Tuesday,
April 21, 2009Puzzle by Ronald J. and Nancy J. Byron, edited by Will Shortz
Four 15-letter across entries are the main feature of this Tuesday crossword --
DOUBLE PLAY COMBO (57A. What 17-, 25- and 43-Across were famously), TINKER SHORT STOP, EVERS SECOND BASE and CHANCE FIRST BASE, all with the same clue of 1908 Cubs player and position.Along with third baseman Harry Steinfeldt, the trio of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman John Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance formed the legendary infield of the championship Chicago Cubs teams of the early 1900s. Their fielding and hitting led the Cubs to four National League penants (1906-8, 1910) and two World Series wins (1907-8). The Hall of Fame inducted all three simultaneously in 1946. In 1910, New York newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams immortalized the three ballplayers in a short verse entitled "Baseball's Sad Lexicon":"These are the saddest of possible words: / "Tinker to Evers to Chance." / Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, / Tinker and Evers and Chance. / Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, / Making a Giant hit into a double -- / Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: / "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Mid-size entries include ABSORB (10D. Work like paper towels), AT A PRICE (20A. How fame comes, sometimes),
BRAINIAC (52A. 2006 Ken Jennings book ... or the author himself) accompanied by SMART (5A. Like a 52-Across), MUSCLE (6D. Bodyguard's asset), 44D. "Sorry, Wrong NUMBER", RERATE (45D. Add a star to, say), SPRITS (5D. Mast extensions) and STAY IN (45D. Not leave the house).Five letter -- ASPCA, CHILI,
EATME, ENIAC, ERICA, ERASE, GOTTI, NERVE, OBAMA, OCTAL, OLSEN, PUSHY, ROAST, SICEM, SPIES, STOIC, TRADE, TRIMS, VETCH.Short stuff -- ABLE and ABRA, ACC, ALAN, ALIT and ATL, APPT, ASHE, AURA, BEEP, BETA, BLTS, BOAT, CANA, COTS, DARE, EGO and ETO, EXES, HONE, IMAX, INNS, ITIS, LIAR, LOOM, MALT, NOME, ODDS, ONKP, OREL, POL, REFS, REOS and RHO, RVS, SPA, STAR, TACO and TATA, TREE, TYR, UTES.For the Chicago Cubs Curse of the Goat, go
HERE, or HERE.-----------------
For today's cartoon, go to
The Crossword Puzzle Illustrated.For the complete post, go HERE.
