Cover to Spider-Man's Tangled Web #20, featuring J. Jonah Jameson. Art by Dean Haspiel.
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Monday, November 5, 2007
Puzzle by Jeremy Horwitz, edited by Will Shortz
JALFREDPRUFROCK (17A T.S. Eliot title character who measures out his life with coffee spoons); JJONAHJAMESON (39A Editor out to smear Spider-Man); and JDANFORTHQUAYLE (61A Vice president who once famously mashed "potato") are three loosely, very loosely, inter-related entries in this Monday back-to-work crossword puzzle -- too bad we don't know Jeremy Horwitz' middle name, we could throw him in with this sorry trio and have ourselves a quartet! That would even it out between the real and the fictional names, Prufrock and Jameson, Quayle and Horwitz -- or maybe Quayle never really existed anyway, so he is fiction! Whatever, and if anyone calls this a "theme", I'll just roll over with laughter at such a ridiculous pretension. Go ahead, I need a g-g-good j-j-joke!
J. Jonah Jameson was also referred to as J. J. Jameson and simply J. J. J. -- no identification of the first J. seems to be available. Research on J. Alfred Prufrock does not identify his J. either; but, of course, J. Danforth Quayle was James. O.K., I think that exhausts today's J's. Wait!, here's the Prufrock lament --
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
If those who categorize crossword puzzles into “theme”/”no-theme” get insistent, then a “theme” today would seem to be not those three meager J’s, but a capital “E” for “Entertainment!”
This puzzle has no less than 22 entries that are related to the arts and entertainment: 1A “Lady Marmalade” singer PATTI LaBelle; RIFF (6A Musical phrase); 15A Poet OMAR Khayyam; 17A; MOE (22A “The Simpsons” bartender); ONAIR (26A Studio sign); ANDIE (29A Actress MacDowell of “Groundhog Day”); URI (34A Geller with a spoon-bending act); 39A; LEOTARD (43A Dance class outfit); ODES (68A Lyric poems); AVALON (2D Frankie of “Beach Blanket Bingo”); RODEO (6D Where you might hear “Ride ‘em, cowboy!”); FRUG (9D Lively ‘60s dance); SANJOSE (24D California city in a 1968 Dionne Warwick hit); 28A RIN Tin Tin; IPOD (30D Its first ad touted “1,000 songs in your pocket”); ERMA (33D Humorist Bombeck); LALA (36D Singsong syllables); JIMI (39D Guitarist Hendrix); TOON (57D Roger Rabbit or Donald Duck); and JLO (61D Female singer’s 2001 album that debuted at #1). Now, that’s entertainment!
Oh lovely, but lonely Jennifer Lopez -- stuck down in the corner as fill for J. Danforth Quayle -- is this supposed to equal equal rights for the ladies with a meager three letter entry -- JLO?
The rest of the acrosses: 10. On the briny; 14. Birdlike; 16. Butter slices; 20. Not just recent; 21. Muck; 23. Light throw; 32. Really impressed; 35. Light golden lager; 38. ULAN Bator, Mongolia; 42. Parti-colored; 44. Quantity: Abbr.; 45. Sheep cries; 46. Rapids transits (which I at first entered RAILS); 50. A goose egg; 52. Phobia; 55. Unfortunate sound when you bend over; 56. Hay storage locale; 58. Saw-toothed; 65. Come to shore; 66. Baby bassoon?; 67. War horse; 69. Puppy bites; and 70. Sexy nightwear.
The down remainders: 1. PAJAMA party (sleepover); 3. Cultivated the soil; 4. President who later served as chief justice; 5. Initials on a cross; 7. Little devil; 8. Distant; 10. Kitchen spill catcher; 11. Brazil’s largest city; 12. And so on: Abbr.; 13. “ASK and ye shall receive”); 18. CPR pro; 19. Grocery offering; 25. Accumulation on the brow; 27. Persia, today; 31. German article; 37. Grain bundle; 38. Beef quality graders: Abbr.; 40. 747, e.g.; 41. Be mistaken; 42. La PAZ, Bolivia; 45. Hit, as on the noggin; 47. Worn at the edges; 48. Like the Marquis de Sade or the Duke of Earl; 49. Rapid; 51. Unilever skin cream brand; 53. Fireplace remnants; 54. Necessary: Abbr.; 59. Corrosion sign; 60. Appraise; 62. “Dear old” guy; 63. Slugger’s stat; and 64. Blouse or shirt.
All in all, a j-j-jazzy little puzzle filled with interesting entries, and the tired entries are given fresh clues -- a Monday breakfast puzzle, thankfully with no O.J.J.J!
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For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
