William Holden "Sunset Boulevard" (11D)
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Friday September 14, 2007
Puzzle by John Farmer, edited by Will Shortz
GASP (54D One might fight to the last one)! I'm VERKLEMPT (17A Choked up)! After yesterday's court-room puzzle, today's was just plain murder! I GOFORADIP, like uh, AQUATICS and get hit by TSUNAMIS!
I read the clues -- then I'm dead in the water...I swam out of it by sneering rapidly with the left side of my upper lip while thumbing through a soggy reference!
This is a real odds and ends crossword puzzle with entries such as ABORIGINE, CURACAO, GAVAGE, GAZASTRIP, PASTRAMI, QUIXOTIC, QUANTA, SOPOR, SOULPATCH, VERKLEMPT, all with rather vague clues; while AMBIENT refers to ENO; LAO shares an O with LAOTZU; NEAT precedes MUSSEDUP; two entries begin with TS -- TSELIOT and TSUNAMIS, there’s a Q with no U -- QEII; combinations of GOFORADIP; ACTSALONE; BIASTIRE; INPRINT; a RAJ and an ASSAD; and several O’s -- OBERON; ORKIN, OLSON; and ORATORIO.
Including the Moon of Uranus (2D), this galaxy of words is all tangle and no tango -- the clues:
Across: 1. What you might do at the beach ; 10. Lethargy; 15. Early inhabitant; 16. Light smoke; 17A Choked up; 18. This is a test; 19. Shaw who led the Gramercy Five; 20. Muscleman with a 1980s cartoon series; 21. Old-time actress Crabtree; 22. Subject of interest in the question “Who are you wearing?”; 23. Modern-day monarch, for short; 24. Register; 25. Brian known for 33-Across music; 26. John who succeeded Pierre Trudeau as Canadian P.M.; 28. Uris hero; 29. Comment after getting something; 30. Waves with long wavelengths?; 33. See 25-Across; 37. "Ash Wednesday" writer; 38. Starry-eyed; 40. Movie villain voiced by Douglas Rain; 41. Miss USA; 42. Spell checker?; 44. Indian viceroy's authority; 47. Damascus V.I.P.; 50. Eventful times; 51. Take METO the River" (Talking Heads hit); 52. Geometric prefix; 53. Kip spender; 54. Spanish kitties; 55. Jerk; 56. Doesn't support a conspiracy theory?; 58. Deleted part; 59. Oslo Accords concern; 60. Gear; 61. Frank Zappa or Dizzy Gillespie feature.
Down: 1. Forced feeding, as with a tube; 2. Moon of Uranus named for a Shakespearean character; 3. Like a romantic dinner; 4. Big name in pest control; 5. Get to; 6. Jazz AGE; 7. Certain switch; 8. Available; 9. Small in the biggest way?" 10. 100 to 1, e.g.; 11.
Actress Nancy of "Sunset Boulevard"; 12. Sandwich filler; 13. Church piece; 14. Old Tory; 23. Fundamental energy units; 26. "Vincent & THEO" (1990 Robert Altman film); 27. Dailies, in the movie biz; 20. AIX-en-Provence, France; 31. Groomed; 32. Word before and after "in"; 33. Swimming, surfboarding, etc.; 34. Uncombed; 35. Whitewall, maybe; 36. Delays; 39. Largest of the ABC islands; 43. "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao philosopher; 44. "Touche!" elecitor; 45. Not accented; 46. Important figure in the Gospels; 48. Faulkner's "AROSE for Emily"; 49. Out; 51. 1945 conference site for Roosevelt and Churchill; 54. One might fight to the last one; 57 Sonny's partner in "Dog Day Afternoon".
"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up!" -- Norma Desmond, "Sunset Boulevard"
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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
