Sunday, July 6, 2008WHAT THE H? -- Puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, edited by Will Shortz
H is for Homonym sounds like a title for a Sue Grafton novel about a disgruntled solver seeking to avenge a deflated ego by making a crossword constructor eat his own words with the end result of unfortunate gasping and groaning unto an untimely demise. However, this crossword deserves no such fate, even though those despising a pun, may not take well to swallowing a homonym or two, no matter how quickly that proverbial oyster slips down the throat. If you can’t really chew on the thing, what the H are you eating it for? ...and careful, don‘t choke on the pearls!
The misleading (or cryptic) title of today’s puzzle is “What the H?”
WHEELEDAUTHORITY (22A. V.I.P. in a limo?), wield authority; TALESOFWHOA (36A. Stories about halting horses?), tales of woe; WEATHERWHYS (58A. Causes of meteorological phenomena?), weather-wise; ISLEOFWHITE (77A. Iceland?), Isle of Wight; WHALINGWALL (98A. Barrier Ahab stands behind?), Wailing Wall; THEEDITORIALWHEE (115A. Cry after writing a particularly fun column?), the editorial "we"; WHIRLEDRECORD (16D. 45, e.g.?), world record; and WHACKSMUSEUMS (57D. Where ax murderers’ weapons are on display?), wax museum.
It appears from the entries of this crossword, that just about any combination of letters possible can just be crammed into whatever spaces and given an alibi for existing.
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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
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