AIR
Waterloo Bridge, Effect of Fog, 1903 -- Claude Monet
Plein air -- a French term for "in the open air," describes paintings that have been made outdoors, rather than in a studio, a key method of the Impressionists.
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Monday, March 31, 2008
Puzzle by Jeff Armstrong, edited by Will Shortz
AIR (36A. Word that can precede each half of the answers to each of the eight starred clues) is the star clue in this breezy Monday puzzle. The inter-related entries are FORCEFIELD (18A. *Sci-fi barrier); DATELINE (20A. *Newspaper article lead-in); SHOWTIME (28A. *When the curtain goes up); HEADLOCK (41A. *Wrestling move that puts an arm around someone’s neck); MAILDROP (50A. *Secret communication location); SPACECRAFT (54A. *Mars Pathfinder, for one); BASEBALL (4D. *Diamond game); and SPEEDWAY (37D. *Indy 500 venue).
O.K., redundantly, air force, air field, air date, airline, air show, air time, airhead, airlock, airmail, airdrop, air space, aircraft, air base, air ball, air speed, and airway.
I was talking to my nephew while writing this, and for whatever it’s worth he called my attention to the MacBook Air, and a parody of the ad, HERE. I guess the ultimate would be to disappear into thin air!
As for this puzzle, I think you’ll find that it was a real breeze!
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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
