Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Puzzle by Henry Quillen, edited by Will Shortz
Interrelated entries in this Wednesday wonder are contained in a whirling pattern of faint circles in the diagram meeting at the center of the grid with ATOZTOA crossing ARIZONA, anchoring two arms of A to Z and Z to A entries.
Diagonally from upper left to down right are a string of entries in the circles, alternating entries that start with Z first and end with A last with entries that start with A first and end with Z last and exchanging order in the center of the puzzle -- ZIMA (1A. Coors product),
ARROZ (4D. Ingrediente en paella), ZESTA (23A. Keebler cracker brand), ARIZONA (24D. Flagstaff‘s place), ADBIZ (52A. Madison Ave. trade), ZEENA (53D. Ethan Frome’s wife) and ANTZ (70A. Animated film hit of 1998).Again, diagonally, this time from lower left to upper right are the second string of entries in circles, alternating with entries that this time start with A first and end with Z last with entries that start with Z first and end with A last, and again exchanging order in the center of the puzzle -- ARNAZ (58A. Ball’s comic partner), ALCATRAZ (39D. The Rock), ATOZTOA (39A. Theme of this puzzle), 9D. Cubic ZIRCONIA (gem) and ZAPPA (9A. Frank in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame).
A few more links: 63A. Queen HENRIETTA Maria, mother of England’s Charles II and James II, OILBARON (40D. Getty or Rockefeller), MEARA (65A. Stiller’s comic partner) and ARNAZ (68A. Ball’s comic partner), RENE (15A. Surrealist Magritte), ACHESON (10D. Truman’s last secretary of state), BABYM (26D. Child in a 1980s custody case), YADDA (32D. When said three times, “et cetera”), LINEARA (43D. Ancient Cretan writing system), THEUN (28D. N.Y.C. country club?), and MUNICH brings to mind (46A. Birthplace of Richard Strauss), "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."
Alas, no ZSAZSA!
-----------------
For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
-----------------
For the complete post, go HERE.
