Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel, edited by Will Shortz
INDIGO, that elusive color of the spectrum… it must have blinded ICARUS and singed his wings… is an apt color for this crossword which blazes brightly with a total lack of mercy. Indeed, it’s a hot ICICLE of clues and words! Of course INDIGO is also a snake!
Opening with INASPOT and ending with EYESPOT, with two "____ dog" clues in between (CONEY dog and SLY dog), I was put in that mood INDIGO -- don't ask, just think “run Spot, run!”
Seriously, for this is a puzzle that takes itself very serious with such fare as SCOUTSHONOR, CRIMESCENES, ONTHEDOCKET, IRSAUDIT, IBEFOREE, XFILES, PLOY, SAFER, NABOBS, CANTBE, CARALARM, STORM, etc. -- PIXIES devised the clues, notably 17A Rule broken in leisure?; 27A Squadron leader; 30A One can be tracked; 31A 2000 Olympics host; 35A Dusting aid; 1D Totally unemotional type; 3D Things with rings; 4D Further out of the woods?; 6D One making waves; 8D Where many prints may be found; 32D Fruit found among needles; etc.
Want more?…
Across: 1.
Stuck; 8. “Not possible”; 14. It might go off during a 30-Across; 16. “Great taste since 1905” sloganeer; 18. He died soon after escaping from Crete; 19. CONEY dog; 20. Dutch export; 22. Van Halen’s “Live Without ANET”; 23. Angle iron; 24. TV series whose finale was titled “The Truth,” with “The”; 26. Unpleasant thing to incur; 28. Swear words? ; 32. Recurring character who dies in the novel “Curtain”; 34. Reveals; 36. Unesco World Heritage Site on the Arabian Peninsula; 37. Scheduled; 39. Letters on some college buildings; 42. A.L. Central scoreboard abbr.; 43. Little tricksters; 44. Having good balance; 45. Target of milk of magnesia; 47. Informal demurral; 48. Has a problem on the road; 49. College in Claremont, Calif.; 51. Tax burden?; 53. It might go 7-5; 54. Thing with a pressure point? ; 55. Grinder; 56. Butterfly feature.
Down: 2. Wheels; 5. Trick; 7.
Kids’ hideaway; 9. 10-Down div.; 10. Org. since 1910; 11. Raked over the coals; 12. Horse of a certain color; 13. Occasions for baskets; 15. Clairvoyant; 21. Substitute: Abbr.; 24. Abscissa; 25. Barraged; 28. “A Prairie Home Companion” co-star, 2006; 29. “Odyssey” high point; 30. “Star Wars” order; 33. Routinely; 34. Battle of Put-in-Bay setting; 35. 16-Across, e.g.; 36. General who prevailed over Carthage; 38. Big name in ergonomic utensils; 39. Settled; 40. Shade deeper than heliotrope; 41. Sonnet section; 44. Flying predators of cold seas; 46. “O mighty Caesar! DOST thou lie so low?”: Shak.; 48. Learned; 50. “Tutte NEL cor vi sento” (Mozart aria); 52. SLY dog.
Sly dog, indeed!
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