Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Puzzle by Ken Bessette, edited Will Shortz
Featured in this Tuesday tempest-in-a-teapot are three long entries where the omission of a single letter in a standard phrase containing double letters results in a change of the expression, clued for the new meaning -- ARESTINGOFFICER (17A. Retired general?); ACOUNTPASTDUE (37A. Late nobleman?); APEALTOTHECROWD (59A. Carillon call?). That’s the whole gimmick, just three missing letters, or not. It would depend upon one’s familiarity with familiarities.
Lack of familiarity surfaces everywhere with such walk-the-plank entries as VIRTU (2D. Objets d’art); LASTS (4D. Cobblers’ forms); 6D. 1970s Japanese P.M. Kakuei TANAKA; SOR (13D. Sisters’ org.); 24D. ABOU Ben Adhem” (Leigh Hunt poem); ADUE (64A. Together, in music); and an assortment of the foreign, AERO (16A. Commercial prefix with méxico); ESO (42A. That: Sp.); and food, 60D. Kung PAO chicken and TSO (39D. General on Chinese menus), et cetera. Not at all out of the usual haphazard happenstance of crosswords, but a bit messy for a Tuesday Times crossword of which day-of-the-week simplicity is touted.
A little more linkage -- ICESHEETS (33D. Giant glaciers); HOMEPLATE (34D. Catcher’s location); TULSAOK (23A. Part of the mailing address to Oral Roberts University); EBBETS (25A. Field for Dem Bums); SONICS (45A. Seattle team, for short); AVILA (1A. Kansas City university formerly known as College of Saint Teresa); VIDAL (14A. Gore who wrote “Lincoln” and “1876”); SINAI (65A. Egyptian peninsula); RIPON (29D. Wisconsin town where the Republican Party was born); HALOS (32D. Signs of goodness); TYPEA (26D. Impatient sort), POSE and ROSE.
A vast amount of fill! -- give or take a letter…
AVAST (1D. “Stop!” at sea)!
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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
For the full post, go HERE.
