A masquerade at the Pantheon in Oxford Street London as drawn by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson for Ackermann's Microcosm of London (1808-11).
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Friday, July 20, 2007
Puzzle by Barry C. Silk, edited by Will Shortz
This A to Z ball of an alphabet soup is disguised in every way imaginable giving up its arcanum one painful square at a time -- much like meeting the guests at a masquerade with the need to know who's who, but by playing a game with every name.
From its first entry, ABOVEZERO (1A Positive), to the last, SNAKEEYES (57A Loser in a casino), every entry or its clue of this crossword comes prestidigitatiously swathed with deception or duplicity -- words one's not met and old ones in dark terra incognita burkas -- LIVEALIE (13D (Be what you're not) is the rule!
Across
10 Vacuum maintainers -- no, not a repairman
15 Like some fruit bats and petrels -- anyone think
16 Cornrow component -- could be “braid”
17 Whine -- unexpectedly colloquial
18 Royal jelly consumer -- I thought it was the “queen”
19 Jungian principle -- weren’t there a few?
20 Samoan, e.g. -- so simple, it’s silly
22 Kind of party -- take your pick
23 Top of a stadium -- explain this one to me!
25 Comic character -- a stretch
26 From Niger to Zambia: Abbr. -- just geography
27 Hacker of the Middle Ages -- they had computers?
28. “The Dram Shop” author -- a tale within a novel
29. Squeals -- you’d think “oinks”
30. Start of a Spanish Christmas greeting -- I wanted “felice”
31. Certify -- lots of possibilities
34. Unwelcome discovery on a credit card -- ditto of above
36 Period to find out more -- a "q" but no "u", with an "a"
37 Tough companions? -- very sneaky clue
38 Minor leader? -- “asia”, “ursa”, etc.
39 Carving in an Egyptian tomb -- which one?
41 Relief may follow it -- “bas”, bah!
44 Botanist’s beard -- the plant, not the person
46 Rubberneck -- this one made sense
47 Where cell phones don’t work -- yup
49 Weed-B-Gon maker -- “Ortho” again
50 200 milligrams -- now I know
51 Popular reference work -- think internet
54 Match point? -- think place
55 “Shoot!” -- think “shucks”
56 Name on a truck -- not U-Haul, not Penske, think "Winona"
57 Loser in a casino
Down
1 Opportunities to run away from home -- very obtuse
2 Gustavo’s good -- foreign language
3 Require -- hop-scotch meaning
4 Female role in “Chicago” -- not Roxie
5 “Paint the Sky With Stars” singer -- who is this “Enya” anyway?
6 Suffix with proto- -- “zoa” matching 28A “Zola”
7 Abbr. on a key -- not "alt"
8 They're back on board -- another sly one
9 City on the Permian Basin -- this "Odessa" not that "Odessa"
10 Extend awkwardly -- just weird
11 Sparkle -- almost farfetched
12 Cousin of a hyena -- new to me!
14 Be a night watchman? -- not a profession
21 Manhattan ave. -- not Mad.
23 Sudden impact -- "bang" more appropriate
24 First home of the University of Nevada -- knew this!
27 Firm assistant, briefly --- this too!
28 Couple of pizzas? -- yesterday it was "Affluent duo?"
29 Revelation exclamation -- not "ahha", "ohho", etc.
30 Work unit: Abbr. -- this I still don't get
31 Black-and-white -- they're blue and white here
32 Spent from all the conflict -- not "worn down"
33 Webbed -- it's that "nsn" part that's strange
34 Generation-to-generation information -- long way to go
35 Poet Seeger -- Not Pete
37 Otherworldly one -- think "War of the Worlds"
39 It's appetizing to aphids -- another long way to go
40 What ochlophobists fear -- oh, those phobias!
41 Big-league promotional event -- matches 1-Down
42 For some time -- one of several possibilities
43 Drinks a toast -- another stretch
45 It's massive and relatively hot -- what begins with "bst"?
46 _____Waitz, nine-time New York City Marathon winner - var. sp.
48 King Claudius, e.g. -- nationality
49 Artist John, known as the Cornish Wonder -- another way to clue "opie"
52 Malay Peninsula's Isthmus of KRA -- Google constructing!
53 Publicity -- the final stretch!
37D - MARTIAN -- Alien tripod illustration from the 1906 French edition of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.
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