Sunday, October 5, 2008
FAULT-FINDING, Puzzle by Byron Walden, edited by Will Shortz
ACCURACY (8D. Precision) takes a back seat in today’s crossword. Each of the following entries have the word TYPO within the answer and a faux typographical error in the clue:
TWENTYPOUNDNOTE (28A. *Common Guernsey bull), bull should be bill;
PRETTYPOISON (41A. *1968 firm featuring a murderous cheerleader), firm s/b film;
CITYPOLICE (46A *Urban farce), farce s/b force;
CELEBRITYPOKER (61A. *Where stars can be fluffing and folding), fluffing s/b bluffing;
DIRTYPOOL (71A. *What theaters play), theaters s/b cheaters;
UNIVERSITYPOST (79A. *Bean, e.g.), bean s/b dean;
TREATYPORT (97A. * Onetime regal status of Shanghai or Canton), regal s/b legal;
PARTYPOOPERS (98A. *Get blankets), get s/b wet;
PUBLICITYPOSTERS (111A. * Novice in an ad campaign), novice s/b notice;
PENALTYPOINTS (41D. *Bad drivers back them up), back s/b rack.
I didn’t like the premise of a “typo” in each clue, not having uncovered TYPO (117D. What each starred clue -- and its answer -- contains) until the very end of the solution. It just made for stupid clues -- no "typo" was evident. Oh sure, it’s clever, having a hidden TYPO within the aforementioned entries and a faux typo in each of their clues -- but the fake typo is simply confusing -- upon completing the crossword, oh yeah I get it. Pure drudgery! What’s more, there’s extra puzzle with a 23x23 instead of 21x21 square diagram -- more to slog through! O.K., rant over!
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