04.25.13 — Magician's Phrase

 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

 

Puzzle by Jeffrey Wechsler / Edited by Will Shortz

PRESTO CHANGE-O (50A. Magician’s phrase … or a hint to part of 18-, 25-, 34- and 41-Across), WHAT’S OPERA DOC (18A. Classic cartoon in which “Kill de wabbit” is sung to a Wagner tune), H ROSS PEROT (25A. Onetime presidential candidate on the Forbes 400 list), AIRPORT SECURITY (34A. Travel hassle) and LOBSTER POT (41A. Trap in Penobscot Bay) constitute the interrelated group of this clever Thursday crossword.

 

Other — France : château :: Spain : CASTILLO; COSMOS (1A. It has everything), CRAB APPLE (31D. Small sour fruit); FENCE RAIL (10D. Product of Abe Lincoln’s wood splitting) ; LUANA Patten; OCCASION (16A. Birthday, e.g.); ONE-HORSE PLOWS (14D. Primitive farming equipment) ; SAUNTERS (60A. Doesn’t rush, say); WHO CARES (58A. “So what?”).

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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.

Remaining clues — ACROSS: 7. Troublemaker, perhaps; 15. Individually; 17. Put on; 20. Dried out; 21. Haw’s partner; 22. Hosp. adjunct; 29. Yukon XL maker, for short; 32. Compote ingredient; 32. Child actress Patten of “Song of the South”; 38. Spills the beans; 39. Checkup; 40. Fleur-de-___; 44. What’s that to José?; 45. Terra warmer; 48. Hanukkah largesse; 56. Springer on African grasslands; 59. Best way to defuse a bomb; 61. Brunch dish; 62. Seizes. — DOWN: 1. Squirrel’s nuts, maybe; 2. Whgen said three times, frequent line on “The Odd Couple”; 3. Condition; 4. Be errant, say; 3. Diverse grouping; 6. Haute cuisine by no means; 7. Ladies; 8. ___ Touch; 9. ___-Japanese War; 11. Put away; 12. ___ Talks, offerers of “ideas worth spreading”; 13. Intimidates; 19. High-___; 23. Hall of fame; 34. Some court orders; 25. “I’m with ___” (T-shirt phrase); 26. Possible prey of a 37-Down; 27. Desirable, as a job; 28. Lux.’s place; 29. Exterior house feature; 30. Director Forman; 31. Small sour fruit; 32 Guarded place; 35. It has lots of pledges; 36. Prefix with biology; 37. Possible predator of a 26-Down; 42. Some collegiate output; 43. Crazy talk; 45. Annoying buzzers; 47. Wetland denizen; 48. Body scans?; 49. Pitch; 51. Intensify, with “up”; 52. 25-Down, en françois; 53. Something placed in the mouth of a pitcher?; 54. Time; 55. Some minor eruptions; 56. Org. meting out justice at The Hague; 57. Chip, maybe.