Sunday, January 6, 2008
THE INSIDE DOPE, Puzzle by Lynn Lempel, edited by Will Shortz
Synonyms for DOPE -- to wit, OAF, ASS, DODO, MORON, CLOD, DINGBAT, LOUT, SAP, CHUMP and DUNCE -- are "inside" the entries of COCOAFLAVOR (23A. Feature of some kids’ cereals); GASSTATION (29A. Regular provider); PLACIDODOMINGO (37A. Holder of the world record for the longest ovation on the operatic stage [80 minutes]); HUMORONESELF (60A. Let the mind believe what it likes); MASONICLODGE (76A. Bastion of brotherhood); READINGBATTERY (98A. Elementary school test package); FALLOUTFIT (109A. Dress for the return of cool weather); WORLDSAPART (117A. Not even close); PACIFICHUMPBACK (3D. Alaskan cruise sighting); and SEEMEDUNCERTAIN (46D. Wasn’t clear, as one’s future).
Across: 1. Kind of court; 6. Decorative inlay material; 11. Screening; 15. Took off; 19. Shooter’s target; 20. Facility; 21. What π may be used to find; 22. Much family history, e.g.; 25. Shelter supplies; 26. Feeling; 27. Rita Hayworth title role of 1946; 28. Monarch’s bane; 31. Bolix up; 32. Interior look; 34. Aniselike herbs; 35. “AMI dreaming?”; 41. W.W. II noncombatants; 43. Spirit; 44. Eremites; 45. “The Guns of August” figure; 49. Weekend warrior’s woe; 50. Grauman of Grauman’s Chinese Theater; 51. Swift gift; 52. Reagan attorney general; 53. Where you can feel the heat; 55. Part of a tennis racket; 57. Accusatory words; 59. H look-alike; 64. Parter of the waters; 65. Soyuz destination; 66. Governessy; 67. Covers up; 70. Behind; 72. Room sharer, often; 74. Group west of the Atlantic: Abbr.; 80. Uniters with 51-Down; 81. Hug and kiss, to a Brit; 83. Cracker topper; 84. Bird baked in a pie; 85. 1920s anarchist in a celebrated trial; 87. Some cottons; 91. Tennis’s Shriver; 93. Kierkegaard’s “The Sickness UNTO Death”; 94. “My Way” lyricist; 95. Mexican revolutionary MIGUEL Hidalgo; 96. Brush makeup; 97. Earth Day subj.; 102. Slice of history; 103. Approaches aggressively; 106. Portrait photographer Arbus; 107. Ralph GARR, 1974 N.L. batting champ; 111. Indeed; 113. Overdo it, in a way; 115. Requirement for some degree candidates; 116. RARA avis; 120. Dungeons & Dragons figure; 121. List ender; 122. Ones being shot at; 123.Heinrich who wrote “Atta Troll”; 124. Moneybags in “The Wind in the Willows”; 125. Comfy retreats; 126. Unpadded; 127. Synthetic fabric.
Down: 1. Grp. Influential in campaigns; 2. Wide-eyed; 4. Midway, e.g.; 5. Preliminary events; 6. Cowboys’ org.; 7. Bean who was the fourth man to walk on the moon; 8. Gave up at last; 9. Ran amok; 10. Add instead of subtract, e.g.; 11. Some tubes; 12. Lover boy?; 13. Lights; 14. Speeds up; 15. It’s sour; 16. Disney duck; 17. Documentary filmmaker Morris; 18. Gets off the bottle; 24. Title on a child’s bookshelf; 29. Object of a vain wait; 30. Lee who directed “Brokeback Mountain”; 33. Pay increase to keep up with inflation, in brief; 35. Up to one’s ears; 36. Former Portuguese colony in China; 38. Put right; 39. Core groups; 40. Piddling; 42. Title with a tilde; 47. Where Montferrato wine comes from; 48. Behind; 51. Uniters with 80-Across; 52. Finds at Pompeii; 54. Songlike; 56. Suffix with sheep or goat; 58. Soapstone, e.g.; 61. Mideast’s Gulf of OMAN; 62. Mauna LOA; 63. Firecracker parts; 68. Cabinet inits. Since 1947; 69. Show annoyance with; 71. Chef’s hat; 72. Sportsman of the Year co-winner of 1998; 73. IVAN the Great; 75. Like some electronics; 77. Politician’s projection; 78. Seminole’s archrival; 79. Virulent virus; 82. 1945 Colette novel; 86. Spread some holiday joy; 88. Quaint garden fixtures; 89. O.K.; 90. Where Napoleon planned his Hundred Days campaign; 92. Welds; 95. Reached the due date; 96. Helmsman; 99. That: Sp.; 100. “Do I have a volunteer?”; 101. Company whose production goes in cycles?; 103. Going on; 104. Load of ships?; 105. Santa CLARA, Calif.; 108. Rodeo competitor; 110. “The Nanny” actress Drescher; 112. Poor returns?; 114. Island-dotted lake of Northern Ireland; 117. Not fair; 118. Food additive; 119. TEL Aviv.
Comments, observations, et cetera: Many of the clues for common-word entries are border-line in their application, e.g., Brush makeup = SAGE; Unpadded = TERSE; Parter of the waters = OAR; Some tubes = MACARONI; Poor returns? = ALMS; Not fair = WET, and others. SNOG makes its second appearance this week after it’s much-noted debut. SPERM and OVA (see links for 80A and 51D) will unsettle some and titillate others. SOSA, RARA, ANKA, GIGI, ETTU, UNTO, ETAL, AGOG, COLA, lead the parade of two-syllable/two-consonant/two-vowel entries. It takes some doing to find a LOUIE link where he’s not posed with his fellow triplets, Huey and Dewey (see link for 16D). I can’t image what an 80-minute ovation must be like, other than biologically. The crossing with the most resounding thud -- SQUAB and TOQUE. The entry I had the biggest urge to give a link to, but resisted: 12D. Lover boy?, EROS.
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