07.24.07

Gluteus maximus et lepus sequelitis!


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Puzzle by Bruce Adams, edited by Will Shortz

Four inter-related full-across entries are the main feature of this crossword:

HOTCROSSBUNNIES (17A Angry rabbits in August?);
HIGHESTBIDDIES (25A Hens at the greatest altitude?);
KEEPINGTABBIES (42A Cat lady's mission?); and --
WHITESOXFANNIES (35A What a Chicago ballpark bench holds?)

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle of Wednesday, May 2, 2007 featured the following three inter-related entries:

FOUNTAINPENNY (20A Coin thrown for good luck);
BASKETBALLFANNY (38A Result of sitting on a court bench too long?);
HOTCROSSBUNNY (51A Bugged Bugs?)

See "Hot Cross Bunny" HERE.

So, same old story -- whatever I said in relation to the fannies and bunnies on May 2nd is fairly accurate for today’s puzzle -- except that instead of a penny, we have biddies and tabbies, and perhaps that this is a slight improvement over that construction -- which wouldn’t take much!

Today’s puzzle also features these long entries upper left and lower right:

ESPERANTO (1A Language in which plurals are formed by adding -oj) -- who knew?
COUTURIER (15A Christian Dior, e.g.) -- had to consult Webster’s.
CLAMBAKES (60A Beach cookouts) -- I remembered the song from “Carousel”.
TETEATETE (62A Private chat) -- must figure out how to use this in normal conversation without seeming pretentious.

Look-alikes in today’s puzzle include TESS (8D Trueheart of “Dick Tracy”), HESS (14D Dame Myra), HISS (36A Villain’s reception), HAHN (25D 1944 Chemistry Nobelist Otto), and 54A In ESSE (existing). Then there’s the side-by-side ABBE (38D French cleric) and ABE (41D Face on a fiver), and the across-the-grid fillers NNE and MME.

I now know APICES (37D Zeniths) is the spelling for the plural of “apex”; that there is a team called the AEROS (33A Houston skaters); and ANNULI (11D Tree rings) also refers to fish.

Always like seeing such entries as OPULENT (40D Luxuriant); AFLAME (44D On fire); AROMAS (6D Scents), ECHO (1D Greek nymph who pined away for Narcissus); along with ININK (26D Permanently written).

My favorite of today's puzzle -- ALIEN (37A Green card holder) and BEING (29D Life form) crossing dead center. Now, if only we'd had a UFO -- WHAM (48D Impact sound)!

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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.


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