xXx, 2002-----------------
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Puzzle by Allan E. Parrish, edited by Will Shortz
It appears that XXX can be utilized in a number of ways, most notoriously as an identifier for pornography, especially X-rated movies, in athletics as the Super Bowl XXX, held in 1996, musically, a 1999 album by ZZ Top, or if one prefers, alcohol level during prohibition, a generic depiction of Moonshine or other alcoholic beverage, more obscurely, XXX: Exklusibong, Explosibon, Expose, a Philippine current affairs television show, the ISO 4217 currency code for “no currency”, popularly, an abbreviation for “kiss kiss kiss”, commonly used in chat or text messaging, or an abbreviation for “I love you” in short missives or love notes, a symbol of straight edge lifestyle, sometimes a shortened version of XXXL, a plus size clothing size, a reference to Amsterdam, a flavor of Vitamin Water, and xXx, a 2002 action film starring Vin Diesel, or the 2005 sequel starring Ice Cube.
Today’s crossword utilizes XXX as an indicator for TIC TAC TOE WINNER, POISON WARNING and THIRTY IN OLD ROME, across entries 20, 34 and 51, all clued as [See circled letters].
A few links: ONELINER (35D. Quick laugh); GISELE; ICECAP (3D. Martian feature); LESTER; MCLEAN (31A. Virginia locale where the C.I.A. is headquartered); SPLISH (47A. Sound in a Bobby Darin song title); LEICA (1A. Pioneering 35 mm. camera); RIGEL (36D. Star of Orion); MEIR, RARE.
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