1. aper, diaper
2. POtent LARVik ORbit TEXas; polar vortex
3. (repeat of Jan 18)
4. Canada sky up
5. cal(cu)lable
6. American Hustle, A Hera can muscle
7. OURS
8. proposing, chocolate
9. chorizo, horizon
10. aced, decade, acceded
11. violet fans, Feast of Saint Valentine
12. OURS
13. sex? I see no
14. whelp is on the hay, help is on the way
15. won gold in uneven bars
16. (abra)cad(abra)
17. archangel, change, i.e., Ariel
Ariel, gable, ale, Gabriel
18. O.S. car; Oscar
19. scalene, cleanse
20. OURS
21. Andean, undead
22. chain-smoker, karaoke machines
23. Dvorak, and, DVD, anorak
24. bothered; hot, breed
25. trangam, tangram
26. Orpheus, superheroes
27. Bengay, dengue
28. gimcrack, crack, dandy, jim dandy
29. corpsman, corpse-man
30. feelies, selfie, flies, file
31. acorn, scorn; scorn, sworn
32. Audi, git
33. primary paramour
34. tossing and turning
35. seminary, nary; nary, binary
36. before, Froebe
37. hard. On the other hand
38. patrol, parole
39. OURS
40. Star Wars: Episode VII
41. the war on poverty
42. "basketball diplomacy" in North Korea
F-1. SCHMC
CMPLR
HPTNC
MLNKV
CRCVRBLST
BRBTR
LBQRQ
STRDM
TRQMD
F-2. N
BOL
SYNOD
PAPAYAS
PARAMOUNT
OUTATELBOWS
SIRRAH AERIES
GALEID RESETS
ARISEN STEEMS
SCENTS SYRIAN
WARMTH ENTREE
CEILES STITED
SOUPER BOOTEE
SKATES BALEEN
ELSENE BELAYS
MAKINGAFACE
TETRADITE
DEIPARA
SCENE
ORS
S
F-3. OURS
X-1. As I write this letter,
Send my love to you,
Remember that I'll always
Be in love with you.
X-2. When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people. Heschel
X-3. The problem with today's neighborhoods is not enough neighbors and too many hoods.
X-4. Paradise, she thought. And then she added wryly, Lost. Elizabeth George
X-5. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies. N. Mandela
X-6. I S L A N D S B E T A K E
A T E B E C H A R A D E S
M A N A T E E S I R O N S
B R O T H E L E N G I N E
I C K T H O F T H E R E N
C H I S Q U A R E T I L T
T I N H A T C O N T R A I
I A G A I N S T H I E R A
J A M S H I D D E N Z E L
U N A M E S S A G E R T A
A S K E D I N V A D E R S
N E E M G V E E R E D O H
A G R E E T E R I R O N Y
Referring to 2014 from the previous puzzle, the added letters say "digits: sum all or divide last two by first" - thus:
2+0+1+4 = 7
14/2 = 7
The grid center contains a hidden message which reads "the length of the square that contains this hidden message" and that is also 7.
C-1. There are three things we all should do every day...if you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day.
C-2. We are the Star Wars civilization: Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.
C-3. Overhead the frozen sky purpled with night, and above the wind and frantic branches clung watery stars.
C-4. "Whodunit", short-short story by Bill Pronzini: "The last person on Earth lay dead in a room, a victim of foul play."
C-5. Thrifty, terse, despondent embroidery fanatic recommends magazine in suicide note: "good buy: Crewel World."
C-6. Geneticist who pushed clone of porn star over cliff was arrested for making obscene clone fall.
C-7. Tiny leprechaun plays staccato tune on his piccolo accompanied by rhythmic tintinnabulation from afar.