OCEANUS ANGST
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Puzzle by Karen M. Tracey, edited by Will Shortz
OCEANUS (39D Brother and husband of Tethys), OPENSEAS (14D Pirates' domain), AHAB (43A Captain of Stubb and Flask), BATEAU (11D River craft), FORDS (48D Wades through), TWINGE (41D Qualm) and PERIL (49D Precipice, say) give a seaworthy feel to this crossword puzzle otherwise filled with oceans of anxiety and depression such as NEUROSIS (54A Complex component), SUFFERS (35A Withstands), BEARUP (16A Manage adversity), FEARSOME (36D Ogrelike), GETSORE (32A Overdo it at the gym), FLED (48A Split), LONE (6D Set apart), SLIPSHOD (21D Loose), HISSAT (44D Greet cattily), HATERS (58A Bigots) and SKELETAL (59A Not fleshed out) JEZEBELS (23D Shameless hussies).
Oceanic angst also manifests itself in flesh and blood with DUVALIER (13D President who claimed to be a voodoo priest), ERICIDLE (12D Author of "The Greedy Bastard: A Comic Tour of America"), AUDIE (27A Murphy of "To Hell and Back"), NOLTE (40A Best Actor nominee for "Affliction," 1998) and LEAR (10D He wrote "There was an old man of Thermopylae / Who never did anything properly...") and EGGHEADS (4D Einsteins) all in need of a little DIAZEPAM (28A Valium, generically), or maybe a little AMRITA (45D Hindu drink of immortality) for what AILS (24A Is peaked) them -- could it be EGOMANIA (33D Extreme bovarism)? Now there's a word! [after Madame Bovary] (domination by) a romantic or unreal conception of oneself: conceit; hence, bovaristic - conceited. ISURECAN (20A Confident affirmation) relate to that archaic but ORIGINAL (17A Fresh) definition, which I BELIEVE (8D Hold) EXISTS (3D Has substance) worse than an ULTIMATE (57A Paramount) GFORCE (1D Jet pilot's concern) -- could this be INANER (53A Less likely to fly?)...
...uh...not to mention GLEECLUB (1A Extracurricular activity traditionally for men), ALBEDO (9A Measure of reflected light), FOXGLOVE (15A Digitalis source), CATES (22A "Princess Caraboo" star, 1994), UGO (37A Tognazzi of "La Cage aux Folles"), LABOHEME (38A Opera that opens on Christmas Eve), MARIPOSA (50A County holding part of Yosemite National Park), CLIOS (5A Awards for some campaigns), BESSEL (46D German astronomer who was the first to measure the distance to a star), and GUNSMITH (32D Colt handler)...and...
...52D Remote option -- MUTE!
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Abridged commentary of The NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD IN GOTHIC.
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