Sunday, September 26, 2010
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, Puzzle by Pamela Amick Klawitter, edited by Will Shortz
This messy Sunday crossword comes with an overblown title and a terse note: Each set of circled letters is described by an answer elsewhere in the grid — well, it’s all just DRESSING ON THE SIDE (22A. Specification in a salad order). The solver gets little more from the circled letters than a painful post-puzzle head-scratch. In the meantime…
Fragmentation and strained fill abound — ACED, AHIS, AGRA, ALIT, ARIZ, ASTA, ATRI, BENO, BUDD, CAR, CDRS, CHIS, DAWN, DEES, DEG, EEN, EGER, EKED, ELAN, ENE, ENID, EPIC, ERN and ERIN, ERAT, ERSE and ERST, ESCE, ESTA, ETAL, GAP, HEMI, HTS, IDEA and IDIO, IERE, ISH, ITGO and ITOO, KLEE, LOMB, MART, MEME and MENO, MISC (44A. Grab bag: Abbr.), NCO, OKE and OLE, ONEI, ONME, OSO, QING, REEF, RELY, RIC and RIM, SAK, SEA and SELA, SHER, STLO, THAN, TORY, TOV, USGA, VCRS, YSL.
Mid-size — AABOND, AARON (68A. First name alphabetically in the Baseball Hall of Fame), ADARN, AENEAS, ADLAI, AFTER, ALICES, ANDIM, ANGST, ANTES, BADEN, CASSIA, DESICA, DIESEL, DIMLY, EISNER, ENAMI, GOFERS, GOLEM, HEEHEE, INHER, INMATE, KEELS, LATTE, LIONEL, MASTO, MAYORS, NANCI, NOTME, NSTAR and NTEST, OLEOS, RATEL, REMOTE, RESNIK, RETIE, RHINE, SIMEON, SLOGS (73A. Hard, boring efforts), SNOOTS, STREET, TAPING, TEEMED, TEPEE (98D. Chief dwelling?), UTERO, YSHAPE.
Oh, yes, about those circled letters: AARON is THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE (115A. Go-between), DEN is the ROOM AT THE TOP (57A. Opening for an aspiring leader), EEL is a BOTTOM FISH (97A. Carp or flounder, typically), LINES relates to SLANTED LINES (75A. Diagonals), MAYO to DRESSING ON THE SIDE, MENTAL to MENTAL BLOCK (67D. Cause of thoughtlessness?), MILE to SQUARE MILE (34A. Unit in measuring population density), and STONE relates to CORNERSTONE (15D. Place for a date, frequently). For a detail outline, read Wordplay, The New York Times crossword blog, Location, Location, Location Explanation.
The remains are even less interesting— AND THEN (88D. “Next …”), ANSPACH (37D. Susan who co-starred in “Five Easy Pieces”), CATERED TO (45D. Indulged), DISTEND (26A. Swell), HEAD TO TOE (84A. Complete), KENNEDY (70A. President who said “I’m an idealist without illusions”), NOMADISM (85D. Bedouins’ trait), NO SECRET (5D. Public knowledge), NOTARIZES (27A. Certifies, in a way), ON STAFF (64D. Employed), OTHER SHOE (105A. You might wait for it to drop), PEDICAB (109A. Three-wheeled vehicle), SIM CITY (65A. Hit computer game with the original working title Micropolis), TEA TASTER (49A. Worker who may create a stir?), WADES IN (13D. Begins energetically).
Dislocation, dislocation, dislocation!
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Puzzle available on the internet at
THE NEW YORK TIMES — Crossword Puzzles and Games.
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Clues — ACROSS: 1. When repeated, a resort near the Black Forest; 6. How things may be remembered; 11. Beginning; 15. Caboose, for one; 18. In ___ (unborn); 19. Homeric hero; 20. Part of Q.E.D.; 21. ___ Miss; 25. A lens fits in it; 28. U.S.M.C. barracks boss; 29. XXX; 31. Homeric genre; 32. Address part; 40. As a friend, to the French; 42. Relative of Manx; 43. Michael who once headed Disney; 46. Some stakes; 48. Dreadful feeling; 53. Following; 56. Opening; 59. Fine and dandy, in old slang; 60. “I don’t give ___!”; 62. Zing; 63. Writer/critic Trilling; 71. Giggle; 72. Suffix with lumin-; 74. Directional suffix; 79. “Mazel ___!”; 82. Fix, as a shoelace; 85. Country singer Griffith; 87. Name on 1952 campaign buttons; 89. Romance of 1847; 90. Errand runners; 91. Mid 12th-century year; 93. Cool, very red celestial body; 99. Highly rated security; 101. Hungarian city; 103. Actress Ward; 104. Fashion inits.; 114. Spanish bruin; 117. Rapper ___-A-Che; 118. Same: Fr.; 119. Convict; 120. Relative of a canary; 121. Cinch ___ (Hefty garbage bag brand); 122. “Idylls of the King” lady; 123. Falls (over); 124. Breast: Prefix. DOWN: 1. Melville’s “Billy ___”; 2. Italian bell town; 3. Dead ends?; 4. Formerly, once; 6. Ph.D., e.g.; 7. Barge ___; 8. “Don’t give ___ lip!”; 9. Beverage that may be foamy; 10. A wishbone has one; 11. Director Vittorio; 12. 48th state: Abbr.; 14. Explosive trial, for short; 16. “___ Restaurant”; 17. Not likely; 19. “ … ___ the queen of England!”; 23. “And to those thorns that ___ bosom lodge”: Shak.; 24. St. Patrick’s land; 30. One of the 12 tribes of Israel; 33. Shipwreck locale; 34. Ship locale; 35. Last dynasty of China; 38. Links org.; 38. Actor Neeson; 39. “Como ___?”; 41. Shopping locale; 45. Indulged; 47. Pre-broadcast activity; 49. David Cameron, e.g.; 50. Normandy battle town; 51. More ___ enough; 52. Dark time, in verse; 54. Just got (by); 55. Trust, with “on”; 57. Honey badger; 58. Dinner spreads; 51. Engine type; 65. “Fer ___!”; 66. French noun suffix; 68. Dog of old films; 69. Didn’t just pass; 70. Noted Bauhaus artist; 72. Dallas-to-Memphis dir.; 73. High-hats; 76. Large food tunas; 77. Bausch & ___ (lens maker); 78. Langston Hughes poem; 80. “The ___ Gave My Heart To” (1997 Aaliyah hit); 81. Tapers, briefly; 83. Peculiar: Prefix; 86. It’s like “-like”; 90. Dimwit; 91. City chiefs; 92. Cinnamon tree; 94. Swarmed; 95. Indian tourist city; 96. Challenger astronaut Judith; 98. Chief dwelling?; 100. “I’m innocent!; 102. Liechtenstein’s western border; 106. Certain engine; 107. “This round’s ___”; 108. List-ending abbr.; 110. Notion; 111. Mil. Leaders; 112. Came to earth; 113. “There Shall ___ Night” (Pulitzer-winning Robert E. Sherwood play); 116. Elevs.
