Alphabet -- Rima Staines
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Puzzle by Alan Arbesfeld, edited by Will Shortz
Double letters in single squares are a feature of this Thursday crossword puzzle. The across entries involved are BUZZOFF (17. “Scram!”); PUTTINGGREEN (18. Practice area, of a sort); COMMONNAME (28. “Black rat” as opposed to “Rattus rattus”); ISAAC (36. Biblical patriarch whose name means “he will laugh”); ABBIE (41. Radical Hoffman); UPPERRIGHT (46. Northeast, on a map); ADDRESSBOOKS (59. Directories); and MCCALLS (62. Bygone women’s magazine), covering most of the alphabet, omitting H, I, J, K, Q, U, V, W, X, and Y.
The down entries utilizing the across doublings are RAZZLE (3. Half of a showy display?); MUTTS (7. Kennel club rejects); BOGGLE (9. Overwhelm); Lee Van CLEEF (spaghetti western actor) (9.); HAMM (21. Eponym of a classic Minnesota-brewed beer); INNO time (26.); PAARS (31. TV’s Jack and kin); ROBBY (33. Robot in “Forbidden Planet”); PEPPERBOX (38. Spice holder); ERRS (43. Misses the mark); UMASS (46. Amherst campus, briefly); CELLAR (52. Last place); ODDER (55. Less conventional); DOONE (56. Blackmore heroine); and ACCTS (58. Stops on a sales rep’s rte.).
Escaping the alphabet SOUP (15A. Starting fare, often); are DEE, IRRS, and KEEN. Leading off the remaining acrosses are FOULARD (54. Silk fabric for scarves), ENSNARE (39. Catch); “What a CONCEPT!” (37.); and SKILIFT (22. Way to the top), followed (alphabetically) by ACA, AIMS, BACK, CATS, ELEM, ELEV, ERDE, HAJI, ONER, ORLE, OSAGES, RUER, SAME, SARI, SERS, SONE, STPAT, SYN, UNLASH, and XENA are the remaining across entries.
UNINSURED (34. Without protection) and ARRIVESAT (10. Reaches) are the longest of the down entries without doubled letters, then SPIKEMEN (8. Railroad track workers); SCHISMS (40.Splits); JOSTLE (25. Bump); and ANEMIA (29. Shortage of punch), followed by ACE, AGAPE, ALENE, ASP, ASSTS, CAS, CECE, FAKE, GRO, INAT, INBUD, IOU, KEN, KENT, NILE, REUNE, SRA, and STOA, alphabetically, of course!
All those double lettered squares? -- NEATO (13A. “Cool!”)!
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