02.02.14 — The Scottish Play


"Macbeth consulting the Vision of the Armed Head" 

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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Puzzle by Dick Shlakman and Jeff Chen
Edited by Will Shortz


MA C B E T H in circled letters arranged in the form of a dagger with BLOOD (100D. Drippings appropriately positioned under the circled letters), along with THE SCOTTISH PLAY (42D. Superstitious thespian’s name for a work of Shakespeare .. from which 21-, 23-, 37-, 58- and 60-Down all come), MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS (21D. Compassion, figuratively), KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE (23D. Start of many jokes), WHAT’S DONE IS DONE (37D. Tautological statement of finality), ONE FELL SWOOP (58D. A single stroke) and A CHARMED LIFE (60D. What the lucky person leads) constitute the interrelated group of this brilliant Sunday crossword.

"The Sleepwalking Lady Macbeth" by Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1781-1784

Other — BANDOLERO (28A. Sinister senor), DURAN DURAN (26A. Popular British band named after the villain in “Barbarella”), EXERCISERS (24A. Ones doing aerobics), HEAVE-HO (52A. Words before and after “my lads” in the United States Merchant Marine anthem), ICE HOLES (113A. Places where polar bears fish), IONE SKYE (80A. John Cusack’s co-star in “Say Anything …”), LITERATI (5D. Contributors to the Paris Review, e.g.), OCTOPI (49D. Army threats?), OHI, OHO, OOH and UH HUH, POLO SHIRT (29A. Lacoste offering), ROCOCO (65A. Furniture style of Louis XV), THE ROBOT (11D. Dance popularized by Michael Jackson), TOODLE-OO (110A. “Ta-ta!”).


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

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