Circles
22D Inner Circle This miniature is of circular design, with a central emblem figuring Helios in his chariot. There are several circles surrounding this emblem and all are subdivided into twelve segments. The inner circle has twelve small naked female figures, six light- and six dark-skinned. Outside that are twelve numbers in Greek (henceforth called 'labels'). Outside that twelve clothed male figures representing the twelve months. Outside that are written the month names in Greek (indicating a specific date in the month) and on the very outside of the figure one may see the emblems of the zodiac signs.
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Puzzle by Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming, edited by Will Shortz
Standard crossword puzzle with a gimmick -- 20 of the 225 letter entries are in circles, all of them being the letter “T” -- four of the circled “T”s are in the four corners of the grid and the remaining 16 circled “T”s are in a diamond shape in the center of the grid. It appears the intent was to evoke a draftsman’s T-Square -- the contrivance of outlined letters gives the solver a few extra clues once the circled letter is identified. I am partial to gimmicks in crossword puzzles as their skeleton adds depth to the grid and interest for the solver.
The remainder of the puzzle’s 205 letters include two eleven-letter entries -- INNERCIRCLE (22D Influential group) and AMERINDIANS (10D Iroquois and others). Some of the seven-letter entries include OILWELL (13A Crude structure?), AREAMAP (15A Tourist’s aid), YESISEE (16A “Understood!”), MANLESS (17A Like a band of Amazons), LOCKSIN (55A Commits to, as an interest rate), BUELLER (56A Ferris in film), ALLEARS (60A Intent, as a listener), ALGEBRA (61A Field of unknowns?), and six-plus six-letter words including PALACE (9D Guard’s workplace), PALADE (20D 1974 Medicine Nobelist George _______), ANACIN (21D Bayer alternative), DIONNE (29D Quints’ name), EASYON (30D Hardly strict with) and EVOKED (44D Brought forth).
A slight delight for Wednesday.
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Further comment on the “T”s at Madness...Crossword and Otherwise.
To go to original post with illustrations and puzzle grid, click on title at the beginning of commentary.
