Sunday, July 27, 2008
GOING EVERY WHICH WAY, Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel and David Quarfoot, edited by Will Shortz
The main entries of today’s crossword feature directional glyphs -- eight entries contain two directions each -- either [up], [down], [left] and/or [right] are the following:
[Up] STAIRS [down] STAIRS (29A. Popular 1970s British TV series);
[left] IT [up] TOCHANCE (38A. Took the risk);
SIT [down] ANDSHUT [up] (125A. Exasperated teacher’s cry);
[right] WHEREYOU [left] THEM (137A. Missing glasses location, usually);
[down] THE [left] FIELDLINE (16D. Barely fair, maybe);
STANDING [up] [right] (36D. Erect);
[left] A [down] PAYMENT (72D. Secured, in a way, with “on”);
ITS [right] [up] YOURALLEY (70. Sentiment suggesting “Try this!”).
The sixteen supporting entries each containing one direction each:
Across -- [down] BOY (16. Command to an overfriendly canine); ALL[right] (37. “Now you’re talking!”); THE [left] (71. Liberals); [down] SIZING (84. Cause of unemployment); S [up] DOG (91. Slangy street greeting); [right] ON (90A. “Amen!”); SET [up] S (95. Arrangements); [right] END (101. Football defensive line position).
Down -- DAM [up] (1. Block); [down] SHIFTED (31. Went from second to first, say); [left] ONBASE (38. Not brought home); [up] AT (41. Awake by); RESTED [up] (89. Took it easy); STAGE [right] (105. Common entry point); GO [down] (113. Happen, slangily); [left] EYE (140. Bazooka Joe’s working peeper).
As a sacrifice to the [up], [down], [left] and/or [right] gimmick, the remainder of the crossword is composed mostly of fragments and odds and ends, making for an unusual amount of small entries and their subsequent clues -- For a Sunday crossword, an average amount is somewhere around 120 or so, across and down.
Across links: 1. 2003 Stanley Cup champions; 20. Genus of poisonous mushrooms; 24. Actress Polo; 25. Nickname for a bodybuilder; 56. “Think big” sloganeer; 57. One inside another; 68. Warner Brothers shotgun toter; 82. “The Praise of Folly” writer; 114. GINNIE Mae; 145. Genesis son; 156. Unesco World Heritage Site in Jordan.
Down links: 2. Birds than can sprint at 30 m.p.h.; 9. Arrangement of 40-Downs; 14. Longtime Boston Symphony conductor; 33. Will Ferrell title role; 48. Proposed “fifth taste,” which means “savory” in Japanese; 62. Benedict III’s predecessor; 81. Construction project that gave rise to the Ted Williams Tunnel; TV puppet; 129. Singer Mann; 142. Early Chinese dynasty; 147. Cartoon feline.
It's cold comfort that the arrow glyphs could possibly save time in a crossword that seems to shatter into way too many shards -- more a pile of rubble than a mosaic. Bug (today's Shortzesque clue) is used twice as a clue, once for 32A...
...and once for ANNOY (109A. Bug). Apropos!
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For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.
For the complete post, click HERE.
