Hot Tips and Hairs
Surface of a human hair. 20μm scan size. Enhanced topographic view.
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Saturday, November 22, 2008
Puzzle by Frank Longo, edited by Will Shortz
Eight fifteen-letter across entries are the main feature of this Saturday crossword, which should please those who take special pleasure in offbeat diagrams with sparse black squares; in this case, dividing the puzzle into three sections with a matching top and bottom and a clever middle crossing of INTERLUDE (34A. Dramatic break) and INERTIA (23D. Torpor). One must effectively solve each of the three sections independently. The 15-letter entries:
COMPAREDAGAINST (1. Vis-à-vis);
ATOOTHFORATOOTH (16. Age-old retaliation);
TRUETOTHELETTER (17. Having no inaccuracy whatsoever);
SOLVETHEPROBLEM (31. Fix things);
IMMEDIATEDANGER (35. A firefighter at work may be in it);
AMERICANTABLOID (51. James Ellroy novel that Time magazine named best fiction book of 1995);
GENERALAUDIENCE (57. Suitable for all); and
SETSONAPEDESTAL (58. Idolizes).
A few links: BOTNETS; Italian port with ruins of an imposing Aragonese castle; Longtime Arizona congressman who ran for president in 1976; People who deal with stress successfully?; Bog youngster; Amenhotep IV’s god; Time for an emergency phone call?; Cobbler alternative; Writer whose novella “Carmen” is the basis of Bizet’s opera; Section of some bookstores; Anne Nichols title protagonist; Poky.
With its’ HOTTIPS (21D. They may break open cases) and HAIRS (21A. Crime scene evidence, often), this is the stuff that dreams are made of… a solver's delight!
------------------For today's cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated
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