08.20.12 — LUCK

Monday, August 20, 2012

Puzzle by Robert Cirillo / Edited by Will Shortz

LUCK (52D. Word that can follow the starts of 20-, 28-,43- and 52-Across), along with BEGINNER’S GUIDE (20A. Help for newbies), DUMB QUESTION (26A. There’s no such thing as this, according to a saying), TOUGH AS NAILS (43A. Really strong) and LADY NANCY ASTOR (5A. First woman to sit in the British House of Commons) constitutes the interrelated group of this Monday crossword.

Other — ADENAUER (5D Former German chancellor Konrad), BARN OWL (41D. Nocturnal rodent hunter on a farm), CALL A CAB (38D. Arrange for transport to the airport, perhaps), INSURABLE (33D. Like a car or home, to State Farm), ROAD SIGNS (11D. Stop, Yield or No U Turn), ROUGHER (9D. Not as gentle).

Mid-size — ADAGE, AMIES, ASCOTS, ATRIA, BOAST, CANOE, COVES, CURVY, Broadway‘s “Billy ELLIOT“, GO DEAD, INNER tube, LEVER, OVATE, PLAZA, PROBE, QUEEN, REDID, SOIREE, SUPERB, TASSEL, TRYST.

Short stuff — AAR, ACT, AHOY, ASS, BYE, CUE and CUBE, DEE and DRE, DYS, EKED, ERE, EROS, GTO, HAY, HMOS, LAZY, LOOK, LTS, LYES, NAME, NINE, NOEL, OHIO, ONTO, OOZE, OTOE, POUR, PUPU platter, ROAR, SILT, SKY, SNL, SPUR, SUMO, TINY, UCLA, UKE and UKR, UMS and UMPS, UOMO, WON’T, ZITI.

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Puzzle available on the internet at

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. City square; 6. Thing on a cowboy’s boot; 10. Arrow-shooting Greek god; 14. Overhauled; 15. Man, in Roma; 16. “See for yourself!”; 17. Almost round; 18. ___ platter (order at a Polynesian restaurant); 19. Word before Susan or Sunday; 23. Prior to, in verse; 24. Swiss river to the Rhine; 25. Med. Care options; 31. Evening event; 34. Kiev’s land: Abbr.; 35. 1964 Pontiac debut; 37. Sandra of “Gidget”; 38. Craft with a paddle; 40. Columbo and others: Abbr.; 41. “Ta-at”; 42. Graduation cap attachment; 47. Sound heard before an MGM film; 48. Weekend NBC staple, for short; 49. Be a thespian; 56. Six-sided solid; 57. Home of Lima and Toledo; 58. Not straight, as a street; 59. The Bruins of the N.C.A.A.; 60. The Who’s “___ Get Fooled Again”; 61. Parisian girlfriends; 62. Barely made, with “out”; 63. Caustic alkalis; 64. “I came, I saw, I conquered,” e.g. — DOWN: 1. Government investigation; 2. Prying bar, e.g.; 3. “Honesty is the best policy,” e.g.; 4. Large-tubed pasta; 6. A-one; 7. Rain cats and dogs; 8. Officials on a diamond; 12. Move like molasses; 13. Wild blue yonder; 21. Identify; 22. Verbal hesitations; 26. Rap’s Dr. ___; 27. Elizabeth I or II; 28. Hawaiian instrument, for short; 29. Oklahoma tribe; 30. Christmas song; 31. River deposit; 32. Latch ___; 37. Prefix with functional; 39. Donkey; 42. Wee; 44. Stop working, as a car battery; 45. Farm bale; 46. Broad ties; 49. Heart chambers; 50. Quiet places along a shore; 51. Meeting for Romeo and Juliet; 53. Chips ___!; 54. Number of “lives” a cat has; 55. Kind of wrestling; 56. Pool ball striker.