06.08.14 — Strike One

Sunday, June 8, 2014

“Strike One” — Puzzle by Patrick Berry / Edited by Will Shortz

Ten squares containing two letters, one being X to change a common phrase into an uncommon one, constitutes the main feature of this Sunday crossword.  Actually, one could just place an X over the common-phrase letter to do the trick.  The “crossed out” letters spell CROSSED OUT:

XED (124A. Struck out, as one letter n each of this puzzle’s answers)

SMILEY FA[C/X]ES (23A. Symbols of happiness; Transmissions with colons, dashes and parentheses?)
THE HEART OF WA[R/X] (29A. Sun Tzu tome; Madame Tussaud’s specialty?)
ARTOO DETO[O/X] (38A. “Star Wars” character; Where droids go to dry out?)
LESSER APE[S/X] (42A. Gibbons and siamangs; Mountaintop that’s not the very top?)
BEAUTY CONTE[S/X]T (56A. Pageant; Circumstances that render someone attractive?)
EVERGREEN TRE[E/X] (78A. Pine, e.g.; Dinosaur that never goes out of style?)
BO[D/X]Y DOUBLE (92A. Studio substitute; Squarish  bed?)
FO[O/X] FIGHTER (95A. Member of a certain 1990s-2000s rock band; Censor unhappy with “Family Guy” and “Glee,” maybe?)
SKIP TO MY LO[U/X] (102A. Children’s song; Ignore the rest of the lunch I brought and just eat the fish?)
DESSERT [T/X]RAY (113A. After-dinner display; One way to see a pie’s filling?)

The matching downs (sans X’s) — TIC, STARES AT, POINT, CSI, ELITE, MORENO, RED HEAT, OLD-TIMER, and AUDEN.

Other — BLOCKADE (83D. Sea wall?), BLOW OPEN (16D. Use dynamite on, as a safe), EMBOSSED (82D. Raised on books?), IDIOTIC (4A. Brainless), LOP-EARED (85A. Like some bunnies and hounds), MAGNESIA (52A. Antacid ingredient), MINARET (91D. Mosque tower), MORENO (68D. Singer/actress Rita), NO LIMIT (63D. Like some poker games), NUDISTS (123A.You’ll see a lot of them), OLD-TIMER (84D. Golden ager), SNO CONE (64D. Carnival cooler), SORORAL (88D. Like some twins), VAMPIRE (20A. Sucker?).

————————

Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".

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