury; 54. Areas explored by submarines; 57. Scaredy-cat; 61. ___-Jo (‘88 Olympics track star); 62. Meditation sounds; 63. “Holly moly!”