Of interestA STROKE OF GENIUS(3D. Something that’s brilliant), CLEAN SWEEP (31A.Rout), ELIZABETH WARREN (11D. Senator who wrote “A Fighting Chance,“ 2014), HOSTESS TWINKIES (5D. Longtime food product with a mascot in a cowboy hat), MISTER PRESIDENT (9D. Cry at a White House press conference), OF THE SAME STRIPE (17A. Similar), ON INTIMATE TERMS (53A. Very close), SNOWDEN (23A. Man who went into self-imposed exile in 2013), TIE GAME (46A. Draw), WHERE’S THAT (39A. Direction seeker’s query).
In this Thursday crossword the across answers in the top half of the puzzle go the normal way, while in the bottom half they go backward.
YOU GO YOUR WAY / ENIM OG LL’I DNA(20A. With 49-Across, comment upon parting), BACKWARD and DRAWKCAB (33A. How the Across answers appear in the puzzle; 38A. How the Across answers appear in the top half of this puzzle vis-à-vis the bottom).
Other — ACERBIC(9D. Sharp), ASPIRIN (42D. It’s a relief), CALMEST (40D. Least wavy), ESSE, MOM and ATTA (35A. To be, to Brutus; 36A. Dr. MOM; 37A. Lead-in to girl), IT’S A BREEZE (28D. “Piece of cake!“), JOE and PETER (55D. Mud; 1A. Die [out]); MARTHA (25D. Onetime daytime talk show), RINGLET (5D. Certain lock), SEE YA LATER (11D. “I’m outta here!”).
BILATERAL / SYMMETRY (44A. With 46-Across, feature of the answers to this puzzle’s six starred clues, in a sense), TAJ MAHAL (24A.Landmark that exhibits 44-/46-Across) and BUTTERFLY (28A. Insect that exhibits 44-/46-Across), along with the following constitutes the main feature of this attractive Wednesday crossword:
ALL Y’ALL (14A. *Southern pronoun) MADE MAD (15A. *Angered) GIORGIO (16A. * Designer Armani) ILL WILL (59A. *Animus) DINED IN (62A. *Enjoyed home cooking) DO-SI-DOS (63A. *Square dance moves)
Other — BAD SPOT (39A. Predicament), CHALUPA (56A. Taco Bell offering), EARWIG (45D. Insect with pincers), ENDGAME (65A. King vs. king-and-pawn situation), GIRD UP (19A. Encircle with a belt), HELMSLEY (38D. Businesswoman with the nickname Queen of Mean), J AND J (8D. Tylenol producer, for short), JOLIET (8A. Illinois city about 40 miles SW of Chicago), LEOPARDS (10D. Antelope stalker), SPAYER (Vet, at times), UM OKAY (29D. “So guess that‘s a thing now“), .
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
EIGHT (36A. Total number of letters of the alphabet used in this puzzle), e.g., A, E, G, H, I, R, S T, is the gimmick of this awkward Tuesday crossword.
Of note — EAST ASIA (36D. Where Korea is), EASTER EGGS (11D. Hidden treasures), ERTÉ (33D. Art Deco notable), RAT TERRIER (28D. Popular farm dog), SAT TIGHT (9D. Didn’t go anywhere), STARTER SET (53A. Group of dishes for a new household, say), THAT’S GREAT (17A. “Way to go!”).
FAB / FOUR (32A. With the shaded squares of 35-Across, subject of this puzzle), YELLOW SUBMARINE (14A. Navy captain’s favorite Beatles song?), SHE’S LEAVING HOME (17A. Empty nester’s favorite Beatles song?), WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR (35A. Sexagenarian’s favorite Beatles song?), PAPERBACK WRITER (55A. Author’s favorite Beatles’ song) and HERE COMES THE SUN (58A. Early riser’s favorite Beatles song?) constitutes the interrelated group of this fine Monday crossword.
Other — BRAVAS(23A. Cries to divas), GALILEO (21D. Astronomer who discovered the main moons of Jupiter), QUAYLES (22D. Vice-presidential family of 1989-93), QUANT (22A. Math whiz, in Wall Street lingo), UVULA (31A. Dangling tissue near the tonsils).
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
Answers completed by making an upward turn at the tail-end of the entry constitutes the main feature of this humdrum Sunday crossword:
WISH YOU WERE H (2D. Postcard message), e.g., Wish you were h[ere] GLUTEN-FREE B (5D. Beverage brewed without barley or wheat), b[eer] REACHES LEGAL (11D. Becomes an adult), [age] ON A SCALE FROM ONE TO (22D. How things may be rated), [ten] TAKES THE TOPS (5D. Wins), [pot] DO EXACTLY AS I (63D. “Follow my command!”), [say] NOW WHERE WER (70D. “What was I talking about before?“), [we]
Other — BAT PHONE (4D. Line in Gotham), DOG STAR (49D. Bright spot?), ECOTAGE (104A. Environmental terrorism), FARM BOY (74A. Young Clark Kent, e.g.), FIBULA (74D. Bone whose name means “clasp” in Latin), GUT BOMBS (21A. Hard-to-digest food items, in slang), HAS AT (20A. Rolls up the sleeves and begins),ICE CANOE (84D. Winter race vehicle), MISSIONS (10D. Mercury had 28 of them). SAWYER (45A. Finn’s friend), TEA PARTY (15D. Sons of Liberty gathering).
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
Puzzle by Martin Ashwood-Smith . Edited by Will Shortz
Of interest — ACERBIC(4A. Sharp), ALTERNATE ROUTES (39A. What parades may necessitate), ATTESTED TO (22A. Corroborated), BEATING A RETREAT (40A. Chicken preference?), CAR ANTENNA (5D. One getting the show on the road?), ELIOT NESS (24A. Renowned 1920s raider), ENCOURAGED (23D. Buoyed), HAND BEATEN (11D. Like some rugs and egg whites), ITALIAN ICE (32D. Boardwalk cooler), NO-INTEREST LOANS (30A. Borrowing bargains), PLEASE SIR (46A. Respectful appeal), RUNS ACROSS (52A. Meets), SALES ASSISTANTS (41A. Counter intelligence?), SHIATSU (57A. Japanese for “finger pressure”), SONNETEERS (21A. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Edna St. Vincent Millay, notably), TRESPASSER (36D. Guard dog’s quarry).
The “Who’s on First?” routine by Abbott and Costello is the main feature of this Thursday crossword:
BASES(63A. Cotents of three squares in this puzzle, per an old comedy routine)
THE BOY [WHO] CRIED WOLFalong with HEAD[FIRST] (23A. One of Aesop’s fables; 5D. How most babies come out)
“GUESS [WHAT]” with LEAP [SECOND] (38A. Lead-in to some surprising news; 22D. Tiny adjustment to an atomic clock)
TELL ME SOMETHING [I DON’T KNOW] with [THIRD] RAIL (46A. “Well, obviously”; 52D. Subway power source)
Other — BLUE-PENCIL (34A. Edit), ESSEX (49D. Clacton-on-Sea’s county), LEGIONARY (35D. Roman soldier), Frank LLOYD, two-time Best director Oscar winner, OMNI (44A. Prefix with science), PETE ROUSE (7D. White House chief of staff after Rahm Emanuel), SAUL (65A. For whom David played the harp), STEED (45D. General transportation?).
IT'S A TRAP(66A. Warning to the answers to the three starred clues regarding the word hidden in 17-, 34- and 43-Across), ATRA PLUS (17A. Gillette razor), ORCHESTRA PIT (34A. Conductor’s place) and BEST RAP ALBUM (43A. Grammy category won five times by Eminem) constitute the interrelated group of this Wednesday crossword.
Other —ESCARGOT (40D. Mollusk on la carte), ICARUS (51D. Wax-winged flier of myth), ORWELL (15A. Coiner of the term “doublethink”), RED STATE(39D. Republican stronghold), UGANDA (19A. Country that’s south of South Sudan).
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
“A rough-coated dough-faced ploughman named McCullough strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully.” (nine different pronunciations of OUGH in English in one sentence “ (Grammarly Words Fact), Included in this Tuesday crossword are five of the sounds:
COUGH MEDICINE(20A. Robitussin or Vicks product) DOUGHNUT HOLE (28A. Petite sweet treat) TOUGH ON CRIME (43A. Advocating long sentences, say) PLOUGH THROUGH (52A. Complete without a break, as a labour)
Other — ANO NUEVO (37D. Spanish New Year), BEDEVILED (18A. Gave fits), Dancer CYD Charisse, Anita EKBERG of "La Dolce Vita," MALEMODEL (11D. Many an Abercrombie & Fitch employee), NANOGRAM (38D. One-trillionth of a kilo), PIE CRUST (9D. Edible shell), RADIANTS (8D. Sources of heat or light), RAMOS (32D. Aquino’s successor in the Philippines), SNICKER AT (57A. Find childishly amusing, say).
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
DAYBREAK (68A. First light … or a phenomenon suggested by this puzzle’s seven sets of circled letters?), e.g., MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT and SUN, constitutes the main feature of this Monday crossword:
Other — ICE STORM (15A. Weather phenomenon with freezing rain), LIFE OF PI (1A. Ang Lee film about a shipwrecked boy and a tiger), MOMBASA (54A. Second-largest city n Kenya).
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
Chock-full of jokes and entertaining twists of the tongue, this lighthearted but scholarly guide to humorous language is a sure-fire hit with word lovers. The examples are entertainingly bawdy, with a delightful narrative voice in word sleuth and author, Jim Bernhard. He provides examples and puzzles, teaching a smidgen of historical and etymological scholarship, but above all, amusing his audience.
Puns from Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, the Bible, George S. Kaufman, and Groucho Marx vie for attention with comical spoonerisms, droll malapropisms, witty anagrams, and humorous palindromes—plus original material by the author—including limericks, clerihews, crossword puzzles, acrostic puzzles, tongue twisters, and other kinds of word play. ~ amazon.com
The quotation: THREE BROTHERS… INHERITED… PARCELS OF LAND FROM THEIR FATHER AND WANTED TO COMBINE THEM INTO ONE… RANCH. THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO NAME THEIR RANCH UNTIL THEIR … MOTHER SUGGESTED: “FOCUS -- … IT’S WHERE THE… MOURNING SONS RAISE MEAT
The author’s name and the title of the work: JIM BERNHARD, ‘WORDS GONE WILD”
The defined words: A. Losers of Super Bowl XLVIII to the Seahawks, BRONCOS B. 30-day period ending on Whitsunday, EASTERTIDE C. “Something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over,” per Elvis, RHYTHM D. Viceroyalty once under Cardinal Richelieu (2 wds.), NEW FRANCE E. Evil Queen’s subordinate in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, HUNTSMAN F. What may follow an earth-shaking event, AFTERSHOCK G. Signification of a driver’s outstretched arm bent upward at a 90o angle (2 wds.), RIGHT TURN \H. Hal Halbrook’s role in “All the President’s Men” (2 wds.), DEEP THROAT I. Bunny’s reggae bandmates, WAILERS J. Tool for gauging resistance, OHMMETER K. Relative of a diamond, RHOMBOID L. Heading toward Polaris (2 wds.), DUE NORTH M. Odysseus’ loyal servant Eumaeus, for one, SWINEHERD N. Compartment for blimp passengers, GONDOLA O. Eclipse in excellence, OUTSHINE P. When one might be seeing stars, NIGHTTIME Q. Umber, ocher or terra cotta (2 wds.), EARTHTONE R. Hereford cow by a more descriptive name, WHITEFACE S. Illogical; hard to understand, INCOHERENT T. Republicans, in the French Revolution, LEFTISTS U. Portrayer of Dude in “Rio Bravo” (2 wds.),DEAN MARTIN
The full paragraph of the quotation: The inveterate punster’s idea of bliss is to construct an elaborate tale that results in multiple puns. Sometimes they’re called shaggy-dog stories. The nineteenth-century U.S. Senator from Illinois Charles B. Farwell, described by the New York Times as an “earnest, active Republican” and also as “one of he heartiest of men and most cheery of the well-known prominent citizens of Chicago,” had extensive cattle holdings in Texas. He claimed that the only perfect triple pun in the English language concerned the three brothers who inherited three parcels of land from their father and wanted to combine them into one cattle ranch. They didn’t know what to name their ranch until their widowed mother suggested “focus--for it’s where the sons raise meat.” A Rice University physics student went Farwell one better than by turning it into a quadruple pun: where the mourning sons raise meat.
————————
Click on image to enlarge,
or Right click and select “Open Link in New Window".
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. ~ Walt Whitman
:"The Captain Goes Down With....", Puzzle by Tom McCoy
Edited by Will Shortz
Captains, real and fictional, and the name of each one’s ship constitute the main feature of this seaworthy Sunday crossword:
AHAB, PEQUOD (2D. Example from Classic American literature) KIRK, ENTERPRISE (5D. Example from television) NEMO, NAUTILUS (10D. Example from sci-fi literature) BLIGH, BOUNTY (14D. Example from 18th-century history) HOOK, JOLLY ROGER (52D. Example from fantasy literature) SMITH, TITANIC (60D. Example from 20th-century history) CRUNCH, GUPPY (63D. Example from advertising) LINCOLN, USA (75D. Metaphorical example from poetry)
Other — BETACAM (31A. Sony video recorder), BONNET (98D. Louse’s place, in Robert Burns’s “To a Louse”), CUPID (55A. One who aims to hit singles?), FOVEA (69D. Point of sharpest vision), GROMIT (100A. Claymation dog), JENGA / TOWER (8D. With 18-Down, structure that gets less stable with time), MEL BLANC (92A. Bugs someone?), QUOTIENT (42A. 7/11 product), ROGETS (29A. Book that needs to be read word for word?), SAJAK (1A. White’s partner), TAHITI (18A. Home of Faa’s International Airport), TWINKIE (91D. Much-vilified food).
Of interest — ALOP (27D. Catawampus), AM DIAL (23A. It doesn’t have much music nowadays), BACK SLAPS and CHEST BUMP (3A. Congratulatory gestures; 64A. Celebratory gesture), DEEP FUNK (40A. Bad case of the blues), IN THE NUDE (59A. One way to sleep), KISS MY GRITS (10D. Old sitcom retort), NARCOS (46A. Ring fingerers), OLIOS (43A. Gallimaufries), PERISCOPE (17A. Means of looking above and beyond), PING PONG (32A. Go back and forth), PIPES UP (8D. Interjects), PLAY FOOTSIE (22D. Work together closely but covertly), SCHEDULE A (62A. top form?).
.jpg)
