Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Puzzle by Alan Arbesfeld, edited by Will Shortz
THINGSDRAWN (59A What the starts of 17-, 26-, 37- and 52-Across are) is the lead inter-related entry and clue for CURTAINCALL (17A Play follower, usually); BATHSPONGE (26A Loofah, e.g.); BLOODSTREAM (37A Circulatory system flow); and GUNSLINGER (52A Shoot-’em-up figure).
The Famous Artists School was well known in the 1950s and 1960s for its advertising on the back covers of comic books and on matchbook covers. The matchbooks had a drawing on the front cover, with the legend "Draw me!" Information about the school was printed on the inside of the cover.
No drawing instructions here today, just guns, blood, baths, and curtains. I'm not sure what seemed more disturbing -- the thought of Janet Leigh and the shower in "Psycho", along with gunslingers drawing blood, needles drawing blood, or ego-driven maniacs milking the applause!
CURTAINCALL appears to win out in this case, with the most related entries, including STAGE; TANGO; the quote from Henry James "INART economy is always beauty; Singer JAYE P. Morgan, Actress ILKA Chase of "Now, Voyager"; Director ANG Lee; the play about Capote, TRU; The HUMANCOMEDY, Saroyan novel; TOPTENS, Letterman lists; ANO, "Wheel of Fortune" buy; the singer of the 1962 hit "The Wanderer", DION; "Deal or No Deal" network, NBC; and AIR, put on TV.
GUNSLINGER fared with deadeye's asset, AIM; "Beat it!", SCRAM; bled, like dyes, RAN; maybe HUNT clued to be rural event on horseback; SMOTE, clobber, biblically; SOTS, tipplers; and GAL, guy's partner. Might as well throw BLOODSTREAM in the pot, oh, yeah, and ANTEUP!
BATHSPONGE has less friends in this puzzle than BABY which numbers WAH as its lonely utterance.
Contrasts and lookalikes: NONFAT and BACON; AIR and AIM; ANG, ANO, UNO and UFO.
Oh, IFORGOT, for loose ends, there's BOBBYKNIGHT, JIGSAWS, ICEAX, TINHAT, ZAIRE, ARIES, TEASING, and a dozen other olio entries.
I had trouble with "BUG" -- why?, I don't know!
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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
