Dutch Windmill Near Amsterdam, 1919 -- Owen Merton
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Friday, January 4, 2008
Puzzle by Raymond C. Young, edited by Will Shortz
This is a crossword full of odds and ends that neither fit together, or for that matter, will be seen in any other puzzle. It’s easy to want to take a turn or two around this construction of words, the diagram (or grid) of which resembles a spinning windmill anchored by a black square in the center. Unlike recent diagrams encountered in NYT puzzles of the type, this diagram is wide open, and, of course, traveling from corner to corner is always helpful in solving.
Like two beams across the center of the windmill are the 13-letter entries, WHERESTHEFIRE (25A. “In a hurry, are we?”) and SCARESTHEHECK (30A. Makes a fraidy-cat [out of]); while two 12-letter entries cross to form a complement down the center, SLOANESTREET (13D. London locale of Prada, Dior, Gucci and Giorgio Armani) and SETSTHETABLE (17D. Gets ready for dinner).
Four 10-letter entries then radiate from the center of the windmill -- REAFFOREST (6D. Plant on after a wildfire, say); THEHEIRESS (24D. Olivia de Havilland film of 1949); ONESTRIPER (23A. Private); and PERPETRATE (32A. Cause).
Nine-letter entries fill much of the outer corners: Upper left, EPICTALES (16A. Relations of Homer?); MOVIEFONE (19A. Service for filmgoers); and STEADFAST (21A. Unwavering). Upper right, VAPORIFIC (8D. Producing some clouds) and INTHEPINK (9D. Fit). Lower right, EMAILLIST (34A. Modern marketing aid); EMBROIDER (41A. Decorate); and TELESCOPY (44A. Observatory doings). Lower left, WHARFRATS (25D. Pilferers from ships and port warehouses) and HARPERLEE (26D. Alabaman who wrote the Best Novel of the Century, according to a 1999 Library Journal poll).
Eight-letter entries, four in number, take a clockwise spin near the edge of the windmill, EASINESS (12A. Facility); NOHOPERS (10D. Ones without a chance in the world); DESCENTS (46A. Parts of mountaineering trips); and SCENEXII (28D. Part of Act IV where Marc Antony resolves to kill Cleopatra).
Fleshing out the windmill, the remaining across entries are 1. SCALAR, Like the reading on a thermometer; 17. IVINS, Molly, who wrote “Bushwhacked”; 15. CANOE, Camp sight; 18. UPTHE river; 20. OHOH, “I almost forgot …!”; 22. CREPE, Candlemas dessert; 28. SHAMES, Puts down, in a way; 29. HEMINS, Forensic indicators of the presence of blood; 33. INFER, Put two and two together; 40. KERR, Deborah who starred in “Tea and Sympathy”; 42. EXALT, Give praise; 45. TITER, Strength of a chemical solution; 47. VISES, Grippers; and 48. SHYEST, Having the most social anxiety.
Going down and around: 1. SEEMS, Could be; 2. CAPOT, Horse of the Year that won the 1949 Preakness and Belmont; 3. “ASIVE said many times …”; 4. LICIA, Soprano Albanese; 5. ANTED, Put in to start; 7. ICU, Post-O.R. post; 10. SEEHERE, “Now listen!”; 14. SENSES, Wits; 22. CRÈME de fraise; 27. EMEER, Foreign title meaning “commander”; 30. SPIKETV, “The first network for men” sloganeer, once; 31. HAMMED, Overplayed?; 35. Claudia LOSCH, Olympic gold medalist in shot put; 36. Tigres del LICEY, Dominican team that has won the Caribbean World Series nine times; 37. “What have IDONE?”; 38. SEPTS, Fall times: Abbr.; 39. TRYST, Meet away from prying eyes; and 43. TRS-80 (classic computer).
Round,
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel,
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain,
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Spinning silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
"The Windmills of Your Mind" -- Music by Michel Legrand, Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
"Windmills of Your Mind" performed by The Colourfield, video by Mano Kadosh
That’s all for this round!
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