Saturday, January 26, 2008
Puzzle by Karen M. Tracey, edited by Will Shortz
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Julie, II, ii
What’s in a name? Today’s crossword is not letting on too much -- however, it certainly is full of them: Mary J. Bilge, Ferruccio Busoni, Jean Genet, Phillip Glass, Irv Gotti, Abbas Kiarostami, Erik Larson, Barry Manilow, Liza Minnelli, Naomi (Mara), Tania Raymonde, Alex Rousseau, Sylvia Syms, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Stanislaw Wyspianski, along with Kris (Cheryl), a major domo, a nurse and patient, an admiral and a general, a satyr, Errol, the Owl, Pachebel, Isaac, Turandot, Dad’s, the Weasley family, Harry Potter, Bunsen, a Slav in the form of a Dalmatian and a Pomeranian, and even a JURYBOX (7A. Peer group setting?).
The four corners of the crossword have three nine-letter stacked entries each: Upper left going across: 1. COOKIEJAR, 15. OPPORTUNE, and 17. RECOVERED. Upper right down: 12. ROOTCANAL, 13. MAJORDOMO, and 14. STANISLAW. Lower left going down: 30. JEANGENET, 31. UNDERRATE, and 32. NUMBERONE. Lower right across: 57. HILLSIDES, 60. ENLARGERS, and 62. STEVIERAY.
After that, in descending order -- Seven-letter entries: 7D. JURYBOX, 9D. REDSTAR, 39D. LURCHES, 40D. MOSELLE, 30A. JUNKFAX, 34A. RETINOL, 38A. ADMIRAL, and 40A MANILOW. Six-letter entries: 8D. ANEMIC, 25D. TREPAN, 28D. CASABA, 43D. SQUINT, 27A. ECOCAR, 36A. ENURES, 37A. PAJAMA, and 42A. BUSONI. Five-letters: NORMS, UBOAT, RIOJA, SETON, BITTE, SATYR, BARQS, ABBAS, ERROL, NAOMI, ETNAS, TEENS, CORES, OPERA, OPCIT, KOOKY, NURSE, REFER, TANIA, BLIGE, BIDER, AZERA, SASSY. Four-letter; ETES, OBIE, KRIS, FIJI, OMAN, SLAV, ERIK, SYMS, FADS, NEBS, LIZA, and CUES. Three-letter: IRV, SRI, CRI, and GRE.
Does that all look just like a lot of names for names’ sake -- It sure did to me!
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