Eva Maria Saint as secret agent Eve Kendall clinging to Mount Rushmore along with Cary Grant as faux secret agent George Kaplan, aka Roger O. Thornhill in the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, 1959
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel, edited by Will Shortz
SECRET AGENTS (53A. Undercover operatives … or what are hiding in 17-, 20-, 35- and 58-Across?), e.g., SPY backwards; YPSILANTI (17A. Home of Eastern Michigan University); CALYPSO MUSIC (20A. Harry Belafonte’s specialty); APOCALYPSE NOW (35A. 1979 film with Capt. Willard and Col. Kurtz; GYPSY MOTH (58A. Leaf-eating insect scourge) comprises the interrelated group of this intriguing Wednesday crossword.
Other — AS SUCH, CALLER ID (36D. Screening aid), COOLIO (33A. Rapper parodied by Weird Al Yankovic in “Amish Paradise”), FAMOUS, GO AWRY, KANSAS, KP DUTY (47A. P.F.C.‘s punishment), NATIVE, ORALLY, SHAWLS, STASIS, THE SEA (44D. Title location in a Hemingway novel), TRACER, VACANT, VOTIVE, WAR MOVIE (9D. 35-Across, for one).
Five-letter — ALEUT, ALTAR, AMUST, CENTI, HATED, LEPEW (51D. Cartoon stinker), OVALS, REATA, SANYO, USAIR, WASN’T, WRITE.
Short-stuff — ACT, AGA and AGAR, AMMO, APOP, APP, Gray AREA, ASIS, ATV, CLOT, COMA, DOS, DYE, ENID, EPIC, GENX, HEX (61D. Do voodoo on), HTTP, ILO, JADE, JAY, LAI and LAIR, LOPS, LUTZ, ONED, ONUS, OSHA, OWE and OWIE, PITY, RATS, ROWS, SER, SHE-wolf, SLAV, SMOG, TAMP, TIN, TYRO, WITH, WOOF.
He passed on unsuspected and deadly,
like a pest in the street full of men.
~ Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent, Ch. 13
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Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.
Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Shade of green; 5. Workplace watchdog, for short; 9. “That ___ my question”; 14. Each; 15. Mrs. Frisby’s charges in “The Secret of NIMH”; 16. See 26-Across; 19. Rodeo rope; 22. “___ natural”; 25. U.N. workers’ grp.; 26. One may be lit on a 16-Across; 27. Veer off track; 29. Pole, for one; 31. It might precede a collection: Abbr.; 32. Guns’ partner; 40. Universally known; 41. “Idylls of the King” lady; 43. Motocross racer, for short; 46. Skating maneuver; 49. Some prayer clothing; 51. My ___, Vietnam; 57. Onetime TWA competitor; 62. Hundredth: Prefix; 64. Tot’s injury; 65. Couldn’t stand; 66. Garden divisions; 67. Post-baby boomer group, for short. — DOWN: 1. Homer Simpson’s middle name; 2. iPad download, in brief; 3. First of a pair of lists; 4. Awesome; 5. How some medications are taken; 6. Big name in Japanese electronics; 7. U.R.L. start; 8. Sale condition; 10. North Pacific islander; 11. Immobility; 12. Longtime local; 13. Finder of missing persons; 18. Cubs’ place; 21. Most toilet seats; 22. Turkish title; 23. Result of trauma, maybe; 24. Pack (down); 28. Bark; 29. Russian space program started in the 1960s; 30. Takes the top (off); 33. Medical condition treated by thrombolysis; 34. Lacking width and depth, for short; 37. Something that can’t be missed; 38. Burden; 39. ___ child (pregnant); 42. Hair salon stock; 43. In and of itself; 45. Like rooms to rent; 47. Where Manhattan is; 48. Unfortunate circumstance; 50. Correspond; 54. Food thickener; 55. Greek deli specialty; 56. Urban woe; 59. Be short; 60. Cookie holder.
