Thursday, September 13, 2007
Puzzle by Joe Krozel & Victor Fleming, edited by Will Shortz
Seven full-length across inter-related entries are the main feature of this Thursday winner!
CAPITALOFFENSES (14A Serious crimes);
THEDEFENSERESTS (17A Perry Mason line);
ADMISSIONTOBAIL (32A Order sought by an accused before trial);
COURTAPPEARANCE (39A Hearing, e.g.);
MOTIONSTOSTRIKE (40A Lawyers' requests at trials);
JURYOFONESPEERS (57A Equals at a trial);
EXPERTTESTIMONY (63A Specialist's offering).
This was, in my opinion, a terrific crossword puzzle, which I solved quicker than I could enter the letters into their respective squares! As a rule, I refrain from any comment as to the ease or difficulty with which I solve a puzzle, knowing that one man's triumph is another man's trial. However, in this case, I confess to being so amazed at the swift conclusion, that I must recuse myself. Why? I have spent an inordinate amount of time in every aspect of the judicial system; whereupon, in regard to the aforementioned inter-related entries, I held a position of unfair advantage, necessitating, at this juncture, a full disclosure. In the normal course of events, when I see seven full-length-across entry spaces, I begin with the shorter-length downs -- not in this case. I swear (under oath), I just wrote in the seven acrosses, one right after the other, and subsequently filled in the downs.
That's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
The remaining acrosses: AMS (1. Times to call, in some classifieds); SWAMI (4. Johnny Carson persona); BOOZE (9. Sauce); ORLE (18. Crest bearer in heraldry); ATE (19. Showed enthusiasm for, with “up”); AAA (20. Highest bond rating); RELAPS (21. Passes more than once); AYEAR (24. Annually); 26. “AULD Robin Gray” (classic Scottish ballad); 28. Dr. ELSA Schneider, historian who was a love interest of Indiana Jones; ERES (41. You are, in Aragon); 42. De bene ESSE (of conditional validity); HIRED (43. Kind of hand); 47. EASTLA (47. Title locale in a Cheech Marin film); ALG (52. Neighbor of Libya: Abbr.); VIM (55. Energy); TIOS (56. Hombres en la familiar); TESTY (64. Snappish); ESQUE (65. Relative of ish); and 66. NER Tamid (synagogue lamp).
The down clues: 1. Part of a company; 2. Family name in Olympic skiing; 3. Period of time; 4. Montreal’s Rue STE-Catherine; 5. Erstwhile military aux.; 6. Drink in “The Taming of the Shrew”; 7. “Hey, MON!” (Jamaican greeting); 8. Suppose; 9. First multiracial coeducational college in the South; 10. Night stand leader?; 11. Mythical mount; 12. Certain sorority woman; 13. What she is in Italy; 15. Bean sprout?; 16. Grand affair; 22. Meal, in Milan; 23. Lazy SUSAN; 24. Like many pets; 25. Steel support for concrete; 27 Kissers; 29. Legal scholar Guinier; 30. Twisted; 31. On the less windy side; 32. Crown; 33. Entrance; 34. Remote option; 35. Lucky sorts?; 36. Modernists; 37. French cup; 38. “Coffee ORTEA?”; 44. Key component; 45. Falling-out; 46. Overplay; 48. The brain has one; 49. Fastenable, as labels; 50. Emmy-winning Michaels; 51. From Nineveh: Abbr.; 52. “Leaving on AJET Plane”; 53. Elegance; 54. Assns. and orgs.; 58. Still; 59. Old video game inits.; 60. Abbr. On a firm’s letterhead; 61. Good name for a flight attendant?; 62. Bake sale offering.
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For today’s cartoons, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
