Alice and Cards, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, 1951
Sunday, March 22, 2009 CLOSING THE DEAL, Puzzle by Joon Pahk and Matt Matera, edited by Will Short I’m sure one doesn’t need to be hot for a crossword puzzle to solve it, but a little fire might help. It also helps if the puzzle's got a bit of rhythm (if that can be applied to a crossword) or pizzazz (and that can be applied to anything) which might motivate the solving process; however, this one manages to serve up just a so-so hand, which is no complaint -- it's actually fairly interesting in retrospect. There’s a group of interrelated across entries referring to the playing of cards -- I suppose if one plays cards, the puzzle's a done deal; however, I was unfamiliar with several of the card games what with two having secondary names and never having played four of the games -- not that one need have experienced or experience anything found in a crossword puzzle contrary to the ramblings of one self-appointed crossword "critic"! RED HOT POKER (25. Painful prod); DIAMOND SOLITAIRE (27. Engagement gift); YOM KIPPUR WAR (50. Conflict of 1973); DINETTE SET (57. Showcase Showdown prize, perhaps); ARTICHOKE HEARTS (67. Fancy salad ingredients); BATHTUB GIN (83. Speakeasy supply); LONDON BRIDGE (92. Subject of a nursery rhyme that has only eight different words); CENTURY TWENTY-ONE (109. Big name in real estate); PIZZERIA UNO (119. Classic name in chain restaurants). Other entries of length -- EX-MARINES, MAGNETIZED, TAKES A WALK, TOW HEADED, ZOOT SUITS (52A. Bygone party attire). Zoots, but not SUITS!
People in the puzzle -- ALOIS, CPAS, DAMOZEL, DIOR, EGDON, ELY, EMP, IKE, ITURBI, LEEAAKER, LORI (9D. “Full House” actress Loughlin), NICOLE, OZMA, 43A. PAAVO Nurmi, the Flying Finn, PETER, PYE, REBS, REESE, ROS, SERB, SETH, SHUTE, THOM, T-MAN, TUTU and YGOR. A few links across -- 21. Manuscript marks noting possible errors; 47. Traveler’s alternative to 90-Down, JFK; 88. Montréal-MIRABEL International Airport; 107. Historian’s Muse. Down -- 6. Typeface imitative of handwriting; 11. Sacred Hindu text; 33. “Zoom-zoom” sloganeer; 68. “TAKIN’ Care of Business” (1974 hit); 88. Home of Mondrian’s “Broadway Boogie Woogie”; 90. Traveler’s alternative to 47-Across, LAG; 111. Sodium hydroxide, chemically. Go here for Alice nel paese delle meraviglie - Carte! ------------------ For today’s cartoon, go to The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated. For the complete post, go HERE.
