"We're not renting. We're the owners, but there can be a cost to the rest of nature of our ownership. There is an easy fix – the only fix is intelligence. Knowing that there is a problem is what will get us out of it. We're the only ones who can put our hands on the controls." -- Peter Ward, a University of Washington paleontologist
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Puzzle by Caleb Madison, edited by Will Shortz
X MARKS (24A With 40-Across, key to the “map” of this puzzle), THE SPOT (40A. See 24-Across), JOHNNY ON X (18A. One who’s available when needed), PUT ON X (55A. Asked a hard question in public, say) and THAT HITS X (63A. “Mmm! So satisfying!”) are the interrelated group of this on-the-spot Thursday crossword.
Other — EPISODE (21A. Pilot, for one), I BEEN HAD (38D. Dupe’s shout), LADY GAGA (39D. Singer born Stefani Germanotta), LOOK AT ME (37D. Cry for attention), PENDANTS (12D. Jewelry often used in hypnosis), SEX DRIVE (13D. Libido), SHOELACE (11D. It may be on the tip of the tongue), STREAMS (58A. Flows).
All things shall perish from under the sky,
Music alone shall live
Music alone shall live
Music alone shall live, never to die.
(German folk song)
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Six-letter — ALARMS (2D. Warnings), ATONES (45A. Pays for), DELUXE (1D. Choice), KEYS IN (53A. Enters, as data), I'll skip MACRAE (34A. Gordon of “Oklahoma!“), and go for MOZART (50D. “La Clemenza di Tito” composer), ON EDGE and ON TIME (51D. Antsy, 48D. Punctual), OVULAR (26A. Like a small egg), OXEYE (52D. Sunflower-like daisies), RONDOS (9D. Parts of sonatas), TABLAS (3D. Raga accompaniers).
Five — ABCTV, ANTES, AREAR, DATED, DEPOT, DIRGE (69A. Elegiac music), ELATE, LABOR, OBAMA, ONEPM, ORATE, PSYCH, RASTA (31D. Bob Marley, e.g.), READY, USRDA, YARDS.
Short stuff — AMMO and AMOS, ANG, ATA and ATE, AXES, DEREK, EDAM, EDD, EIN, ESAS, ESE, ESSE, ESTA, ETO, HAIR and HAJI, IMHO, ISH, LIL Wayne with the platinum album “Tha Block Is Hot“, MAGI, METE, MSS, NEV, OEDS, OMOO, RANI, REM, RHEE, RTES, SOT, TIM, TRY, TSPS, URB and URL, ZEE.
Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future. Earth Day 2010
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Remaining clues — ACROSS: 1. Like saddle shoes and bell-bottom pants; 6. Beehive contents; 10. Cooking amts.; 14. Send; 15. It’s found in arms; 16. Syngman ___, first president of South Korea; 17. Israeli political party; 20. Need for a link; 23. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Roush; 28. “___ quam viden” (North Carolina’s motto); 29. Rushing goal; 33. Eastern royal; 36. “One Life to Live” airer; 42. Dir. From Springfield, Mass.; 43. 2009 Peace Nobelist; 47. Hefty refs.; 48. Be ciceronian; 49. Novel subtitled “A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas”; 53. Enters, as data; 57. Director Lee; 62. End of a series; 65. Prep; 67. Star followers; 68. Dish (out); 69. Elegiac music; 70. Dutch export; 71. Those: Sp.; 72. Nickel and dime in gaming? DOWN: 4. W.W. II inits.; 5. Zoolander of “Zoolander”; 6. Certain trekker; 7. Book after Joel; 8. Chat room opener; 10. “Give it a shot!”; 19. Battle Born State: Abbr.; 22. Demoralize, with “out”; 25. Band with the 2008 album “Accelerate”; 27. City area, informally; 30. Backward; 32. Point along a line; 35. ___ loss; 36. Nibbled away; 41. Early aft. Hour; 44. In-Box stock: Abbr.; 46. Alky; 54. Suffix with hawk; 56. Std. on food labels; 59. Delivery drivers’ assignments: Abbr.; 60. “Como ___?”; 61. Graph lines; 64. Enchanter in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”; 68. German “a”.
