“A four month project, some letters were easy to find, others much more difficult.”
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Sunday, January 23, 2011
LETTER OPENERS, Puzzle by Chris A. McGlothlin, edited by Will Shortz
In this clever holoalphabetic Sunday crossword, 95-Down, From A TO Z (how this puzzle goes), along with the title Letter Openers clues the solver to the full alphabet being represented by a “free-standing” letter at the beginning of 26 entries:
A-ONE (28D. *Tops)
B-MOVIE (13D. (Plan 9 From Outer Space,” e.g.)
C-SPAN (125A. *House coverer)
D-DAY (29A. *Setting for “Saving Private Ryan”)
E STREET BAND (26A. *The Boss’s backers)
F-STOP (72D. *It helps one get the picture)
G-MAN (36A. *Ace ___ Stories, old detective pulp magazine)
H-BOMB (12A. *Weapon first tested in ‘52)
iPOD (34A. *Touch, e.g.)
J-LO (88A. *4x platinum album of 2001)
K-TEL (54D. *”As Seen on TV” company)
L-BAR (112A. *Beam with a bend)
M-DASH (52A. *Typography symbol)
‘N SYNC (42D. *Group with the 2000 #1 hit “It’s Gonna Be Me”)
O-RING (17A. *Gasket type)
P. DIDDY (127A. *One of Sean Combs’s aliases)
Q-TIP (83D. *Little swab)
R-VALUE (6A. *Insulation measure)
S-TYPE (73D. *Midsize Jaguar)
T-TOP (100A. *Vette option)
U-HAUL (43D. *Thing that won’t go off without a hitch?)
V-SIX (68A. *It may be under a hood)
W-TWO (94D. *I.R.S. form)
Y CHROMOSOME (116A. *Women just don’t get it)
Z-AXIS (64D. *3-D graph line)
Other — “ARISE, fair sun, and kill the envious moon”: Romeo; BIRD DOGS (16D. Pointers); BENAZIR ((118A. Former Pakistani P.M. Bhutto); BREAMS (90D. Bluegills); CEL (76A. One carrying a toon); CAROLS (98A. Numbers by a door?); IN DRAG (4D. Cross-dressing); LUMP SUM (57A. Payment type); MARCONI (58D. 1909 Physics Nobelist for work in wireless telegraphy); MARIANAS Trench (earth’s deepest depression); MUSIC (52D. Shakespeare’s “food of love”); NO DRAMA (92D. Obama nickname); NUS and ENS (42A. N N N; 45A. N N N); PUSH UP (32D. Exercise one is prone to do); RABBI (6D. Bar mitzvah party); TERNE (111D. Lead/tin alloy); TILDES (22A. They’re found in año after año).
Now‘s as good a time as any to run this again...
Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Yo, she was Adrian; 18. Bedridden, say; 19. Debilitates; 24. Oscar snubber of 1972; 25. Frequently pierced place; 28. It may go off the road, briefly; 30. Taxco table; 31. Winds; 32. Nanki-___ of “The Mikado”; 38. Swindle, slangily; 39. One of the Blues Brothers; 46. Stocks up; 49. Slant; 50. Shelled; 53. Pilot’s mileau; 55. Darn; 58. Workplace for a cabin boy; 59. Hot times on the Riviera; 61. 12-Across and the like; 62. Tag sale tag; 63. Opposite of Guerra; 65. ___ Mode, female character in “The Incredibles”; 67. ___ Kadiddlehopper, Red Skelton character; 69. The third one is a shocker; 71. Barks; 74. Numerical prefix; 78. The year 640; 79. “Give it ___!”; 80. Honoree’s place; 84. Small; 85. .___; 89. Maurice of Nixon’s cabinet; 90. King protector; 91. Bottle in the kitchen or bath; 93. When the word “safari”; 96. Coach Parseghian; 97. Going ___; 101. Actress Sofer; 103. Light bulb over one’s tête?; 104. “Awesome!”; 105. Shelter org.; 108. Skewer; 114. Skeletal opening?; 120. Spanish pastry; 122. Last-second bidder on e-Bay; 123. Marathoner’s need; 124. Mountain homes; 126. Like a turkey’s wattle; 128. Steak ___. — DOWN: 1. Tribal heads?; 3. Melodious speaking tones; 5. Author who won a posthumous Pulitzer in 1958; 7. Spreading fast on YouTube; 8. Country singer Jackson and others; 9. Jenny ___ a k a the Swedish Nightingale; 10. Grand Forks sch.; 11. ___ trip; 14. Saturn’s spouse; 15. Flatten, in a way; 20. Inlet; 21. Like some winks; 23. Trig ratio; 27. Bunches; 33. Places where some R.N.’s work; 35. Took the part of; 37. Deli array; 38. Sting’s instrument; 40. Repeated cry in Buster Poindexter’s “Hot Hot Hot”; 41. ___ point; 44. Hit; 46. Mingles (with); 47. They may have keys; 48. Scranton-to-Philadelphia dir.; 51. Like some amusement parks; 57. Vegas opening?; 60. Some drum parts; 66. The Queen of Soul, familiarly; 68. Colorado ski area; 70. Dockworker’s org.; 75. Coax; 77. Harry Shearer’s program on public radio; 78. Kind of income; 79. Beelike; 81. Call letters?; 85. Govt. flu-fighting org.; 86. Mouths; 96. Oil company acronym; 99. Grasping; 102. Town in Umbria; 105. Nose-burning; 106. Bit; 107. Lackluster; 109. Old man; 110. “Um … er …”; 112. Dumbbell abbr.; 113. Call, e.g.; 116. Doctor Zhivago; 117. How many oldies get re-released; 119. Not go straight; 120. Limit; 121. “If only ___ listened …”.
