His Master’s Voice by Francis Barraud, circ. 1899
----------------- Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Puzzle by Steve Salmon, edited by Will Shortz
"(In linguistics), a homophone is a type of homonym, although sometimes homonym is used to refer only to homophones that have the same spelling but different meanings.. -- Homophones, Wikipedia.
Well, whatever -- today’s are both amusing and helpful -- getting one of the following group of this crossword’s reveals the remaining, making for an amusing and enjoyable solve; and even though one has probably heard these particular entries time and again, the clues are playful, pleasing, and to the point. BOREDBOARD (18A. Blasé group of directors?);
SWEETSUITE (62A. Lovely hotel accommodations?);
MAIZEMAZE (3D. Farm-grown labyrinth?);
MOURNINGMORNING (7D. Wake at dawn?);
WHOLEHOLE (10D. Pit in its entirety?);
HEARDHERD (33A. Mooing group of cattle);
ISLEAISLE (37D. Key passage). The last time around for this ilk of entries (albeit, with a different twist), the November 27th crossword offered: LEADPENCIL (Number one #2?); MINUTEMAID (Little woman?); POLISHJOKE (What a comedian might do before going onstage?); and BASSGUITAR (Fish-shaped musical instrument?). Perhaps JimH can provide a few more for our amusement. Meanwhile, there are two 9-letter entries, LASERBEAM (38D. Light in a light show) and SEMIMETAL (21D. Arsenic or antimony); two 8-letter entries, HEADGEAR (51A. Helmets and such) and INCREASE (26A. Double or triple, say); two 7-letter entries, ACETATE (25D. Film material) and CAROTID (27D. Kind of artery); with no 6-letter entries. Five-letter entries are: HASTE, SPEED, TEMPO, TEMPE, and ABNER, ACORN, AFOOT, ALTER, ARUBA, ALTHO, ATEAT, AYRES, BRIBE, BRUSH, DEBAR, ELGAR, ELWES, MEDIA, PADRE, PAGER, PREEN, RIATA, and SIZES. Four-letter: ALEF, AMIE, ATEA, BARS, ECON, ELSA, ESTD, FLEA, GULF, HEMS, HIYA, IGOT, ISMS, IRAS, LAZE, LSAT, OILS, REAP, SCAN, SLAG and STAG, TEAR, UPIN, USER, UTAH, WRAP…with a handful of three-letter: ASH, ERR, NEB, NNE, RIT, RNA, SAP, SIS, TAB, and appropriately, END. ----------------- For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
