March 09 Answers
Joker, Lirath, LeXman
1. mean German agent (anger management)
2. tenuous, tens
3. MG) Ames under "joe lore" than (em g(ame)sunder Joel or Ethan)
4. OURS
5. OURS
6. antics, statistician
7. meathead; mead, Thea
8. overbearing (over be a ring)
9. squeegees, suqs
10. false, fall; past, pass; tense, ten
11. quorum, aquarium
12. pain! Teri? Nah, Utican "Miss Mall" (painter in a hut, I can, M is small)
13. bisque, risque
14. OURS
15. bigamist, ore, best, origami
16. inkings, in Kings
17. lane, creep, argent (Allen, Pierce, Garnett)
18. reverberate, berate
19. Zyzzlvaria, sessionman
20. smidgen (S mid G En)
21. OURS
22. spiral-notched; ear, nose, and throat specialist; spare the rod and spoil the child
23. postponed, dents
24. howler, chart, spool (whorl, arch, loop)
25. blackboard, backboard
26. git, Gitmo
27. apsidal, (lad is pa)
28. flaccid, agent, flag, accident
29. odalisque, Daliesque
30. Warhol, Harlow
31. theorises (the o rises)
32. apostle, peel potatoes
33. OURS
34. Lloy Ball, a vet at volleyball
35. ultranice, antiulcer, inarticulate, nutriceutical, curtain lecture
36. chisel (chi's el)
37. OURS
38. small, smile
39. abaci, aback
40. childless, Childress
41. spasm, puree, areas, seals, messy
42. OURS
43. appropriated, crystal balls
44. feverish; fish, ever
45. dresser drawer, rawer
46. zeal bash, Chablis
47. delivery, deli very
48. barrack, Barack; Uighur, wiener
49. OURS
50. OURS
51. improve, improv
52. rabbet, rabbit
53. boa constrictor bonsai
54. turnkey, turkey
55. Peer Gynt, paragonite
56. hex a goon, hexagon
57. Cardiff thong tsar? Geez (car diphthongs are Gs)
58. Newsweek, Ken
59. insider trading, Gates
60. congenital, congenial
61. speculate, peculate
62. Joe Biden, job I need, be joined
63. inhumane (in hum an E)
64. OURS
65. Parsons table, transposable
66. orangutan, Argonaut, rang out, ragout
67. OURS
68. discover, divorces
69. micropore, mice
70. Madoff, mad, R.I.P., ripoff
71. cri de coeur, creed occur
72. Secretary Timothy Geithner
73. Rod Blagojevich
74. Thomas Andrew Daschle
75. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
F-1. FR
TRTP
BRNTSS
VRSTLTTR
BTSNLSKNDP
SLTSFLNGRHNS
CNTTLLBKBTSCVR
F-2. S
LBS
AILER
INVOICE
NATIONALS
ASTREETCARNAMEDDESIRE
DIALPHONE
GOFORIT
BIDEN
NIE
C
F-3. MTRPLTNMSMFRT
MDSNSQRGRDN
LNCLNCNTR
RLLCLLS
TNHSS
GBS
L
F-4. JAWOHL
AZALEA
WAXILY
OLIVES
HELENA
LAYSACOURSE
OXREIM
URBANI
REAVEL
SINEWY
EMILYS
F-5. K
MNF
BLGRD
PRLSNSS
PRSPCTPRK
FRTSCNDSTRT
GRNDCNTRLSTTN
F-6. T EX T I LE
EX P ER T S
T ER RI ER S
I T ER AT E
LE S S E N
X-1. AP OC AL YP SE
OS MA
TR PH
OP OR
HE AR TA CH ES
X-2. Epigram: a dash of wit and a jigger of wisdom, flavored with surprise. E. Hubbard
X-3. When an opera star sings her head off, she usually improves her appearance. Victor Borge
X-4. A poem is never finished, only abandoned. P. Valery
X-5. OURS
X-6. I like middles. It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules. John Updike
X-7. The two unclued entries spell out 'neither up nor down.' The eight special down entries (marked with an asterisk below) are the first words of two-word phrases which could be followed by 'up' or 'down' but aren't, following the guidelines here. For example 3D is 'shut' - 'shut up' and 'shut down' are clued. The phrase comes from the kids song 'The Grand Old Duke of York (which can be read in the initials of the Across answers included the instructed shaded squares)
TASSELSHEIRF
UETHNICGANJA
RERUNVAORTIC
NEITHERUPAGE
RSKUADALEKSA
OVERDUBTLEAN
DARNINORDOWN
EUNSEENASRCA
BLIKULLEGGOS
OTTERSOFRAME
YSTADOCTANET
SRISENKANSAS
ACROSS DOWN
1. TASSEL *1. TURN
6. HEIR *2. STRIKE
10. ETHNIC *3. SHUT
11. GANJA *4. LIVE
13. RERUN 5. SCARAB
14. AORTIC 7. EARP
XX. NEITHER UP 8. INTAKE
19. DALEKS *9. FACE
22. OVERDUB 10. EEES
24. LEAN 12. JIGSAW
25. DARN 15. ULTRA
26. NOR DOWN *16. RODE
28. UNSEEN 17. URNS
32. KULL 18. ADIEU
34. EGGOS 20. ELDS
37. OTTERS 21. ANNA
38. FRAME 23. VAULTS
39. YSTAD 26. NELSON
40. OCTANE 27. ORGANS
41. RISE 29. NITTI
42. KANSAS *30. COME
31. BOYS
32. KEAS
*33. LOCK
35. GRAN
*36. SETS
X-8. The four Things sought here are the other NYC boroughs. Specifically it's
Thing 1 - Queens
Thing 2 - Bronx
Thing 3 - Staten Island
Thing 4 - Manhattan
For Thing 1, the names (mostly shortened)of queens have been inserted into words at 9A, 17A, 29A, 43A, 8D, 16D, 31D
For Thing 2, kinds of horses (broncs/Bronx) are added into words at 32A, 38A, 43A, 17D, 23D, 26D, 30D
For Thing 3, the initial letters of Thing 1 clues and the final letters of Thing 2 clues both give the sequence STALAND which is 'Staten Island' minus letters 4-8. The missing letters spell TEN Is - and in fact there *are* ten clues which begin with I.
For Thing 4, the final letters of the ten 'I' clues spells 'I THRU EACH S'. The 24 esses found in the grid create a map of Manhattan. The I thru each S turns each into a dollar sign, and in fact Manhattan was originally purchased for $24.
ADPRECESSS .......$$$
BELIZEAINU ..........
BEEFIESTSM ......$.$.
YPBFOATEAM ..........
REALISTSNA .....$.$..
ANNEXTMSGR .......$..
BLOWSYESPY ....$..$..
AENACLASEF .......$..
TOPSLINTRO ...$......
EVICEZSCOL ......$...
MISOREDONE ..$.......
AUNTASTAGY .....$....
USFILIALLY .$........
DEANSDMTOM ....$.....
LSROSEMARY .$..$.....
ISMSSPIRIT .$.$$.....
NSSHAPEDAH .$$.......
ACROSS DOWN
3. PRECESS 1. ABBY
9. BELIZE 2. DEEPEN
11. AINU 4. RIFFLE
12. BEEFIEST 5. EZIO
14. A-TEAM 6. EAST
15. REALISTS 7. SITES
17. ANNEX 8. SUMMARY
18. MSGR. 10. LEBANON
19. BLOWSY 13. SANG
22. ESPY 16. STYLIZE
25. LASE 17. ABATE (BAY)
27. TOPSL 18. MEANS
28. INTRO 20. LEO VI
29. VICE 21. SCLERAL
31. MISO 23. PERON (ROAN)
32. REDONE(DUN) 24. ASCOT
33. AUNT 26. FOLEY (FOAL)
35. STAGY 30. COALTAR (COLT)
38. FILIALLY (FILLY) 31. MAUDLIN
39. DEANS 34. USES
43. ROSEMARY (MARE*) 36. TAMMIE
44. ISMS 37. GLORIA
45. SPIRIT 38. FARMS
46. S-SHAPED 40. NOSH
41. DEPP
42. MYTH
*43 across serves both Thing 1 and Thing 2. As a queen, MARY is inserted leaving 'ROSE' to describe 'flower colored'. As a bronc, MAR (phonetic 'mare') is inserted leaving ROSEY (phonetic 'rosy') to describe 'flower colored'
C-1. I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. Lily Tomlin
C-2. A harpsichord sounds like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof. Sir Thomas Beecham
C-3. Ambitious Trivial Pursuit player condones favoritism via extra hints; just wants bigger piece of the pie.
C-4. During twenties, mah-jongg fad almost disappeared when newfangled crossword craze swept America.
C-5. Jubilant kayakers upset in high waves, mixed with foamy kelp, make appetizers for quietly cruising orca band.
C-6. Crwth, aka crowd: an olden Celtic stringed instrument akin to the zither. Also lexical oddity.
C-7. Yours truly wanted this space to contain puzzle tournament summary; production schedule precluded it.