Friday, February 1, 2008
Puzzle by Doug Peterson, edited by Will Shortz
Tough clues! The four 15-across entries stared blankly at this solver --
15. Be negative about, POURCOLDWATERON;
17. Hobbes in “Calvin and Hobbes”, IMAGINARYFRIEND;
46. They’re not easily overturned, OUTRIGGERCANOES;
49. Sterotypically smarmy sorts, USEDCARSALESMEN.
This crossword is clued like a baseball player trying to avoid questions about steroids. Ape wrestlers = GRAPPLE; Temper = ASSUAGE; Went to a lower level = EBBED; Well activity = WISHING; Staff note = MEMO; Unfrequented = LONESOME; Chief goals? = ENDZONES; Id output = URGES; It stocks blocks = ICEHOUSE -- I’m sure it was just me. What'd I get to get going? Proper names GWYNNE, JEROME, ELISE, MINSK -- that was it. Certainly not CLI! Nothing wrong with such entries as HOC, CELS, PASO, HOFFA, CRONY, TERSELY, PINKEST, GIFTWRAP, et cetera, but the clues! …and for RENEW, Playboy’s plea? With my mind, I was truly clueless!
Across: 1. Temper; 8. Ape wrestlers; 15. Be negative about; 17. Hobbes in “Calvin and Hobbes”; 18. Went to a lower level; 19. Prefix with 6-Down; 20. Body part above la bouclé; 21. Frames found in frames; 22. Clubs: Abbr.; 23. Senora’s step; 24. “A little ERE the mightiest Julius fell”: Shak.; 25. Actress Kimberly of “Close to Home”; 26. Give away; 27. Intimate; 28. Tahini base; 29. Well activity; 32. Domesticates; 33. Dramatic beginning; 34. With 44-Down, Cajun dish with giblets; 35. Polynomial components; 36. Subject of some conspiracy theories; 37. Prez’s first name on “The West Wing”; 40. Shot near the green; 41. Little piggies; 42. Staff note; 43. Ad follower; 44. Playboy’s plea?; 45. She’s dangerously fascinating; 46. They’re not easily overturned; 49. Stereotypically smarmy sorts; 50. Without much wind; 51. Pinkest.
Down: 1. For one; 22. Not at all sunny; 3. Fit to be tried?; 4. Id output; 5. Mordant; 6. Suffix with 19-Across; 7. Going by; 8. Fred of “The Munsters”; 9. Hosts; 10. Brand in a bathroom; 11. Linguist Mario; 12. Before being delivered; 13. Unfrequented; 14. Chief goals?; 16. Smart; 22. Exclusively; 23. British meat pie; 25. Actress Gray and others; 26. RENTA-crowd (attendance booster); 27. Make like Pac-Man; 28. They’re bound to work; 29. “Heads up!”; 30. It stocks blocks; 31. Less lax; 32. Prepare for a shower, maybe; 34. Foundations, often; 36. Aggressively ambitious; 37. Basso Hines; 38. Hosts; 39. “Who DOESN’T?”; 41. August; 42. Belarus’s capital; 44. See 34-Across; 45. Longtime columnist who coined the term “beatnik”; 47. Cloverleaf composition: Abbr.; 48. Second-century year.
No excuse, no complaint -- puzzles puzzle!
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