12.19.14 — More Is Less

John Howard Davies as Oliver Twist

in the 1948 film by David Lean

————————

Friday, December 19, 2014

Puzzle by Brad Wilbur and Doug Peterson

Edited by Will Shortz

Across — 1. There’s the rub!, SPA; 4. Novel subtitled “The Parish Boy’s Progress”, OLIVER TWIST; 15. Lot, TON; 16. Underground waves?, PIRATE RADIO; 17. Animal on the Michigan state flag, ELK; 18. Is beyond compare, STANDS ALONE; 19. Plea opener, NOLO; 21. Heading from Okla. City to Tulsa, ENE; 22. Gown maker’s supply, TULLES; 23. Tests that accommodate claustrophobes, OPEN MRIS; 25. “Ella giammai m’AMO” (Verdi aria); 26. Pretend to be, POSE AS; 27. Casts a wide net?, TRAWLS; 30. Rarin’ to go, ANTSY; 31. Lot, maybe, ACRE; 33. Tiresias in “Oedipus Rex,”, e.g., SEER; 35. Heading: Abbr., DIR; 36. Major media event of ‘95, O J TRIAL; 39. “Star Wars” boy, informally, ANI; 40 Vacuum maintainer, SEAL; 42. “Scimitar-horned” creature, ORYX; 43. Find a spot for, say, ADD IN; 45. Flowering shrub whose name comes from the Greek for “coil”, SPIREA; 47. Chorus of approval, BRAVOS; 48. Big name n chips, NEC; 49. Play house?, TOY STORE; 51. Coin with a picture of un rey, PESETA; 54. About 28% of the U.N.: Abbr., AFR; 55. Indigestion cause, ACID; 56. Fictional school bully with henchmen named Crabbe and Goyle, DRACO MALFOY; 59. Volume 1 starter, maybe, A TO; 60. Practice swizzles and twizzles, say, FIGURE SKATE; 61. Dr. Watson portrayer on CBS’s “Elementary”, LIU; 62. Track star of 1977, SEATTLE SLEW; 63. Craft that must overcome wave drag, n brief, SST.

Down — 1. Quaint office supply, STENOPADS; 2. Ones involved in horseplay?, POLO PONIES; 3. Stiletto attachment, ANKLE STRAP; 4. Ending with psy-; OPS; 5. Some bottled water purchases, LITERS; 6. Almost any character n Jon Stewart’s “Rosewater”, RAN; 7. Turbine blades, VANES; 8. Gate approx., ETD; 9. Where you might see someone walk the dog, REST AREA; 10. TRAUMA center; 11. Indulges oneself, in a way, WALLOWS; 12. Fan fixation, IDOL; 13. 0, for 180 degrees, SINE; 14. Tips of wingtips, TOES; 20. Common notes, ONES; 24. Subway option, MAYO; 27. Cereal that reverted to spherical shapes n 2007, TRIX; 28. Frontman’s assignment, LEAD VOCALS; 29. Certain drop in motivation, SENORITIS; 31. Gillette brand, ATRA; 32. “Extra! Extra!,” e.g., CRY; 34. No longer sudsy, say, RINSED OUT; 37. Pack animal?, JOE CAMEL; 38. Never-seen neighbor on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, LARS; 41. Black-and-white engraving, LINE CUT; 44. Table filler, DATA; 46. Shoot back, RETORT; 47. Mechanically, BY ROTE; 49. Part of SALT, TALKS; 50. Some haggis ingredients, OFFAL; 51. Many email attachments, PDFS; 52. County name in three states, ERIE; 53. Novel format, SAGA; 57. Enzyme suffix, ASE; 58. Tree whose name sounds like a letter of the alphabet, YEW.

————————

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.

12.18.14 — Pig Latin

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Puzzle by Timothy Polin / Edited by Will Shortz

Five asterisked clues, X-ray, Ashtray, eBay, Airway, along with PIG LATIN (62A. Hinto to interpreting the five starred clues) constitutes the main feature of this lackluster Thursday crossword:

JALOPIES (17A. *X-ray)
RIP TO PIECES (24A. *Ashtray)
LIVE AND BREATHE (32A. *e-Bay)
KNUCKLE DRAGGER (41A. *Outlay)
DETERIORATE (48A. *Airway)

Other — EXTRAS (19A. Ones who are never billed?), ON THE STAGE (10D. Performing, say), REDUCED FAT (30D. Attribute of the 1%?), SHEMP (6D. One of the original Stooges), STEEPLE (8D. Carillon holder).

————————

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.

12.17.14 — Figures of Speech

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Puzzle by Stu Ockman / Edited by Will Shortz

A hyperbole, an oxymoron, a litotes and a simile,, different examples of linguistic tropes, constitute the interrelated group of this Wednesday crossword:

IT’LL TAKE FOREVER (17A. Hyperbole for an arduous task)
TAKE HASTE SLOWLY (22A. Oxymoron for cautious travel)
NOT UNATTRACTIVE (45A. Litotes for beauty)
AS THICK AS A BRICK (50A. Simile for denseness)

Other — FIVE WS (11D. Reporter‘squestions, collectively), WELL-KNIT (3D. Tightly interlocked), GALLEONS (4D. Many Spanish Armada ships), REST AREA (34D. Place to stop and text, perhaps), OLD IRISH (35D. Ancestor of Scottish Gaelic and Manx) and ZIP IT (31D. “Hush!”).

————————

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.

12.16.14 — The Bee Gees

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Puzzle by Joel D. Lafargue / Edited by Will Shortz

THE BEE GEES (60A. Trio whose members start 17-, 26- and 44-Across), GIBB (66A. Last name of 60-Across), along with BARRY, ROBIN and MAURICE constitute the main feature of this neat Tuesday crossword:

BARRY WHITE (17A. R&B singer backed by the Love Unlimited Orchestra)
ROBIN WILLIAMS (26A. Late comic genius)
MAURICE SENDAK (44a. Chldren’s author/illustrator with a National Medal of Arts)

Other — Jane ADDAMS, ANSELM (9D. Canterbury saint), BULL MARKET (28d. Something you won‘t see many bears in), CANTEENS (21A. Thermos alternatives), DO OK (33A. Scrape by); EARTH (14A. Wod after Mother or Google), GEWGAW (5d. Showy trinket), HARD TASK (51A. No easy chore), KEPI 53D, French army headwear), NERD, (3D. One whose favorite website is Sporcle, say), SAPOR (63A. Flavor), SKIN (19A. Banana discard), SUPERB  (47D. Top-notch), TAKE A STAND (10D. Declare something boldly).

———————— 

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.

12.15.14 — S to P

Monday, December 15, 2014

Puzzle by Zhouqin Burnikel and Dennis Ryall

Edited by Will Shortz

STOP [S to P] (69A. “Freeze!” … or, when broken into three parts, how the answer for each of the six starred clues goes), along with the six starred clues and their answers, constitutes the main feature of this fairly likeable Monday crossword:

SLAP (1A. *Obstetrician’s action on a newborn’s behind)
STANLEY CUP (18A. *Goal an N.H.L.’ER SHOOTS FOR?)
SKINNY DIPPING (20A. *Go swimming in one’s birthday suit)
SKI TRIP (40A. *Visit to Vail, maybe)
STEEL TRAP (56A. *Sharp mind, figuratively)
SUMMER CAMP (61A. *Setting for “Meatballs” or “Friday the 13th”)

Other — STP (36D. Indy letters), ALFA ROMEO (34D. Sports car with a Spider model), RACE AHEAD (11D. Quickly take the lead).

————————

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.

12.14.14 — Musgrave Ritual — the Acrostic

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes

———————— 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

ACROSTIC, Puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Edited by Will Shortz

This Sunday’s intriguing acrostic draws a quotation from “The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual” by Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The story was originally published in Strand Magazine in 1893, and was collected later in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Unlike the majority of Holmes stories, the main narrator is not Doctor Watson, but Sherlock Holmes himself. With Watson providing an introduction, the story-within-a-story is a classic example of a frame tale. It is one of the earliest recorded cases investigated by Holmes, and establishes his problem solving skills. "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" shares elements with two Edgar Allan Poe tales: "The Gold Bug" and "The Cask of Amontillado".In 1927, Conan Doyle ranked the story at 11th place on his top 12 Holmes stories list. ~ Amazon.com  

The quotation:  ALTHOUGH… METHODICAL… [HE] KEEPS HIS CIGARS IN THE COAL-SCUTTLE, HIS TOBACCO IN THE TOE END OF A PERSIAN SLIPPER, AND HIS UNANSWERED CORRESPONDENCE TRANSFIXED BY A JACK-KNIFE INTO THE VERY CENTER OF HIS WOODEN MANTELPIECE

The author’s name the title of the work:  A C DOYLE, THE MUSGRAVE RITUAL

The defined words:

A. First and worst among adversaries, ARCHFOE
B. Director of a crew, COXSWAIN
C. British form of “Phooey!” (2 wds.), DASH IT
D. Cloud, fog, muddy, perplex, OBFUSCATE
E. Encouraging cry to foxhounds, YOICKS
F. Relax, LOOSEN
G. Given some improvement or magnification, ENHANCES
H. Onetime game craze with falling figures, TETRIX
I. Jazz Age term for a drug  addict, HOPHEAD
J. Items on which deposit may be paid, EMPTIES
K. Impressively grand, MAJESTIC
L. Like the loser of a medieval contest, UNHORSED
M. Detective whose name literally means “fair-haired”, SHERLOCK
N. n. Go see a therapist, say (2 wds.), GET HELP
O. Notable player of the quote’s subject, RATHBONE
P. Chopper named for a tribe, APACHE
O. Made to seem the bad guy, VILIFIED
R. Whimsical or odd sort, ECCENTRIC
S. Kept a sub going?, RENEWED
T. First small suggestion of comprehension, INKLINGS
U. “Charge of the Light Brigade” poet, TENNYSON
V. In no position to lie (2 wds.), UNDER OATH
W. A little something preprandial, APERITIF   
X. Battle of LEPANTO, 1561 naval engagement that was a setback for Ottoman Turks

The Full paragraph of the quotation: An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. Not that I am in the least conventional in that respect myself. The rough-and-tumble work in Afghanistan, coming on the top of a natural Bohemianism of disposition, has made me rather more lax than befits a medical man. But with me there is a limit, and when I find a man who keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humors, would sit in an arm-chair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.  ~ The Musgrave Ritual 

———————— 

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.

12.14.14 — Gee

Capital Letter G, James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum  

————————

Sunday, December 14, 2014

“Well, Golly!“ — Puzzle by Jim Peredo / Edited by Will Shortz

The sound of “Gee” in seven entries changing the meaning of a common phrase is the main feature of this run-of-the-mill Sunday crossword:

KITTY LITURGY (23A. Religious rituals for cats?), kitty litter
KANJI ARTIST (42A. Master of Japanese writing?), con artist
WEIRD ALGAE (52A. Strange pond scum?), Weird Al Yankovic
GENIE JERK REACTION (67A. “Grant you own damn wishes,” e.g.”), knee-jerk reaction
BEE GEE LINE (87A. “How deep is your love?” or “You should be dancing”?), beeline
GPS I LOVE YOU (93A. Comment from a driver who finally reached his destination?), P. S., I love you
OH DARJEELING (115A. Surprised comment upon rummaging through a tea chest?), oh darling

Other — BESTIE (109A. Closest friend, slangily), DANTE (51A. Poet who wrote “Let us not speak of them, but look and pass on”), DEKED (58D. Made a false move?), DIAL-A-RIDE (79D. Transportation service for the disabled), ENUF (8D. Sufficiently, informally), GOD NO (100D. “Heaven forbid!“), INSTINCTIVE (44D. Not learned), JALAPA (43d. Veracruz’s capital), LAPD and DRAGNET (40A. “Let’s Be Cops” org.; 41D. Friday night series?), MAIL ORDER (15D. Like early Sears business), NETIZENS (25A. Web browsers), PATTI PAGE (7D. “Tennessee Waltz” singer), PROEMS (23A. Literary prefaces), STOOP (45d. Keep a low profile), TETRAGRAM (81D. Any four-letter word), WHITE GLOVES (38D. Some queenly attire), ZOLTAN (26D. Korda who directed “Sahara”).

————————

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.

12.13.14 — Saturday with Swee' Pea

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Puzzle by James Mulhern and Ashton Anderson

Edited by Will Shortz

Of interest — ANTONIA (43D. Title girl in literature’s “Prairie Trilogy”); ANTS ON A LOG (9D. Celery topped with peanut butter and raisins); ARTIST (20A. Met someone?); BOLSHOI (1D. Where Prokofiev’s “Cinderella” premiered); BRISBANE (60A. Kangaroo Point is a suburb of it); BUTTOCKS (1A. Cheeky couple?); Langston Hughes’s “CORA Unashamed”; EASY READ (65A. Beach book, typically); G  I JANE (48A. Action figure released in 1997); HAIL (23A. Caesar’s predecessor?); HIT ME UP (39D. Modern request for contact); JABBER (49D. Yap); KNURL (7D. Small projecting ridge); LINKEDIN (63A. Online aid for job-hunters); LIQUOR UP (17A. Become ripped); STREET MEAT (28D. Kebabs sold curbside, say); SWEE’PEA (38D. Comics boy with the given name Scooner); TEQUILA (3D. 1958 #1 hit whose only lyric is its title word).

———————— 

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.

12.12.14 — The Friday Crossword

Macaulay Culkin, “Home Alone”, 1990

————————

Friday, December 12, 2014

Puzzle by Erin Bornholm / Edited by Will Shortz

Obscurity and cutesy clues dominate this unfriendly Friday crossword:

Across — 1. Person at the top of the order, ABBESS; 7. Excited, AMPED UP; 14. Fan’s output, COOL AIR; 16. Brand behind the mouthwash Plax, COLGATE; 17. Tex-Mex item, TOSTADA; 18. Robert Goulet, e.g., CROONER; 19. Annual event held in the Theresienwiese, OKTOBERFEST; 21. Certain tube filler, NEON; 22. Slangy goodbye, KEEP IT REAL; 27. Relative of a harrier, ERN; 28. All hits all the time?, FIGHT; 29. Reply on the radio, WILCO; 30. Person with important clerical duties, VICAR; 31. Tuber grown south of the border, JICAMA; 32. Tomfoolery, HIJINKS; 35. Ones trying to prevent stealing, BASEMEN; 36. Stud muffin, ADONIS; 37. Certain branches, SECTS; 38. The tropics and others, ZONES; 39. Uses maximally, MILKS; 43. Influential figure in upward mobility?, ELISHA OTIS; 45. YULE Ball (event at Hogwarts during the Trinidad Tournament); 46. Their best-selling (23x platinum) album had no title, LED ZEPPELIN; 48. Series of drug-related offenses?, THE WIRE; 52. Politico who wrote “The Truth (With Jokes)”; FRANKEN; 53. Skin cream ingredient, RETINOL; 54. Square snack, SALTINE; 55. Licensing requirement, maybe, EYE TEST; 56. Wee, TEENSY.

Other — 1. Start to play?, ACT ONE; 2. Talk show V.I.P., BOOKER; 3. Common ground?, BOSTON; 4. John in a studio, ELTON; 5. 9-5, e.g., SAAB; 6. Talk show V.I.P.’s, SIDEKICKS; 7. Put up with, ACCEPT; 8. Mohamed MORSI, Egyptian president removed from power in July 2013; 9. Thickening agents?, PLOT TWISTS; 10. Psych 101 subject, EGO; 11. Judo ranking, DAN; 12. Trojan competitor, UTE; 13. So says, PER; 1`5. 21-Across, e.g., RARE GAS; 20. N.H.L. players’ representative Donald REHR; 23. Reduces to bits, RICES; 24. Land east of Babylonia, ELAM; 25. Fictional corporation that made a jet-propelled unicycle, ACME; 26. It has points of interest, LOAN; 28. This is the end, FINISH LINE; 30. Tree huggers?, VINES; 31. Half a nursery rhyme couple, JACK SPRAT; 32. Run through the gantlet, say, HAZE; 33. Pop IDOL; 34. Iowa politico Ernst JONI; 35. Credo, BELIEFS; 37. SITZ bath; 39. Car modified for flying n “The Absent-Minded Professor”, MODEL T; 40. “Home Alone” star, 1990, CULKIN; 41. Time Lords on “Doctor Who,” e.g., ALIENS; 42. Big name in retail, PENNEY; 44. Planes, quaintly, AEROS; 45. Broadway character who sings “The Rumor, YENTE; 47. Not that bright, PALE; 48. Number of weeks in il Giro d’Italia, TRE; 49. “Stop right there!”, HEY; 50. When le Tour de France is held, ETE; 51. Romeo’s was “a most sharp sauce”, WIT.

————————

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.

12.11.14 — Passing Through

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Puzzle by Joe DiPietro / Edited by Will Shortz

Four clever cross-referenced entries that ask the solver to supply the word THROUGH constitutes the main feature of this agreeable Thursday crossword:

CUTS through THE CLUTTER 

     (36A. Has an ad that really stands out; 3D. See 36-Across)

SLIP through ONE’S FINGERS

     (29A. Elude a person’s grasp; 8D. See 29-Across)

PULLS through IN THE CLUTCH 

     (52A. Succeeds when it matters most; 25D. See 52-Across)

GOING through THE MOTIONS 

     (4A. Making a feeble effort; 30D. See 54-Across)

Other — BOX-TOPS (9D. Some proofs of purchase); CLUB SODA (59A. Gin fizz ingredient); DINGBAT (43D. Ditz); ED AMES (42A. One of a group of singing brothers); ESTER-C (61A. Brand name in immunity boosting); HARD G (37A. What Germany’s leader lacks?); HOE (35A. What could loosen up a lot?); ODE TO JOY (17A. Highlight of Beethoven’s Ninth); REUBEN (27A. Lunch order with sauerkraut); RIBOSE (46A. Biochemical sugar); RULES (22D. Like notepaper and kingdoms); SKY and SMUT (66A. It’s blue; 65A. It’s blue); THEBES (18D. Ancient site of the Luxor Temple); U NU (60D. Longtime Burmese P.M.).

————————

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.

12.10.14 — Elementary

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Puzzle by Tom McCoy / Edited by Will Shortz

In this witty Wednesday crossword, writers known by their first and middle initials and, of course, their last names, have their  initials which match an element substituted with the element’s name:

THORIUM WHITE 
(20A. “The Sword in the Stone” author, to a chemist?), T. H. White 
CESIUM FORESTER
(34A. “The African Queen author, to a chemist?), C. S. Forester 
PALLADIUM JAMES
(43A. “The Children of Men” author, to a chemist?), P. D. James 
MERCURY WELLS 
(58A. “The Island of Dr. Moreau” author, to a chemist?), H. G. Wells 

Other — DEBRIEFED (6D. Followed up with after recon), DRAWERS (9D. BVDs, e.g.), DWARF (9A. Bonsai, e.g.), DYLAN  (55D. About whom Obama said “There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music“), GENIE (52D. Something to be rubbed out), JAWLINE (47D. Important feature for a male model), LIQUEFY (44D. What gallium will do at about 86 degrees F), ROUND-EYED (36D. Full of innocent wonder), SHIH-TZU (5D. Chinese toy), TESLA (25D. Notable current researcher).

————————

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.

12.09.14 — Shoes

Gum Shoe… by Kyluvlee, deviant art 

————————

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Puzzle by Paul Hunsberger / Edited by Will Shortz

SHOE (67A. Item depicted by this puzzle’s circled letters), along with SOLE, ARCH, SOLE, TOE, TONGUE and LACES in circled letters outlining a shoe (with a wad of GUM stuck to the bottom of the shoe), constitutes the interrelated group of this humorous Tuesday crossword.

Other — BLANCHE (51A. One of the “Golden Girls” girls),  COLLEGE MEN (30D. Fraternity members, e.g.), DEVALUED (41D. Like weak currencies), D LEAGUE (7D. N.B.A. farm system, informally), DOODLER (40A. Quick sketch artist?), EERS and EERO, EGG CELL and OVA (25A. Fallopian tube traveler; 60D. Egg: Prefix), EVEREST (37A. Subject of the 1997 best seller “Into Thin Air”), HERNIA (20A. Medical rupture), IN THE EVENT (3D. Supposing [that]), O HENRY (48D. William Sydney Porter’s pen name) RESALE and RESOLE (34D. “Gently used” transaction), 56A. Fix, as a cobbler might), STREAMER (4D. Bit of party décor).

————————

Using the shoes...

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.

12.08.14 — Monkey Business

Monday, December 8, 2014

Puzzle by Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels

Edited by Will Shortz

A vowel progression, SAY, SEE, SCI, SO, SIOUX (phonically A, E, I, O, U) is the main feature of this friendly Monday crossword:

SAY HEY KID (17A. Nickname for Willie Mays)
SEE NO EVIL (25A. Catchphrase for a monkey with its eyes covered)
SCI- FI CONVENTION (38A. Where Darth Vader might meet Captain Kirk)
SO FAR AWAY (52A. Carole King hit from “Tapestry”)
SIOUX CITY (64A Iowa port on the Missouri River)

Other —  GET OVER IT (10D. “You have to move on!”), NON-TOXIC (42D. Harmless, as paint), OR A and ON A, POSSES (61A. Groups chasing outlaws), TIME FLIES (32D. What happens when you‘re having fun?), WHERE AM I (4D. Dazed inquiry).

————————

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.